Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 31, 2015

Rouhani's comedy act continues

Israel Afraid of Votes, Prefers Terrorism: Iran’s President

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Zionist regime of Israel is afraid of ballot boxes, because it knows that terrorist inclinations, in every shape, lack public support, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said.

Terrorist activities, carried out either by organizations, regimes or bigots with false beliefs, have one thing in common, that is, lack of public support, Rouhani said in an address to the Second International Congress of 17,000 Iranian Terror Victims, in Tehran on Monday.

“Those (terrorist) individuals and groups have no popularity among the nations,” he stressed, adding that they cannot win people’s votes, which is why the Zionist regime of Israel is afraid of ballots and prefers intimidation and terrorism.

Terrorists have a great fear of votes and view their demise in ballot boxes, the president stated.

...Elsewhere in his remarks, the president reaffirmed Iran’s support for counterterrorism efforts.

He reassured the countries that grapple with the scourge of terrorism, such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, of Iran’s continued support and backing for the oppressed.

Rouhani further stressed that Iran has been a victim of terrorism backed by Western powers and the Zionist regime of Israel.

Yes, someone who was one of eight handpicked approved candidates for election out of 680 registered candidates is lecturing Israel about democracy.

The president of the nation behind Hezbollah and numerous terror attacks worldwide, who funds terrorist groups, is lecturing Israel about being terrorist.

Rouhani says that people don't vote for terrorists when Hamas won the last Palestinian elections.

He should start a sitcom.

British columnist Oliver Kamm succinctly stated in a worth-reading recent article in the Jewish Chronicle concerning Jeremy Corbyn and the Corbynistas: “The left now tolerates bigotry and embraces terror …. It's no longer possible to assume that a declared progressive will defend free speech, secularism, women's rights, homosexual equality, cosmopolitanism and the spread of scientific inquiry. Those are the values that cause me to admire Israel – a nation whose pluralist ethos will be fulfilled when there is an eventual two-state solution with a sovereign Palestine. Yet now we have a left that tolerates bigotry, allies with theocratic reaction, embraces terror groups and espouses irrationalism.” (http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/columnists/142780/corbyns-deplorable-allies)

Australia’s most-read columnist and scourge of the Left Andrew Bolt, as usual pulling no punches, has observed during this past week: “There is now something close to panic in Europe…. Europe has not had so many refugees since World War II, but this time the danger is greater, since many come from cultures and a faith so alien and sometimes hostile. That danger is real. The Charlie Hebdo terrorists were sons of Algerian immigrants; the jihadist who tried to shoot up the Paris-Amsterdam train last week was from Morocco; immigrant areas of Paris and Sweden’s Malmo are repeatedly rocked by riots; and some 4000 Europeans, mainly the children of immigrants, have joined the Islamic State… Unless the Islamists are stopped, millions more refugees will join this invasion of Europe, including parents of tomorrow’s jihadists. And after a decade or two of that, how safe will Europe be for Europeans — and us? Already Jews are fleeing France and Sweden for the comparative safety of Israel. The stakes have got much higher. Defeating the Islamic State is critical” (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/this-is-a-war-we-must-win-quickly/story-fnj45fva-1227500080892)

But try telling this to the Left, even left-wing Jews. There is something particularly pernicious about the “progressive” Jews – whether progressive in a political or religious sense – when they argue, as many do, for open borders regarding this “refugee” influx.

In its statement of purpose, an Israel-bashing British group of “as-a-Jews” calling itself Independent Jewish Voices (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Jewish_Voices) makes, inter alia, the curious claim: “There is no justification for any form of racism, including … Islamophobia, in any circumstance.” A curious claim indeed, given that Islam is not “a race” and given that there are women and at least one prominent gay among the signatories, all of whom must surely be aware of the trespasses against females and against gays that are often committed by Islamic regimes, Islamic families, and Islamic persons in the name of Islam.

I know of at least one of those signatories who has admitted that coming together with other Jewish and Jew-ish critics of Israel has been his first and only “Jewish communal” activity, while another, the offspring of a mixed marriage, was raised an Anglican and has been described wryly as “an occasional Jew”.

