Saturday, September 19, 2015

Abbas can say anything and the media will never criticize him (poster)

Why doesn't any reporter ever confront Mahmoud Abbas with his bigoted and often ridiculous statements?

Last year I published a list of questions reporters never asked Mahmoud Abbas:

1. What, specifically, have you done to prepare your people for peace with Israel?

2. Followup: Twenty years after Oslo, 60% of your people say the five year goal of the PA should be the destruction of Israel. Isn't this from your own state-run media and school curricula?

3. Why does the PA name institutions after terrorists who targeted innocent civilians? Isn't that inconsistent with the message you are giving to the West?

4. Why is there still daily incitement on PA TV against Israel?

5. Do you believe, as Arafat did, that there was never a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? Do you realize that this position is at odds with what Muslims said openly before 1967?

6. Describe your position on "normalization" with Israelis today. Can Israeli pro-peace groups visit Ramallah? Would you allow an Palestinian-Israeli sports camp?

7. Why did you threaten your citizens who dared to shop in a Jewish-owned supermarket that has low prices?

8. Recently you said that you believe that the Holocaust occurred. You wrote a book that claimed that it was exaggerated.Were you lying then, or are you lying now?

9. Do you really believe that Jews are raising dogs and wild boars and training them to attack Arab farms, as you have stated?

10. Do you really believe that Hamas would accept Israel's existence if you reconcile with them? Do you believe that Hamas still subscribes to its charter? Why or why not?

11. As leader of Fatah, why do the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group still exist? How do they get funded? Why didn't you denounce their shooting hundreds of rockets to Israeli civilians? Aren't you against that?

12. If they do not report to you, then why do you not distance yourself from them? And why did you say they were dismantled when they clearly weren't? Why did you allow them to hold an armed parade recently in Ramallah?

13. Do you agree with the Fatah platform that terrorism is legal under international law?

14. Why does some 6% of the PA budget go towards terrorist prisoners and released terrorists?

15. Do you consider the Mufti of Jerusalem who collaborated with Hitler to be a hero?

16. If you are so interested in peace, why did you go out of your way to meet with child-murderer Samir Kuntar?

17. You have publicly praised terrorists released from Israeli prisons, even embracing murderers.How do you reconcile that with your claims to be against terror?

18. Why did you, in September 2014, praise a terrorist who targeted Jewish children at a circus?

19. What percentage of the PA budget goes, directly or indirectly, to Hamas?

20. Can you explain your statement in 2013 that "it's better [Syrian Palestinians] die in Syria than give up their right of return"? How many Syrian Palestinians have died because of that position?

21. Do you support the rights of Lebanese Palestinians, if they choose, to become citizens of Lebanon? Why or why not?

22. Why are there still Palestinian "refugee" camps in the West Bank? Do you not consider their residents to be full citizens of Palestine? Are you keeping them away from having permanent homes in your country for a reason?

23. In 1950, Israel told UNRWA that it would be insulted to have an outside organization be the primary support for refugees, and it mainstreamed Arabs into becoming full citizens within a couple of years, negating their need for perpetual UN support. Do you disagree with that sentiment?

We can add more:

24. Do you really believe that Israel has engaged in genocide in Gaza, as you claimed in 2014?
25. When you say you don't want Israelis on the Temple Mount, are you including Israeli Arabs or only Jews? Would you allow non-Israeli Jews to go to the Mount and silently pray? Why or why not?
26. Would you allow Jewish settlers to remain in their homes if they agree to become Palestinian citizens?

Mahmoud Abbas will be in New York to address the General assembly this month. At some point he will almost certainly meet with reporters. If the past is any guide, none of them will ask any of these questions, and instead toss him softballs to give him a reason to rail against Israel.

The fact that no one asks these questions reveals two things: Reporters are not interested in opposing the false meme of a moderate Abbas going against a hawkish Israeli government, and that they do next to no research on their own and rely on their own circle of other like-minded reporters as providing them with the only facts worth knowing.

Every question I wrote here is backed by research and facts. But you won't find most of them ever reported in the mainstream media.

And that is the real scandal.

09/19 Links: Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott (for now), more Palestinian attacks, Saudis to head UN human rights panel

A quick post-Shabbat linkdump from EoZ:

IDF strikes in Gaza after rocket fire

The IAF struck three terror targets in northern Gaza overnight as a direct response to the rocket fire emanating from the territory last night. Two rockets were fired from Gaza, with one being intercepted by the Iron Dome system which was recently deployed to south on the backdrop of tensions over Jerusalem.
One rocket fired from Gaza fell in an open area inside the city of Sderot in a residential area, damaging a bus and a home Friday night before a second round of code red sirens was heard in the south, this time in the city of Ashkelon.
One rocket were shot down over Ashkelon just after 11:30pm by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, just three hours after the rocket strike on Sderot.

