Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Is free speech a burden to Obama?

A 2012 letter in which US President Barack Obama asked then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to calm Muslims who were offended by a video because of its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad and to prevent them from being a threat to American diplomats has been leaked by a hacker group that supports the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) is a group of computer hackers that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's administration. On their website, leaks.sea.sy, the group posted a letter from Obama to Erdoğan dated Sept. 14, 2012. In the letter, which begins "Dear Tayyip," Obama voices his concerns about a possible attack on US diplomats following the release of a short video titled “Innocence of Muslims.” The video has anti-Islamic undertones and it is perceived as denigrating the Prophet Muhammad.

When the 14-minute-long video was uploaded to the Internet on Sept. 11, 2012 in Egypt, it led to large-scale protests that were also replicated around the world. As a result of clashes with police, about 100 people were injured and 50 people died.

The fact that Obama sent Erdogan a letter was reported at the time, here we see the full contents:

PERSONAL MESSAGE TO PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA

Washington, D.C.
September 14, 2012

Dear Tayyip,

I understand you are traveling between Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and it is just after midnight in Washington.

I am writing to you because given what has happened in the last two days, there is a very real danger that there could be an escalation of violence on Friday that would be very damaging to our shared interests.

I am sure you are familiar with the video that has offended so many people around the world. Let me be clear that the US government had nothing to do with it. We reject its message, which entirely contradicts my personal views and the values that America stands for.

As you know, we respect Islam, and we are opposed to efforts to offend Islam by defaming the Prophet Mohammed. But we cannot block this video; it is not possible in this age of technology, and we are bound by our commitment to free expression.

Nevertheless, our embassies across the Middle East are at risk and we are deeply concerned that after Friday prayers our people and installations in the region could be vulnerable to attack. We must not let extremists use this video as a pretext to attack America, or our other allies and partners.

I believe that you are one of the most credible voices in the Islamic world today, and that if people hear from you calling for calm and condemning violence it will have a real impact.

I would ask that you speak out immediately and forcefully before people go to Friday prayers today.

It will be important to emphasize that diplomatic personnel and facilities must be respected and that the way to defend religion is through peace rather than violence.

As people of faith, we have an obligation to prevent the people who created this video from provoking a cycle of violence that violates the values that undergird our faith.

I thank you my friend, and I look forward to talking again in a few days’ time when you are at home.

Sincerely,

Barack

I don't have a problem with Obama sending Erdogan this letter. American lives were at stake and writing letters like that (Obama also reached out to other Muslim leaders) is necessary.

I don't mind that he called the hateful madman "one of the most credible voices in the Islamic world today." He needs to compliment him in order to influence him to do the right thing.

What bothers me is Obama's seeming unease with free speech.

"As you know, we respect Islam, and we are opposed to efforts to offend Islam by defaming the Prophet Mohammed. But we cannot block this video; it is not possible in this age of technology, and we are bound by our commitment to free expression. "

Barack Obama first says that he is opposed to free speech that attacks Islam. Then he says that even if he tried to block the video he wouldn't succeed because so many people have copies.

And then he says "we are bound by our commitment to free expression." He's making it sound like an onerous rule that he is forced to uphold because it is in that pesky Constitution, not the bedrock of a free society.

Indeed, the White House “reached out to YouTube to call the Muhammad video to their attention and ask them to review whether it violates their terms of use,” as was reported at the time.

One would hope that the President would prioritize freedom of expression, even when it is offensive. In this case, Obama sucked up to a Middle East tyrant who is dead set against freedom of speech.

02/12 Links Pt2: What Causes Genocide? A Perspective on Anti-Semitism at UC Davis;

From Ian:

What Causes Genocide? A Perspective on Anti-Semitism at UC Davis

Decades after the atrocities of the Holocaust, researchers and anthropologists alike have searched tirelessly for the definitive answer to this harrowing question.
One looks to not find a simple answer, but to find a solution -- a pretext for genocide, so as to prevent it and fulfill the wishes of "never again."
Researchers such as Ben Kiernan, director of the genocide studies program at Yale, have argued that "racism, religious prejudices, revivalist cults of antiquity...and idealization of social classes" are the roots of genocide. James Waller, professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Keene State College, argued that nationalism and severe xenophobia were among main causes while Ervin Staub, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, has said that genocidal behavior stems from cultural stereotyping and devaluation of respective races.
Despite what these renowned researchers of genocide argue, there is a common denominator among their reasons.
Simply put, while the genesis of the Holocaust is rooted in the troubled political history of Europe during that time period, it cannot be denied that the justification for the systematic mass genocide of the Jewish people during World War II lies in, not the sociopathic behavior of the oppressors, but the simple racist stereotyping of the oppressed: anti-Semitism.
It started with anti-Semitism; it ended in death.