Truly unhelpful is the statement emanating a fortnight of so ago from 200 British Jews, including 20 rabbis, which castigated the Cameron government’s necessarily harsh response to the Calais crisis (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jewish-community-leaders-speak-out-against-governments-calais-refugee-policy-10450367.html) “Many of us in the Jewish community are appalled by the UK’s response to the ongoing situation in Calais,” said the letter (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/your-response-to-migrant-crisis-is-appalling-british-jews-tell-cameron-a2487361.html), sent from the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE). “Our experience as refugees is not so distant that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be demonised for seeking safety.” This week Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described migrants attempting to cross over to Britain as “marauding”. Last week about 200 tried to storm the Channel Tunnel, while hauliers say drivers have been threatened by stowaways. Britain has paid for a £7 million security fence. The letter said: “People fleeing conflict and persecution are not to blame for the crisis in Calais; neither is our welfare system, nor the French government. Above all, we in the UK are not the victims here; we are not being invaded by a ‘swarm’.” The Jewish leaders said refugees were usually seeking a safer society and were not attracted by benefits. Britain accepted almost 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1938 and 1939. Among those saved were artist Frank Auerbach, now 84, and Labour peer Lord Dubs, 83. Dr Edie Friedman, executive director of JCORE, said: “The Jewish refugee experience is still a vivid memory for many in our community. The Government’s failure to even consider helping those fleeing conflict and persecution today shames us as a nation. Rather than shut ourselves off from the world, it is vitally important that we work with the rest of Europe to create safe and legal routes for refugees to claim asylum.” Since June, nine people have died in the Channel Tunnel while attempting to gain access to the UK. However, 2,000 have died in the Mediterranean trying to enter Europe by sea. Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner said: “No country has a perfect record on immigration. No country could do, such is the complexity of the issue and the lives of those it affects.’ (See also this nice but naive statement by Liberal rabbis (https://jcoreuk.wordpress.com/2015/07/22/rabbis-call-for-government-re-think-on-cuts-in-aid-for-asylum-seekers/).

The letter creates a false analogy between the refugees from Nazi persecution and the hordes of economic migrants, including thousands and thousands of testosterone-fuelled young single men from benighted lands attempting to reach Britain illegally today, as pointed out in by several commenters blow the line in the Evening Standard’s report. To quote just one commenter: ‘I am Jewish and wish to disassociate myself from the 200 Jews who have signed JCORE’S letter suggesting that the Prime Minister’s handling of the Calais migrant crisis is “appalling”. You quote (12 August) Dr Edie Friedman, Director of JCORE, as suggesting that the government has “failed to even consider helping those fleeing conflict and persecution”. The truth is that the refugees in Calais are a mixture of asylum seekers and economic refugees. The problem of migration is a global one and no Western country accepts unlimited migration. In the US the “progressive” Obama administration has removed around 2 million “illegal aliens” and Germany is in the process of removing 94,000 asylum seekers. JCORE seems to suggest that the government grants no asylum applications at all. The truth is that some 8,000 were granted in 2014. JCORE also appears to imply that all Jews who wanted a refuge in the UK from Nazi persecution in the 1930s and 1940s were accepted. This is far from the case, as historians … have shown.”

And then, as one perceptive non-Jewish commenter has observed, with admirable brevity and sound common sense, the signatories are "Licking the Hand That Would Cut Their Throats”.

08/31 Links Pt1: Gazans Fleeing to Israel; DNC chair blocks support for Iran nuclear deal

From Ian:

Report: Gazans Fleeing to Israel, Risking Death to Escape Hamas Oppression

A growing number of Palestinians are fleeing the Gaza Strip for Israel, Israeli news site nrg reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the reason for the exodus is the oppressive rule of terror group Hamas, which has controlled the coastal enclave since 2007.
The number of Gazans attempting to make the move has steadily risen since Israel’s 50-day war against Hamas terrorists last summer, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, nrg said. When apprehended by Israeli authorities, the absconders told interrogators about their poor living conditions and the repressive Hamas regime.
The IDF interrogations revealed that the refugees are even willing to risk going to prison — or being killed by security forces mistaking them for terrorists — due to widespread hunger and fear of Hamas.
The fugitives also said that Hamas was acting to prevent the exit of Palestinians from Gaza into Israel, for fear they will become Israeli collaborators. They explained that since the establishment by Hamas of an administrative route near the border fence with Israel, which is guarded by Hamas fighters, they are forced to crawl under the fence, to avoid being caught and executed.