Weekend sees violent escalation

The weekend after Rosh Hashanah was marred by violence in Israel, with riots in the Shuafat refugee camp and in the At-Tur and Issawiya neighborhoods, Molotov cocktails that wounded border police fighters in Jabel Mukaber, Palestinians wounded and arrested, another attack on the Jerusalem light rail, and rocket fire in the south. This is a still incomplete litany of the violent incidents that rocked Israel this weekend (Friday and Saturday).

Jewish Lives Matter: Obama & World Silent as PA's Abbas Calls for Murder of "Filthy" Jews

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is calling on President Obama and other world and Jewish leaders to forcefully condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA) dictator Mahmoud Abbas' call to murder "filthy" Jews and "filthy" Christians to prevent them from "defiling" the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which are the holiest places in the Jewish and the Christians faiths). Abbas promised that those who attack Jews and Christians would be martyrs who will go to paradise. This is an immoral Nazi - like outrage. Jewish and Christian lives matter.

Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott

The capital of Iceland's decision to ban Israeli products is to be withdrawn, Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson told the Icelandic Broadcasting Service RÚV on Saturday, according to Iceland Magazine.
he magazine quoted Eggertsson: “Yes, the decision was poorly prepared. In the past I have taken great pride in preparing all big decisions thoroughly. I’ll admit here and now that I am angry with myself for not doing that, and for not having prepared the decision as well as I would have liked to. This was very unfortunate.”
While the statement may seem like backtracking, the magazine noted that the mayor intends to draft a new proposal that is more specific in its wording.
He earlier explained that he had intended to call for a boycott only of goods made by Israel in the Palestinian territories, not a blanket boycott of all Israeli goods.

Sabbatical salutations/administrivia/open thread

It has been a busy week as I tried to post an extra two articles a day while Ian is absent. It has been hard. (About six years ago I used to easily post as many as 11 articles a day. Then again, I did it all while at work. Don't tell my old boss that.)

Next week I will post my quarterly appeal for donations. If you want to beat the rush, feel free to donate now by clicking here:
Shabbat Shalom!

From Aaron Magid writing for Ma'an:

Born in Jordan, 27-year-old Muhammad’s life hardly resembles a typical Jordanian's. Lacking any political or civil rights, Muhammad explained that he is forbidden from working in most jobs, even a teacher at a public school. Muhammad faces these rigorous restrictions because his parents fled to Jordan from Gaza following the 1967 War.

“Compared to other Jordanian citizens, I am nothing,” explained Muhammad, who declined to provide his last name. Sadly, Muhammad’s predicament is not unique. Approximately 140,000 Palestinian refugees from Gaza live in a similar limbo as Muhammad in Jordan: denied most rights and often forced into a life of harsh poverty.

Nearly 2.1 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 350,000 Palestinians fled to Jordan with the majority moving to the West Bank, then controlled by the Hashemite Kingdom. The Nationality Law of 1954 provided Palestinian residents of the West Bank with full Jordanian citizenship after King Abdullah I annexed the West Bank on April 24, 1950. However, when the new wave of Palestinian refugees arrived in Jordan escaping from Gaza in the 1967 War, Amman treated them differently than their West Bank countrymen, refusing to provide them with Jordanian nationality or civil rights.

...According to an extensive report sponsored by the European Commission and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Palestinian refugees from Gaza are three times more likely to suffer from dire poverty living on less than $1.25 per day.

In addition to the economic restrictions, refugees from Gaza enjoy no political rights. Unlike Palestinian refugees from the West Bank in 1948, 1967 refugees from Gaza cannot vote in Jordanian elections or serve in the parliament. Gazan refugees are provided with a two-year temporary passport, without a national number.

By the way - these Gazans in Jordan are not refugees by any definition. They left Gaza voluntarily after the Six Day War simply because they didn't want to live under Jewish rule. They were not expelled, their villages were not destroyed, and they were not fleeing for fear of persecution (except for those who had terror ties.)

What I don't know is why they cannot move back to Gaza. Israel couldn't stop them if they go through Egypt, but I don't know if Jordan would allow them to go to Egypt or if Egypt would allow them in to begin with.

Jordan also bars Syrian refugees of Palestinian origin from entering the country.

Interestingly, some Syrian refugees have moved into Gaza through the remaining smuggling tunnels.

Another UNRWA teacher with "kill the Jew" cartoon on Facebook

Last month I showed that UNRWA teacher Mohammed Abu Staita posted this antisemitic cartoon on his Facebook page with the word bubble saying "Oh, Muslim, Oh, Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

He's not the only UNRWA employee who likes this cartoon.

UNRWA administrative assistant Basel Mohamed, who lives in Jerusalem, has the same cartoon on his Facebook page.

The cartoon is still on the other teacher's page, by the way.