Amb. Alan Baker: Is the Palestinian ICC gambit compatible with the EU call for a return to negotiations?

As reported by the EU: “The Quartet underlined the importance of the parties resuming negotiations as soon as possible, with a view to reaching a just, lasting and comprehensive peace on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the Madrid Principles including land for peace and the agreements previously reached between the parties.”
Surprisingly, the EU Quartet added: “A sustainable peace requires the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and sovereignty and those of Israelis for security to be fulfilled through negotiations based on the two-state solution. The Quartet will remain actively engaged in preparing for a resumption of the peace process in the coming period, including regular and direct outreach to Arab states. Pending the resumption of negotiations, the Quartet called on both parties to refrain from actions that undermine trust or prejudge final status issues.”
Clearly the question here, taking into consideration these two news items, is how can the Palestinians push for bringing Israeli leaders before the ICC on the one hand while on the other intimating to the world their desire to resume negotiations with those same leaders? That the person heading their ICC preparation committee is the chief Palestinian negotiator to both the US and the EU would alone seem to render this whole picture rather absurd. It begs the question: which Israelis does Erekat intend to negotiate with, if his aim is to have them all arrested for war crimes? It is perhaps high time that the international community faced the reality that the Palestinian leadership, in attempting to stem the rise of popular support for Hamas among its population, is resorting to this ICC gambit as a public relations exercise, blatantly deceiving themselves, their constituency and the international community.
Having issued their Quartet statement calling for the resumption of negotiations, and in light of their express intention to “remain engaged” in preparing for a resumption of such negotiations, one would expect that if they had an iota of genuine concern for the future of the peace process the senior Quartet representatives issuing the statement – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson (representing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon) – would have made it very clear to the Palestinian leaders that “they can’t have their cake and eat it, too.”

European Anti-Semitism Starts from the Top

The Obama administration’s inexplicable denial that last month’s attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris could possibly be anti-Semitic overshadowed yesterday’s other interesting tidbit from the anti-Semitism front: German Jewish organizations are furious because a blue-ribbon panel set up by the German government to advise it on fighting anti-Semitism doesn’t include a single Jew. It’s hard to imagine that a panel on, say, prejudice against Muslims or blacks would exclude representatives of the targeted community. But the more serious concern is that a panel without Jews will ignore one of the main manifestations of modern anti-Semitism, as exemplified by another German decision just last week: a judicial ruling that there’s nothing anti-Semitic about torching a synagogue to protest Israeli actions in Gaza.
The case involved two German-Palestinian adults who threw Molotov cocktails at the Wuppertal synagogue in July, causing 800 euros worth of damage. The court decided the attack wasn’t anti-Semitic and therefore let them off with suspended jail sentences and community service. And why wasn’t it anti-Semitic? Because, said the court, the perpetrators were simply trying to bring “attention to the Gaza conflict” then raging between Hamas and Israel. And of course there’s nothing anti-Semitic about attacking Jews in one country to “bring attention” to acts by other Jews in another country; they’re all Jews, aren’t they? Doubtless the court would be equally understanding if Israelis torched a German church to “bring attention to” this abhorrent ruling.
Nor is the ruling an aberration; it’s quite representative of elite German thought. Last year, Prof. Monika Schwarz-Friesel of the Technical University of Berlin published a study that analyzed 10 years’ worth of hate mail sent to the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Israeli embassy in Berlin. To her surprise, only 3 percent came from right-wing extremists, while over 60 percent came from educated members of “the social mainstream.” And these letters weren’t mere “Israel criticism”; they contained classic anti-Semitic statements like “It is possible that the murder of innocent children suits your long tradition” or “For the last 2,000 years, you’ve been stealing land and committing genocide.”

In New York Times, J Street Gets the Last Word

When Israel is covered by a writer from the New York Times, it is a safe bet that the writer will go to J Street in search of a stinging quote to drive home the article’s message, according to a Washington Free Beacon analysis.
The liberal anti-Israel lobbying group and its founder Jeremy Ben-Ami have become staples of Times coverage of Israel, which usually features a quote from Ben-ami as the final kicker.
The group has been quoted in nearly 30 New York Times articles since the beginning of 2009 and in more than half of those articles J Street is quoted in the concluding paragraph.
The practice of using J Street and Ben-Ami for kickers has been on the rise in recent weeks.
In a single day on Jan. 29, two different authors both used quotes from Ben-Ami regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s invitation to speak to the U.S. Congress.