'Big embarrassment for Obama' as DNC chair blocks support for Iran nuclear deal

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz blocked a resolution that would have backed U.S. President Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal, which curbs Iran's nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Citing "knowledgeable Democrats," the paper reported that during the party's summer meeting, Wasserman Schultz had prevented a vote on a resolution seeking to put the national committee on record as supporting the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, ahead of a crucial vote in Congress that will seal its fate.
A CNN panel described the incident as the "president's big embarrassment."
"The Obama-controlled DNC could not pass a resolution this weekend expressing support for President Obama's Iran deal," New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin said during the panel debate. "It's a bit of an embarrassment for the administration seeing as it's his party; he appointed Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and it's revived the sort of latest round of eye-rolling among Democratic operatives about the state of the party."
CNN host John King said Martin was being diplomatic, saying it was a "big embarrassment for the president."
"We wanted to show support for the president," James Zogby, the co-chair of the DNC's Resolutions Committee, told The Washington Post. "We found that the best way to show support was a letter that members would sign on to, and the overwhelming majority of DNC members signed onto the letter."

Republican Senators: Filibuster on Iran Would Be a 'Gift'

Republicans intend to “hammer” Senate Democrats next month if they do not allow a vote on a measure disapproving President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, according to The Hill.
Republicans, who oppose the deal unanimously, need the support of six Democrats to break a filibuster by Democrats, while the deal's supporters need 41 Senate votes to block the measure of disapproval. So far, 30 Senate Democrats have committed to voting in favor of the Iran agreement, and only two Democrats have broken ranks.
If the resolution is filibustered, it would be a major victory for the White House, which wouldn’t have to resort to a presidential veto to keep the Iran deal alive.
However, opponents of the deal warned that Senate Democrats would pay a political cost for such a move.
“Democrats will be setting themselves up for a further political hit if they deny the people the opportunity —the people meaning members of Congress — to vote on it,” said Allen Roth, the president Secure America Now, which opposes the Iran agreement. “I think it’ll be handing a political gift to the Republicans.”

GOP Senator: States Can Undo Iran Deal Damage

Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma has co-authored an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal urging individual US states to widen sanctions against Iran even as the White House and Congress undo their sanctions against the rogue Islamist republic.
President Barack Obama’s deal with Iran “welcomes Iran as a participant in the world community conditioned only on marginal changes to its nuclear program. It effectively allows Iran to maintain technology that would lead to a nuclear weapon, as well as continue its human-rights abuses, sponsoring of terrorism, imprisoning of American hostages, and threats to American allies, including Israel,” writes Inhofe, in an article co-signed by Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general.
“Fortunately,” the two write, “the U.S. states have the power to limit these threats, if they all choose to use it.” They justify this by noting that it was Obama who chose to turn the major international accord as an executive agreement, rather than as a treaty, “in order to evade the Constitution’s requirement of two-thirds approval by the U.S. Senate for enactment.” Since Obama skirted the people’s representatives in Congress – “the people, through the states, may come to their own decisions regarding sanctions on Iran.”

Pressure increases on UNRWA to act responsibly

The more you look at Chris Gunness, UNRWA's spokesperson, the worse he appears.

I have been proving that Gunness lied on Israeli TV when he claimed:

Where we find credible allegations of neutrality violations among our staff, we investigate and where it's appropriate we take disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. And that process is audited by our major donors.

Yet there is no evidence of UNRWA ever taking the many, many examples I have uncovered of UNRWA staff bias, support for terror, antisemitism, and pro-Hitler comments seriously. On the contrary, all we have seen is lots of attempts at obfuscation, coverups and more baldfaced lies by trying to distance UNRWA from its own employees. Gunness cares about UNRWA's reputation, to be sure, but he doesn't give a damn about the hate that is endemic in the agency itself.

And neither does his boss, Pierre Krähenbühl.

But pressure is starting to build up against Gunness, and Gunness is starting to act erratically as a result. in just the last week he lashed out at UN Watch and NGO Monitor, asking his fellow Israel-haters to help him find dirt on those organizations. He gave friendly PR advice to someone who calls Israelis "ZioNazis." (He removed that tweet after I slammed him for it, without apology or explanation.)

Now, there are new efforts to remove Gunness from his position.