J-Street, and Haaretz, and Tikkun Magazine, and a whole lot of other people are seething at Binyamin Netanyahu for having the audacity of claiming to speak for the entire Jewish people.

Too bad they are wrong.

I finally looked up what Bibi actually said, speaking to conference for French-speaking Likud activists.

Here it is, in two parts:

“I went to Paris not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people.”

Notice he didn't say as the representative of the entire Jewish people, but as a representative. This means that if he would have sent one of the Chief Rabbis or President Rivlin, then they would have represented the Jewish people as the official representative of the Jewish state. This is not offensive nor unreasonable. A representative is not the same thing as a leader. When the vice president goes to a funeral overseas, he represents the United States - he doesn't claim to be the leader.

The second part:

“Just as I went to Paris, so I will go anyplace I’m invited to convey the Israeli position against those who want to kill us. Those who want to kill us are, first and foremost, any Iranian regime that says outright it plans to destroy us. I will not hesitate to say what’s needed to warn against this danger, and prevent it.”

Not the "Jewish position" but the "Israeli position."

In other words, Bibi says he will go anywhere he is invited to represent Israelis. Yes, he conflated the two trips while there is not a direct comparison between the two, but it still doesn't mean that Netanyahu claimed to be the leader of all Jews. He said he is a representative of all Jews and the leader of Israel. Both those statements are 100% accurate.

Those who are afflicted with Bibi Derangement Syndrome don't actually care about accuracy. Haaretz' headline for this article was "Netanyahu: I will go to Congress like I went to Paris – to speak for all Jews."

And most people read only the headline.

The UN reminds us that Arabs are prone to violence

From AFP:

A top UN official warned Thursday of another potential conflict in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its blockade and Palestinian political parties to end in-fighting to avoid further violence.

The United Nations also called for an additional $705 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, most of it for Gaza which saw its bloodiest and most destructive war last year.

"Right now, things are not going well, and we're very concerned about the possibility of a further conflict," James Rawley, UN humanitarian chief for the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

The UN says that if a small percentage of Gazans are deprived of construction materials. then it is all but inevitable for them to start firing rockets at Israel.

Even as Rawley admits that there is "good cooperation" from Israel on facilitating building materials into Gaza.

When other peoples in the world have little material goods orlose their possessions, they are considered needy. When some Gazans have to go without some essentials, the UN expects them to become violent.

So is the UN bigoted against Palestinian Arabs? Or are the Gazans just that prone to violence?

02/12 Links Pt1: IDF Intercepts Hamas Weapons Shipment at Sea; The Rise of the Iranian Empire

From Ian:

IDF Blog: Cleared for Publication: Three Hamas-Affiliated Suspects Arrested in Smuggling Attempt

Last month, a joint ISA-IDF operation uncovered tons worth of materials being smuggled on a vessel off the coast of Gaza. The materials, originating from the Sinai Peninsula, were meant for Hamas in the Gaza Strip and led to the arrest of three suspects.
On January 19, IDF forces identified a suspicious boat making its way towards the Gaza Strip. The navy, in conjunction with the Israel Security Agency (ISA), intercepted the vessel after requesting that the passengers stop the boat.
The craft was disguised as a fishing boat, but underneath the fishing gear liquid fiberglass was concealed. The liquid fiberglass was intended for Hamas and meant to be used in the manufacturing of rockets and mortars.
“The Dvora-class ships and our Shaldag-class knew to seize the vessel quietly and discreetly after following it for hours, patiently, from the moment it crossed the southern border,” asserted Lt. Col. Liav Ziberman, commander of the navy’s 916th Company, located in Ashdod. “Thwarting smuggling attempts like this happens almost every week,” he said.

Israel Navy Intercepts Hamas Smuggling Vessel

Michael Lumish: Arab Terrorists Attack Jewish Kindergarten in Jerusalem.

It looks as if attacking kindergarteners is a new Arab terrorist fad because this is not the first time this has happened in Jerusalem and according to the article just two weeks ago about a dozen masked Arab terrorists attacked a kindergarten in the town of Lod, setting it ablaze.
It clearly speaks to the character of these people that they would choose to go after children. It is sick. It is twisted. And Israel needs to crack down on anyone throwing rocks or explosive devices at people. Throwing rocks, not to mention fireworks, is attempted murder and the police and the IDF need to use the force required to meaningfully reflect this truth.
One thing, however, that I find interesting is that the enemies of the Jewish people over many centuries, through until today, constantly accused the Jews of killing children. It is the blood-libel and in the classic medieval form the claim was that Jewish people kill Christian babies so that the blood might be used (somehow) in the making of matzoh. This claim, consciously or not, was meant to stir up violence against the Jewish people. Today the blood-libel takes the form of accusing the IDF of intentionally targeting Arab children or youngsters and it has the identical effect. It creates hatred in people toward Jews, incites them to violence against us, and provides a profound justification for that violence.

The U.S. Let Iran Take Over Iraq. Are Nukes Next?

It now seems clear that, on the issue of nuclear weapons, Iran has the U.S. where it wants it. Put simply, Iran wants a favorable deal and thinks it can get one. Mainly because it knows that the U.S. fears that any further demands will sabotage a deal, and therefore will not do a thing to jeopardize Iran’s “strategic patience” on the issue.
But the U.S. is not only stumbling toward Iran on the issue of nuclear weapons. It is doing the same in Iraq, where the U.S. is acquiescing to Iranian influence and accepting Iranian dominance over the Iraqi government and many of the armed militias active in the country.
After so many years of American investment in trying to build a stable Iraq, the United States has effectively enabled an Iranian takeover of the country. I know, because I was there and saw it with my own eyes. That the Obama administration is not opposing the rising influence of Iran, as the White House prepares a historic deal to leave Iran with nuclear weapons just beyond its fingertips, is especially alarming, and a recipe for increasing regional conflict.
In part, this U.S. elevation of Iran’s regional role due to the rise of ISIS, which has pushed Iraq and Iran together. This is not an unnatural alliance. ISIS is a threat to both nations, which share a border and a sectarian interest—Shia Islam. From Iran’s perspective, why shouldn’t it ensure that its proxies in Iraq are fighting the ISIS threat and, while they’re at it, undermining the power of Iraq’s Sunni minority?

Why exactly do Jews need armed guards at the Temple Mount again?

Ma'an's headline is "Israeli rightists enter Aqsa compound under armed guard."

Now, this is better than hoe they used to call the peaceful Jewish visitors "extremists" and how they used to say that they "broke in" to the area.

Still, the impression one gets is that the "armed guards" are there to intimidate peaceful Muslims who are just going about their business.

What is left unasked is what exactly would happen to these Jews if they were able to visit the site without armed guards protecting them? Would they get out alive?

Here's a group of those "rightists" from earlier this week being screamed at:

The Ladies Auxiliary of Hamas holds a protest against Egypt

On Monday, the Women's movement of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" protested against the decision an Egyptian court that declared Hamas' Brigades of the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam to be a terrorist organization.

Dozens of these women held signs in front of the previous Egyptian embassy in Gaza, saying "Al Qassam is not terrorist," and "Oh Allah avenge the conspirators against our people in Gaza."

I'm sure Egyptians are very moved.

Especially after Egyptian officials announced that a Qassam Brigades leader was killed during a raid on an Islamist stronghold. Hamas denies that he was a member altogether and his family claims he was killed in Libya after joining a jihadist group there.

Under Sisi, Egypt's track record of telling the truth about Hamas is far from perfect, but they consider it as a violent offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and have blamed Hamas for smuggling weapons for Sinai-based jihadist groups.

Professor Tariq Habib is a psychologist and TV host who is enormously popular in Saudi Arabia. His Twitter account is followed by nearly 5 million people.

Recently, he underwent a successful kidney transplant. Afterwards, he tweeted his thanks to Christians and Jews who wished him well and who said that they had him in their prayers.

This apparently was too much for many people. Habib was violently criticized for that tweet.

Ever since, he has been justifying his decision to issue that tweet, saying that a simple expression of thanks does not mean that he believes that Judaism or Christianity are superior to Islam.

He even wrote an entire article slamming those who insulted him for the tweet and somewhat defensively justifying it:

The tyranny of the intellectual energy of verbal chattering, which includes violent attack and intolerance of others that are in some cases no less dangerous than the enemy's offensive weapons, so that the preoccupation with insults and the culture of hatred is the most dangerous way to waste mental energy of the individual.

...The good word or phrases of thanksgiving or even giving gifts to the Jews and the Christians does not bless their faith or promotes a culture of loyalty to non-Muslims, but it is my job to the principles of Islam, which are based on justice, to appreciate the actions of others .. to demonstrate Islam's moral pillars.