A petition was started on Saturday night for the UN to investigate Gunness.

Unfortunately, UNRWA has fallen prey to increasingly polarized and biased rhetoric, pushed more and more often by its own spokespersons. While Israel has raised concerns about Mr. Gunness in the past [2], there has been no action taken to ensure that Mr. Gunness is returned to the realm of unbiased behavior befitting a human development agency whose mandate, he admits, must include neutrality.

Hundreds have signed on so far.

UN Watch, meanwhile, has publicly called on Pierre Krähenbühl to fire UNRWA officials who espouse hate based on a small sample of the evidence i have discovered:

UN Watch today expressed alarm at Facebook posts by UNRWA officials (see sample below) that openly incite to antisemitism and terrorism, and urged UNRWA chief Pierre Krähenbühl to take immediate action by terminating the officials, and issuing an apology.

“The pattern and practice of UNRWA school principals, teachers and staff members posting antisemitic and terror-inciting images suggests a pathology of racism and violence within UNRWA that must be rooted out, not buried, as UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has attempted to do by calling for boycotts of newspapers or NGOs that report these incidents of hate,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental Geneva watchdog organization.

“The UN must recognize that these disgusting posts, published on Facebook accounts run by people who identify themselves as UNRWA officials, constitute a gross violation of Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits “incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence,” said Neuer.

“Enough of the UNRWA strategy of impunity, denial and deflection. It’s time for the perpetrators to be held to account. They must be fired, immediately.”

And I have many more examples of UNRWA staff acting against UNRWA's neutrality principles. Not all of them are as egregiously antisemitic, but many call for violence, supportterror and show the desire to destroy Israel, all against UN positions.

If Gunness continues on his path of cover-ups and denials, he is setting UNRWA up to look even worse than it does. But clearly Chris Gunness has no desire to actually fix the problems.

Because he knows that if UNRWA would fire every employee who supports terrorism and violence against Israelis and Jews, there would be a severe shortage of staff left at UNRWA altogether.

But in the end, as Gunness' tweets, show, the UNRWA spokesperson supports the goals of its employees to destroy the Jewish state, which is why he will never do anything to help fix the agency. UNRWA's entire goal is to perpetuate the myth of never-ending refugee status among millions of people who cannot properly be called refugees. The reason is because UNRWA itself wants to see the destruction of Israel via the so-called "right to return" and it has no interest in solving the problem of statelessness among its "refugees."

As long as that is true, we cannot expect any real change at UNRWA. All we can do is shine light on its hypocrisy and tolerance for hate among its own people.

Turkey sends first delegation to Israel since Mavi Marmara

From Hurriyet Daily News:

A delegation of Turkish economic officials is set to hold talks this week with their Israeli counterparts to discuss establishing a new industrial zone for Palestinians in the West Bank, in the first visit after the deadly Mavi Marmara incident in 2010 which caused serious tension between Turkey and Israel.

“The main focus is the new industrial zone in collaboration with the U.S., emphasizing the Turks’ obligation to the Palestinian economy. We believe it is one of the keys to strengthening the area and this kind of collaboration,” Israeli diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News on Aug. 31.

The delegation is certainly an official economic delegation, sources said, adding customs-free export to the U.S. from the industrial zone is planned.

The news was first reported by the Israeli [sic] Ma’an News Agency late Aug. 30, citing an Israeli news website, nrg.co.il. According to the reports, the delegation will meet with Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation Ayoob Kara to discuss establishing a new industrial zone near the al-Jalaboa military checkpoint in the Jenin district of the occupied West Bank.

The development came nearly two months after senior diplomats from the two sides had a secret meeting in Rome to explore ways to normalize strained relations since May 2010. Turkey had issued three conditions to Israel for the normalization of ties but talks over a compensation package were yet to be finalized.

Besides the main story of Turkey wanting to warm relations with Israel, there is another angle.

Notice that the quote about the importance of helping the PA economy comes from an Israeli official, not a Turkish official.

This sort of demolishes the constant libels that Israel is trying to stifle the Palestinian Arab economy. The truth is quite the opposite - Israel wants to strengthen the PA economically, and the BDSers are the ones who want to weaken it by stopping all cooperation with Israel without a single viable alternative.