The episode seems a reveal the deep inferiority complex among many Arab Muslims as to the legitimacy of their religion. If they were secure in their beliefs, the idea of thanking people of other religions would not be considered a threat.

Habib also thanked Shiite Arabs who wished him well for the surgery, as far as I can tell no Sunnis were insulted by that.

J-Street Follies

J-Street has been running a Twitter campaign asking people to say that "BibiDoesn'tSpeakForMe." As evidence, a couple of days ago, J-Street retweeted this:

Where did these numbers come from that J-Street interprets as meaning that Jewish Americans are out of step with Netanyahu?

It came from a poll that J-Street commissioned last October. Here was the question:

The question was asking whether people would support a solution that ensured that Iran could never, ever build nuclear weapons.

Guess what? Bibi Netanyahu would support that too!

When J-Street pretends that Netanyahu doesn't want to see a negotiated solution and wants to start a war for no good reason, they reveal not only their own contempt for the intelligence of Americans, but also their willingness to twist facts for their own political ambitions.

In that same poll, J-Street asked Americans how warmly they would rate a series of individuals and parties.

Guess who came out most favorably?

Yup - it was Netanyahu! Higher than Obama, higher than Hillary, higher even than Jon Stewart!

It's too bad that J-Street's founde wasn't listed on this survey, because it would show exactly how much more aligned liberal American Jews are with Binyamin Netanyahu than they are with the anti-democratic, dishonest Jeremy Ben-Ami.

It might be time for a new ad campaign.

02/11 Links Pt2: B’Tselem’s casualty figures based on phone interviews; Haaretz's Shrine to Terrorists

From Ian:

B’Tselem’s casualty figures based largely on phone interviews

The UN relies mainly for information on casualties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) on the NGO Protection Cluster framework which in turn is linked to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the (OCHA-OPT). The OCHA-OPT has in turn appointed three NGOs to provide data on Palestinian casualties: The Israel based B’Tselem and Gaza based Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights and Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), both of which rely heavily on information from the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza.
B’Tselem dominates the Palestinian casualty information scene and one should expect that with its international funding and extensive world wide contacts, this organization would observe a rigid standard to maintain credibility in its data collection methodology. Sadly, the opposite is the case. Unfortunately B’Tselem provides the UN and the world with much unverified, inaccurate information.
For example during the recent Gaza conflict B’Tselem relied largely on telephone interviews to provide information that it claims to be reliable. Believe it or not! B’Tselem’s web site declares without embarrassment:

Honest Reporting: Casualties of War

"Israeli officials confirmed that the structure was bombed in airstrikes last week.
The authorities insisted that the building, a weapons storage facility, was a legitimate target and explained that they had conducted detailed surveillance to make sure that no hostages were seen going in or out. But a senior Israeli official who requested anonymity to discuss classified information acknowledged that they had not been able to survey the building around the clock."
When incidents such as the one above are reported, they lead to international condemnations of Israel, accusations of war crimes, and global calls for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions. It does not seem to matter that Israel takes great pains to minimize the chances of civilian casualties, often exposing its soldiers to greater risk and reducing the chances of an effective surprise attack. Nor do Israeli claims that certain targets are legitimate matter in the court of global opinion. But we have gotten used to a knee-jerk reaction to condemn Israel no matter what the circumstances.
What is astounding though, is the difference in the reaction when someone else's finger is on the trigger.
The above excerpt appeared in a New York Times article.
I made one change, however.
The original article was about an airstrike by the anti-ISIS coalition. I just took the word "American" out and substituted "Israeli."

Why Does Haaretz Host a Shrine to a Dead Terrorists?

Radical leftist newspaper Haaretz has been embroiled in controversy before, but a new report revealed by the famous Israeli Zionist rapper Yoav Eliasi, better known by his stage name Hatzel, raises serious question marks.
"The following matter left me simply in shock (as much as it is possible to still be shocked by the paper Haaretz...)," wrote Hatzel on Facebook. The shocking discovery: "Haaretz maintained in its basement a locked room that is a kind of temple of pictures praising terrorists."
The room was found by accident by a worker transferring equipment as part of the paper's move to a different building, said Hatzel, who received the report from the worker.
The worker "made a last check and came across a door that was always locked but this time was open, and in the room were dozens of pictures hanging just like a museum to terrorists," wrote Hatzel.
Hatzel noted that among those in the pictures were senior Fatah terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, who led the faction's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades during the murderous terror war launched by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2000, along with "the dead of Al-Aqsa with flowers next to them, pictures of rock throwers and 'IDF crimes.'"