UNRWA teacher jokes about running over Jews with cars

This photo of a religious Jew appeared in the Facebook timeline of UNRWA teacher Ramy Alshorbasy last November:

The Arabic says ""Oh Lord, (let) me die from a stroke, and not run over (by a car)."

He added the comment, "You will die anyway."

Three of his friends commented:

Amen... the most important thing is that you die
Ha-ha-hah-ha
Amen, you son of a Jewess

UNRWA teacher Ramy gave "like"s to all three.

This was during the beginning of the "car intifada."

There is no doubt that Ramy is a UNRWA teacher since he has many photos taken at his UNRWA school.

I saw a similar poster making fun of Jews being axed to death after the Har Nof massacre at a UNRWA educational Facebook group, but UNRWA could claim that the group was not "official."

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

CNN reporter removes her "Mossad dolphin spy" tweet

Remember Salma Abdelaziz, the CNN reporter who seemed to believe the story about Israel sending spy dolphins to Gaza?

As I noted at the time, every other news outlet treated Hamas' claims as a joke - but not Salma.

People made lots of fun of her on Twitter for reporting the story straight.

So, courageous young reporter that she is, Abdelaziz silently removed her tweet about the story.

At least she is showing some shame. Unlike her colleague Don Melvin, who similarly grabbed a likely sounding anti-Israel story made up by less than trustworthy sources and reported it as if it was to be taken seriously.

Melvin, unlike Abdelaziz, doubled down on his "reporting" and brushed aside criticisms, even blocking me on Twitter.

He defended that as well, claiming that I accused him of favoring genocide.

I never said any such thing.

But why should we expect accuracy and fairness from CNN reporters?

(h/t Ian, Bob K)

UNRWA teacher posts blood libel cartoon

An UNRWA teacher in Jordan, named Nasreen Hammoud, posted this cartoon on Facebook showing a Jew (with an American fork) cutting up and eating a Palestinian child while drinking his blood.

Does this violate UNRWA's alleged "neutrality" requirements for employees? Of course it does.

Will UNRWA admit that it has a problem with so many employees posting such offensive things on Facebook? Of course not. They will continue to try to sweep it under the rug.

And I will continue to expose them as we have been doing..

Any reporter who needs more details on the research I have been doing, and how it can be reproduced by anyone, can contact me.

08/30 Links: Matisyahu felt threatened during Spain gig; The lies and the myths of the anti-Israeli crowd

From Ian:

The lies and the myths of the anti-Israeli crowd

Yet over the last decade or so, fuelled by a growing body of anti-Western culture in our democracies, a rise in anti-Semitism that may be partially linked to the new demographics and a distinct and understandable discomfort amongst many Jewish people over the status quo, the type of abuse about Israel that was once only in the forums of the white supremacist sites, has entered mainstream society. Whereas in the past, such discourse would be shouted down, ridiculed and opposed as soon as it entered the conversation, the middle ground is shaking under a barrage of distortions and myth making that demonize Israel in every way that is imaginable.
These myths are now not only apparent in the writing of self-hating or Arab ‘academics’, but can be seen in mainstream news outlets, regurgitated and repackaged in left wing circles and of course spreading wildly on the university campus. You are now likely to hear one or more of these myths told as ‘fact’ around almost any dinner table. Aided by a strategy that follows Goebbels’ ‘big lie’ principle, the most absurd labels are being applied, the most daring rewrites of history are occurring and the basic elements of logic are being discarded. If you doubt this, try to explain how LGBT movements are standing alongside some of the most homophobic groups on earth to line up against the only nation in the Middle East that the gay community can reside freely in. What unites them is simply unreasonable hatred supported by a quivering mountain of lies.
This isn’t about political opinion, it is about falsehoods taking a firm grip on the narrative and demonizing Israel to the point that even some staunch supporters of Israel are become desensitised and unable to differentiate between truth and myth. So having recently read yet another batch of hate driven nonsense, I thought I would simply extract the most flagrant myths and distortions and address them in turn.