Evidence at terror trial shows bomber was a PA employee even after he blew himself up

From Courthouse News Service, Monday:

In a trial with $1 billion at stake, each tear a juror sheds for the victims of decade-old terror attacks in Israel could exact a heavy price for the Palestinian Authority.
Family members suing Palestinian governing bodies took to the stand last week to share often heartbreaking memories of relatives killed in a spate of attacks against Israeli civilians in the early 2000s, known as the Second Intifada.
During one witness's testimony, a juror "broke into sobs and uttered an expletive," the Palestinian Authority's lawyer Mark Rochon said.
"I don't want to embarrass jurors, and I am very cognizant of the fact that an element of the damages can be powerful emotional testimony, but if someone has a personal experience ... that would affect their ability to be fair, that's something we do need to know about," he added.
Rochon, from the Washington-based firm Miller & Chevalier, suspected that unexpected testimony about "sexual assault issues" caused the juror to weep.
Declining to issue a jury instruction, U.S. District Judge George Daniels commented, "This isn't the first time that I have seen a juror cry or react strongly to the emotional testimony of a particular witness."
Indeed, there were more tears in court later that day from a father recounting how a bomb dashed his plans for reconciliation.
...

Brother and sister Yitzhak and Esther Goldberg also recounted how they honored the memory of their father Stuart, who died in the Jan. 29, 2004, suicide bombing of a public bus in Jerusalem.
Esther gave her son her father's Hebrew name, Yechezkel, a fact that she said so disturbed her mother Shifra that, at first, she could only call the boy "baby."
"Her heart is just shattered, and it can never be put back together again," Esther said of her mother.
Yitzhak testified that he still searches through photos of the bombing on every anniversary of the attacks.
"I'm looking to find some more information, or more information than I know," he said.
Lawyers for the families submitted records from the Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence Service allegedly linking their employees Ahmed Salah and Ali Ja'ara to that attack, a spokeswoman said.
Ja'ara was the bomber, and Salah was convicted of aiding it, she added.
The Palestinian Authority's lawyer Rochon contends that the paperwork reflects only his client's massive "social welfare state."

Eleven people were murdered in that bombing.

Here is some of that evidence, showing (translated) PA documents referring to Ali Ja'ara:

Indeed, Ja'ara kept his 2004 salary even after he blew himself up. He was even promoted!

His family is almost certainly still being paid, today, as a reward for his murdering eleven people.

Obama Offers Iran Sudetenland (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Tehran, February 11 - Iranian officials have yet to respond to the latest American proposal in talks over the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program, a proposal that offers the central European territory of Sudetenland in exchange for guarantees that Iran will pursue no further development of atomic weapons.
US President Barack Obama made the offer earlier this week amid rising concerns that no deal would be reached by March, when legally mandated sanctions on Iran intensify in the absence of an agreement.

Obama faces conflicting pressures from his own drive to allow Iran to establish regional hegemony and thus, he hopes, to help stabilize the Middle East, and conservative opposition from Republicans and allies of other Middle Eastern states convinced that Iran's ambitions have little to do with Western notions of stability. The offer places Obama in a precarious diplomatic position, as the Sudetenland is part of a third sovereign country, but the Nobel Peace Prize laureate believes it necessary to secure a settlement with Iran.

Reaching a deal has become a priority for the president, partially because he has had little to show for his efforts in the international arena. With less than two years remaining in office, Obama has set ambitious goals for his Mideast policy, including both Iran and the moribund Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, both of which have produced frustration as all three of those parties have been far less accommodating to his desires, for unknown reasons choosing to act in what they see as their own best interests instead of what Obama knows to be best. As Iran dithers and delays, growing ever closer to the nuclear threshold, the Israeli-Palestinian front remains deadlocked amid Palestinian unilateral attempts to force concession on Israel and Israeli political paralysis in the pre-election season. The president thus took inspiration from twentieth-century British statesman Neville Chamberlain, who found the Sudetenland worked once before as inducement to a regional deal when Germany flexed its muscles in the 1930's.

"It's a daring but proven idea," says scholar Ann Schluss. "Chamberlain was able to achieve what he called 'peace in our time' by offering Germany the Sudetenland region in exchange for a declared end to further territorial ambitions in Europe. There's no reason it can't work again, this time with Iran, to much the same result."