Ryan Bellerose: Why Matisyahu Put The Nail In The Coffin Of BDS

The entire point of BDS is to alienate, marginalize and silence Jews. BDS winning doesn’t require people actually boycotting Israel; it only requires them to marginalize Jews.
When Jews take the attitude “It’s not worth it so I’m not gonna bother,” BDS wins. Every single time a Jew decides not to attend an event because they may or may not encounter asshattery, BDS wins. When Jews decide to keep their Jewishness on the downlow to avoid problems, BDS wins.
So when does BDS lose? When Jews are visible, and unapologetic, when Israel supporters are loud and unabashed. That’s when BDS loses because it has no way to counter those things without revealing itself to be what it is – a movement calculated to attack Jews and isolate them.
Matisyahu just showed the pro-Israel world the blueprint on how to beat these people, and it didn’t involve the classic “not rocking the boat” as some mainstream Jewish organizations would have us believe. I couldn’t believe that I saw people advocating for Matisyahu to stay home, to collect the money for being cancelled but to not perform. In truth, nothing would have been worse; if he stayed away, it would have been a victory for those who want to silence any Jewish voice that doesn’t parrot their anti Israel garbage. By staying unseen, he would have given them what they wanted.
By going and by performing the songs he performed, Matisyahu not only showed that BDS failed but that it failed in an abject manner; that he was unafraid, not intimidated and unbowed. It was actually a heroic thing to do and he should be applauded.

Matisyahu says he felt threatened during Spain gig

It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to be a reggae artist, accustomed to festivals filled with marijuana-induced serene audiences, facing a crowd of raised middle fingers along with chants to get out—and feeling physically threatened for the first time in one’s life as a performer.
That’s the exact scenario American Jewish reggae rapper Matisyahu found himself in when he took the stage August 23 at the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Benicassim, a town near Valencia, Spain.
While standing back stage, Matisyahu noticed a Palestinian flag in the audience, but when he stepped on to set up “about 20 flags came out,” he told The Daily Beast in a phone interview. “People were standing on each other’s shoulders with flags giving me the middle finger. It was intense. It was not peaceful. It was like ‘F__k you, Matisyahu.’ I’ve never had the experience of anything like that, as a Jew or anything in my life.”
Matisyahu said that the Rototom performance marked one of the only times he’s ever felt unsafe taking the stage.
“I just assumed everyone in the festival was going to be regular reggae festival-goers, so I got really nervous. I felt totally open and that anyone could do whatever they want,” he said.

Israellycool And Readers Get Shirley Temper’s Name Splashed Across Daily Mail (Updated)

Israellycool readers recognized the biting girl as the Pallywood star “Shirley Temper”, whose exploits I have documented comprehensively on this blog. Exploits which involve deliberately trying to provoke IDF soldiers under the watchful and encouraging eye of her parents, in order to produce great images for propaganda.
And they might have gotten away with it too, had it not been for those meddling yids!
Readers inundated the Daily Mail with links to this blog showing what Shirley Temper and her family have been up to. And Brian of London also contacted an editor over at the paper.
And the Daily Mail responded – by changing the tone of the story entirely, providing context to it and revealing Shirley Temper’s history.

Obviously Israel is sending inferior cement to Gaza

From Ma'an:

The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, said Saturday that one of its members had been killed in a tunnel accident in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the group identified the dead man as Anwar Faraj al-Ghalban, 23, from Khan Younis. The statement did not specify how or where the accident took place.

Al-Qassam Brigades said in the statement that they would spare no effort in their resistance to Israel and would keep fighting to "free Palestine."

They said that their members were doing their best despite difficult circumstances to make preparations, including by digging tunnels, to fight the Israeli occupation.

Ma'an then pretends that most of the tunnel activity is for smuggling weapons from Egypt:

Smuggling tunnels that pass beneath the Egyptian border have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt.

A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and military purposes in the north, are notoriously dangerous.

Hmmm, "military purposes in the north." What might those be?

.@UNRWA's @ChrisGunness gives friendly PR advice to someone calling Israelis "ZioNazi jackals" (UPDATE)

Over the weekend, a new piece of Pallywood propaganda was released, as photos of an Israeli soldier attempting to stop a boy from throwing stones went viral but, amazingly, the truth about the boy and his family's history of violence and Pallywood became part of the story. See Israellycool for the full story.

Here's a photo that has surfaced that seems to be of the kid in the arm cast appearing to throw before the IDF soldier tried to subdue him. (UPDATE: It is a from a YouTube video but his hand appears to be empty.)