Schluss cautioned that making such a deal work would depend on multiple parties, not all of which are interested in an agreement that leaves Iran with the possibility of developing a weapon. "We don't know, for example, how the Saudis will take this, but if all goes well, my assessment is that they, and multiple other states, will also pursue nuclear weapons, and there's nothing that keeps the peace better."

Durban U Tech students council calls to expel Jewish students

From IOL News, South Africa:

Jewish students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) who supported the State of Israel should be kicked out, the Students Representative Council (SRC) has demanded.

And this applies to students who are sponsored by the Israeli government. The demands, sent to the DUT management, have shocked and angered Jewish organisations.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Ahmed Bawa, said the demand by the SRC and the Progressive Youth Alliance that the DUT deregister all Jewish students “is totally unacceptable”.

The Secretary of the SRC, Mqondisi Duma, said: “As the SRC, we had a meeting and analysed international politics. We took the decision that Jewish students, especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle, should deregister.”

On Tuesday night, Natan Pollack – the national chairman of the South African Union of Jewish Students – said the suggestion was “deplorable”.

“To discriminate against people because of their religious and political standpoint goes against freedom of speech,” Pollack said.

Chairwoman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Durban-based Mary Kluk, said she was “appalled” and said it was unacceptable such demands could be made in an academic institution.

I like how they said "especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle" - although the Jews who are anti-Israel clearly are suspect too.

It is refreshing when the person behind the curtain is exposed and all the rhetoric about rights and justice and oppression is shown to be just a smokescreen to cover good, old fashioned hate.

02/11 Links Pt1: Administration Turns Obama Anti-Semitism Gaffe Into Epic Blunder

From Ian:

An Administration With a Blind Spot About Anti-Semitism

President Obama’s recent interview with Vox included an astonishing characterization of one of the most notorious recent terror attacks. As he did in his initial reaction to the assault on a kosher deli in Paris, the president did not call it an act of anti-Semitism or say that those slaughtered were singled out for murder because they were Jews. Even worse, he told Vox that those responsible for the attack on the Hyper Cacher had decided to “randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a Paris deli.” The day after such a glaring misstatement of fact, one might expect the White House to walk back this remark in some way. But, instead, both White House spokesman Josh Earnest and State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki doubled down on the president’s tortured logic in a stunning display of Orwellian doubletalk. Instead of just a president with a blind spot about anti-Semitism that comes out when he is interviewed, it is now clear that the United States has an administration with a blind spot about anti-Semitism.
To have made such a statement once might be just a gaffe. To do it twice revealed that the president has a blind spot about anti-Semitism that somehow prevents him from either admitting that the incident was anti-Semitic or condemning it as an incident in which Jews were targeted. But today we learned that this is not just a rhetorical tic. It is now official U.S. policy to claim that when Islamist murderers go into a kosher deli looking for Jews to kill, they are not targeting Jews or acting out of religious bias.
Earnest ‘s insistence that the Hyper Cacher was not chosen by the terrorists because of the likelihood that it would be filled with Jews shopping for the Sabbath is mind-boggling. So, too, is Psaki’s belief that calling it an act of anti-Semitism is a question so complex that only the local French authorities investigating the crime can know for sure.
Why the adamant refusal to label an unambiguous act of anti-Semitism what it is?

State Dept Doubles Down on Obama Claim That Kosher Deli Attack Was 'Random'

WH Spends 7 Minutes Defending Obama Downplaying Terrorism, Calling Kosher Deli Attack ‘Random’

In a heated back and forth between Karl and Earnest, Karl mentioned the president’s use of the word “random” when discussing the terrorist attack on the Kosher deli in Paris that happened in January. Earnest blamed the media for focusing on the word and said that there were other, non-Jewish people in the deli.
Ed Henry asked whether the Islamic State’s burning of the Jordanian pilot was media hype. Earnest brought up the coalition of 60 members but made no mention as to whether it was media hype.
“The president has succeeded in leveraging the influence of the United States of America, to build this coalition and even to get countries in the region to fly alongside American military air pilots as carrying out air strikes against (Islamic State) targets,” said Earnest.