Chris Gunness of UNRWA, naturally, tweeted the incident without such context, and one of his fans responded by calling Israelis "jackals" and "ZioNazis":

Gunness responded with some advice to his bigoted follower to be careful in how he or she speaks, because the world doesn't take kindly to people who speak such obvious truths of considering Israelis to be subhuman:

He doesn't denounce his comrade for demonizing Israelis as "ZioNazis." No, this UNRWA spokesman only gave some advice that the world, unfairly, doesn't like dehumanizing Jews and Zionists the way they deserve to be and that his tweeter should be more careful in how he shows his hate.

According to Gunness, the message is accurate, but it might get sidetracked because of the "zoological imagery" used.

He has nothing bad to say about referring to Israelis as "ZioNazis." He does not distance himself from the comment. No, Chris Gunness only wants to make sure that messages of hate against Israel are couched in more politically correct terms so that the world can be more receptive to anti-Israel propaganda.

This is yet another example of Chris Gunness' "neutrality."

Someone started a petition for the UN to investigate Gunness for violating his agency's own neutrality standards so egregiously.

UPDATE: Gunness removed his tweet, as usual without apology.

Hamas terrorists use Caterpillar equipment, Red Crescent paramedics in propaganda video

The "boycott Israel" movement likes to target Caterpillar because Israel has used their equipment to destroy terror infrastructure.

Hamas hasn't gotten the message.

In a new video released by Hamas, they show Caterpillar equipment (0:35) being used to dig in Gaza. The first scene is apparently of them using this equipment to reach terrorists who are caught in a tunnel explosion, and people with Red Crescent logos go into the tunnel to evacuate the terrorists. It is not showing live events, of course, meaning that Hamas commissions Cat equipment for use in propaganda videos, and Gaza paramedics are apparently complicit as well - the ambulance is clearly seen as a prop.

Obviously some construction equipment and materials make it through the "siege" of Gaza.

Girls' military camp in Gaza (photos)

The PFLP ended their "Vanguard of Return" summer camp in Gaza - but now they are mentioning that the camp was to train girls in becoming militants, too.

08/29 Links: Obama’s Iran Deal Hypocrisy Knows No Limits; The Return of Shirley Temper

From Ian:

Questions raised over shocking West Bank image of boy with a broken arm being held at gunpoint by an Israeli soldier after girl, 13, seen biting attacker is revealed as prolific 'Pallywood star'

Questions have been raised over the authenticity of shocking images of a boy with a broken arm being held at gunpoint by an Israeli soldier after a 13-year-old girl seen biting his attacker is said to be a prolific 'Pallywood star'.
The remarkable images which surfaced online on Friday appeared to show an IDF soldier armed with a machine gun grappling with the little boy as two women make desperate attempts to pull him off following protests in the West Bank.
A young girl is seen ambushing the balaclava-clad soldier by forcing the weapon from his hands and biting him before he flees the scene.
But it is thought the young girl in the photographs is Ahed Tamimi [aka Shirley Temper], whose parents Bassem and Nariman - also pictured - are well-known Palestinian activists in their village of Nabi Saleh.
The teenager has appeared in a string of similar videos where she challenges Israeli security forces and rose to prominence after she was filmed confronting one who arrested her brother, which resulted in her being presented with a bravery award. (h/t Sergio)

Tila Tequila kicked off Celebrity Big Brother after praising Hitler on Facebook and posting a picture wearing Nazi gear in front of Auschwitz

Glamour model Tila Tequila has been kicked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house after it emerged that she posed in front of Auschwitz in Nazi gear and claimed to be 'Hitler reborn'.
Hundreds of viewers and campaigners complained about the controversial American star who has previously praised the German dictator and referred to herself as 'Hitila', which lead Channel 5 and Endermol to remove her from the house on Friday, one day after she entered.
A Channel 5 spokesman said: 'Unfortunately, Channel 5 and Endemol did not know about the views and attitudes Tila had expressed in social media postings prior to her involvement in Celebrity Big Brother.
Glamour model Tila Tequila has been kicked off Celebrity Big Brother after it emerged that she posed in front of Auschwitz in Nazi gear (pictured)
'When they were brought to our attention, she was called to the Diary Room for a discussion with producers and was subsequently removed from the house.
'The views Tila had expressed, and permitted to remain uncorrected, are totally unacceptable and, accordingly, her continued involvement in the programme was untenable.'