WH Spends 7 Minutes Defending Obama Downplaying Terrorism, Calling Kosher Deli Attack 'Random'

Administration Turns Obama Anti-Semitism Gaffe Into Epic Blunder

What makes this so bizarre is that it is not — or at least, was not — administration policy to deny the anti-Semitic character of the obviously anti-Semitic attack on Hyper Cache. In the wake of the attack, the State Department called it a “cowardly anti-Semitic assault.” A few weeks ago, an administration statement denounced “Anti-Semitic attacks like the recent terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris.” Chief of Staff Denis McDonough called the attacks “the latest in a series of very troubling incidents in Europe and around the world that reflect a rising tide of anti-Semitism.” And the administration has spoken forcefully on the general trend of rising anti-Semitism in Europe.
If Earnest and Psaki are to be taken at their word, the Obama administration is no longer willing to identify the attack on a kosher supermarket as anti-Semitic. Conceivably they have changed the administration’s position on the fly in order to avoid admitting that the president misspoke, turning a gaffe into an official line. More likely (following the general rule that one should not attribute to venality that which can be explained by incompetence) they both failed to anticipate the question and tried to bluff their way through with disastrous results.
The administration is already cleaning up its cleanup:

A number of people have been arrested by the Palestinian Authority in recent months for insulting Mahmoud Abbas.

Majdoline Reza Hassouna, an investigative journalist, wrote something about Abbas on her Facebook page last December that caused her to be prosecuted under the law against insulting the leader. (She claimed her Facebook page was hacked.)

Another citizen, Omar Baarat, was imprisoned and then released on bail for $4200 (3000 Jordanian dinars) for the same crime of "insulting the leaders" (literally "prolonging the tongue.") He is awaiting trial.

The court document in that case is shown here.

Jordan has a similar law, Article 195 of the Jordanian penal code, which may be the basis for the PA's law. It prohibits insulting the king or queen or other officials, including with cartoons or graphics.

Because this shows Abbas to be more of a petty dictator than a Western-style enlightened peacemaker, these stories rarely make it to the mainstream media.

Here's an exception that proves the rule: when a similar case came to light in 2013 and the "insulter" was jailed, Abbas then pardoned the offender, pretending to care about freedom of speech. The New York Times happily printed that part of the story showing how Abbas was so kind to his enemy.

The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has pardoned a Palestinian journalist whose one-year prison sentence for insulting him on Facebook was upheld by a West Bank appeals court on Thursday, the president’s legal adviser said in a statement....The president’s legal adviser said that Mr. Abbas respected freedom of opinion and expression and that he had not personally filed a complaint against the journalist.

But there has been no followup from the NYT as to why people are still being prosecuted under that law, today, under that wonderfully progressive permanent president.

Here are the reported violations of freedom of expression by the PA in December alone that the mainstream media won't touch:

The Preventive Security arrested Baha’ Al-Jayyousi from Tulkarem on 2/12 for vilifying important personalities on Facebook. The Preventive Security also arrested Al-Quds University media student Islam Za’al on 3/12 for allegedly publishing inciting news against the Palestinian authority on Facebook.

A unit of the Preventive Security forces stormed the house of Al-Quds University media student Amer Abu Hlayel and searched it on 5/12, before they left an arrest order to his family for his writings on Facebook. The Preventive Security forces also committed violations against a number of journalists: they summoned the freelance journalist Ameer Abu Aram and interrogated him on 9/12; they also raided the house of Wattan TV cameraman Mohammad Awad to arrest him (but his family did not allow them in) on 10/12; they filed a complaint to the General Prosecution in Nablus against Al-Quds TV producer and Al-Safir newspaper correspondent Majdolin Hassoune and interrogated her for her writings on Facebook, accusing her of vilifying VIPs on 14/12.

The Preventive Security also arrested Wattan correspondent Aysar Barghouthi in his house in Kafr Ain, north Ramallah, on 28/12. Four men assaulted the freelance journalist Muath Amleh and beat him after he received two threats for his writings against the Qabalan municipality on 29/12. The Preventive Security Forces summoned Ahrar Al-Asra center journalist and human rights activist Mahmoud Milhim on 3/12 but he did not go to their headquarters. On 12/12 the Palestinian Security forces prevented Al-Aqsa TV correspondent Ala’ Al-Titi and his colleague the cameraman Mahmoud Abu Yousif from covering a festival organized by Hamas in Hebron. They detained Al-Titi after bringing him to the Intelligence service headquarters. On the same day the Preventive Security forces seized the ID of Al-Jazeera net correspondent Awad Rjoub while he was heading to cover the same Hamas festival and they tried to prevent him from covering. On 14/12 Quds Press agency correspondent Zaid Abu Arra received a summons from the director of the Preventive Security by phone telling him that they were going to arrest him, and on 21/12 the Preventive Security forces summoned Al-Quds University media student Qutaiba Hamdan, detained him, interrogated him and beat him.