Israel hits back at Swiss envoy's 'ugly act' in showing Netanyahu bird droppings cartoon

Israel also took issue with Haas' upbeat characterization of Iran.
"What happened (in Zurich) proves that the nuclear deal ... created an unbridled incentive to pour billions of dollars into Iran without it being required to changes its policy of terror and belligerence," said Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
"Greed begets attempts to grovel before the Iranian regime, with attendant loss of basic sense and self-respect."
Switzerland and Israel have at times had fraught relations.
In 2009, Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland to protest a UN conference in Geneva attended by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Israel has also complained to Switzerland in the past about its purchase of natural gas from Iran.
In 1998, Swiss banks reached a $1.25 billion deal with Holocaust survivors and their descendants over the fate of funds deposited in Swiss banks by Jews during World War Two.

08/28 Links Pt2: Iran Cancels Berlin Opera over Israeli Conductor; Arab Spring Blowing into Gaza?

From Ian:

Report: Iran Cancels Berlin State Opera Show in Tehran over Israeli-Argentine Conductor

Iran said it canceled the concert of a Berlin orchestra set to be led by renowned Jewish conductor Daniel Barenboim because they consider his Israeli citizenship “illegitimate,” a BBC reporter revealed Friday on Twitter.
BBC correspondent Hadi Nili said a spokesperson for the Iranian Culture Ministry announced the cancellation, adding there is “no room in Iran for artists related to Zionist regime.”
Barenboim, the general music director of the Berlin State Opera and its orchestra, the Staatskapelle, announced this week his plan to take Germany’s top orchestra to Iran for a concert. His decision sparked outrage and protests from Israel, who lobbied the German government against the visit, The Guardian reported.
Barenboim, who moved to Israel from Argentina with his family when he was 9, has spent most of his career in Germany. He also has a Spanish and Argentinian citizenship.
The Israeli-Argentinian conductor has yet to comment on the cancellation of the concert.

Who’s Funding Pro-Palestinian Israeli ‘Human Rights’ Groups?

The organization goes by the unwieldy name of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat. According to its annual report, it is “a project implemented by NIRAS NATURA AB – Sweden, and the Institute of Law, Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine, with generous support from the governments of Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland.”
In other words, the money itself is European. But the ones who decide what to do with it are Niras Natura – which describes itself as an international consultancy firm in the field of sustainable development – and the faculty of Birzeit. And since the Birzeit people are the ones actually on the ground, they presumably have considerable influence over how the money is spent.
The Secretariat’s main job appears to be funneling money to other organizations. According to the annual report, it had 24 “core grantees” and 19 “project grantees” last year. Nine of the former and two of the latter are Israeli; the rest are Palestinian.
When the war broke out in July 2014, the Secretariat put out a call to its core grantees soliciting emergency funding requests. “The emergency funding call focused on activities related to monitoring and documentation of IHL [international humanitarian law] and human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, arising from the then ongoing war,” the report said. Requests were received from 11 organizations, including three Israeli ones, and the Secretariat decided to fund nine of them, including two Israeli groups – B’Tselem and BTS.
But the money was intended for “monitoring and documentation” of alleged violations by one side only – Israel. That’s crystal clear from the report’s summary of its emergency grantees’ “achievements”: Not one of the nine says a word about the massive Palestinian violations of international humanitarian law.
The section on Breaking the Silence is particularly blatant. The Secretariat would have considered its money well spent, the report declared, had BTS managed to scrounge up even a single anti-Israel testimony from Israeli soldiers:

Watch How Anti-Israel Protest Leader Responds When We Ask Her if Hamas Is a Terrorist Organization

The leader of an anti-Israel protest in New York City Wednesday contended that the United States government is “much worse” than Hamas when asked if she would characterize the group as a terrorist organization.
“Do you think of Hamas as a terrorist organization?” a reporter for TheBlaze asked protest leader Lana Povitz, who represents Jewish Voices for Peace.
“I think of the United States government as a terrorist organization,” she responded.
“What’s worse: Hamas or the United States government?” our reporter pressed.
“The United States government is much worse,” Povitz said.
The anti-Israel activist said that Hamas is “not my favorite,” adding that her “first fight isn’t with them.” When asked who her first fight is with, Povitz answered, “The U.S. government because they are funding Israel.” (h/t Effect)