9/18 links:Firebomb engulfs Israeli bus, Iran's 9/11 connection, Iceland FM denounces boycott

From Elder as we wait anxiously for Ian to fully recover:

Iceland’s Foreign Ministry renounces boycott on Israel

A day after the City Council in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, decided to impose a full boycott on Israeli products, the country’s Foreign Ministry clarified that it does not stand behind the local council’s decision. “The City Council’s decision does not represent Iceland’s relationship with Israel,” Iceland’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdóttir stated in a conversation with Channel 2 Online News.
“The City Council of Reykjavik is one of 74 local authorities in Iceland,” Gunnarsdóttir explained. “Like in other municipalities, the Reykjavik City Council is allowed to formulate a policy with regards to its local issues, including its purchasing policy, so long as it is in accordance with national legislation.”
The Spokeswoman added that the council’s decision “is not in line with Iceland’s foreign policy” and clarified that the capital’s decision should not be understood as a message to Israelis who wish to visit the country. “Israeli tourists and other visitors from Israel are of course welcome to Iceland, just as they have been up till now,” she explained.

Israeli bus set ablaze by firebomb

An Israeli bus was set on fire late Thursday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud after Palestinians hurled a firebomb at the vehicle, witnesses said.
Locals said that the bus went up in flames after youths targeted it while driving through the neighborhood. Israeli forces arrived in the area and cordoned off the scene of the incident.
Rocks were reportedly thrown at the vehicle before the firebomb, with no injuries reported.
Israeli media reported that the driver of the Egged bus was Palestinian, and fled the vehicle following the rock attacks.

Game-changer: Iran’s involvement with 9/11

The most remarkable aspect of this US surrender to Iran is that the Iranian regime is not some hypothetical threat. It has been perpetrating acts of war against Western interests for more than three decades – including playing a key role in the 9/11 attacks on America.
That’s not just my opinion. It’s the view of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In a judgment that has received virtually no attention, federal Judge George B. Daniels found in December 2011 that Iran, with the participation of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was directly and heavily involved in the 9/11 atrocities.
Some of the families of the 9/11 victims sought to enforce a measure of justice in the New York court against the atrocities’ perpetrators.
In 2011, Daniels agreed that Iran, Khamenei, former Iranian president Ali Rafsanjani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS), Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah and various Iranian government departments, government-owned companies and the central bank, had all provided direct and material aid and support to al-Qaida in carrying out the 9/11 attacks.

The Palestinians, 100 years of catastrophic mismanagement

It is 100 years since the Ottomans ruled the Middle East region, and today Israel is the single oasis of freedom in a bubbling regional mess. Anyone, who like I have, has grappled with the complex history of the Israel/Arab conflict, must have spent long periods attempting to unravel the events that were to bring about such suffering on both sides of the great divide. Like any journey in which the travellers become truly lost, there were many crossroads along the way, and some of the decisions made were to have a disastrous influence and carry long lasting irreversible consequences. The conflict as we know it today was not a forgone conclusion from the start, and given some strong and well-intended leadership, it could all have been very different. There have also been many ‘second chances’ , so these, in my opinion, are the 11 greatest mistakes made by the Arab leadership in and around Palestine.

PalArabs working in settlements increased over 61% since PA passed law AGAINST it

In 2010, the Palestinian Authority issued a law making it illegal for citizens to work in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.

I cannot find any statistics from before 2012, but in the first quarter of that year, 13,000 PA citizens were working in the settlements.

The latest report from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says:

The number of workers from the West Bank working in Israel and settlements is now 110,300 workers in the first quarter 2015 compared to 105,200 workers in the fourth quarter of 2014...

The number of employees in the Israeli settlements increased from 20,200 workers in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 20,900 workers in the first quarter 2015.

That is a 61% increase since the beginning of 2012, and the numbers since the law was enacted in 2010 are probably more dramatic - possibly as much as a 100% increase.

These are the highest numbers of both workers in Israel and in the settlements since the second intifada as far as I can tell.

The reason is easy to see. Israelis pay more than double the wages that Arabs do.

The report says that the average daily wage in the West Bank is 94.2 shekels, versus 196.4 shekels for those working for Israelis. And the ones in Israel average two fewer hours per week of work.

About one in nine West Bank workers is employed by an Israeli.

This means that close to 25% of all wages earned by West Bank Arabs comes from Israeli employers.

The boycott does not seem to be working very well. And if the law would be enforced against working in the settlements, the unemployment rate in the West Bank would rise by about two percentage points, which is significant.

The PA is trying to find Arab countries who can employ Palestinians, but with the wars in Yemen and Syria this is not working out too well for them either.

Blood libel, brought to you by Vodafone

Al Masalla bills itself as the first electronic travel and tourism portal in Arabic.

Based in Egypt, it has many articles about current travel news geared towards Arabs.

One of their major advertisers is Vodafone, with a header ad on every single page of the site.

Last year, the site featured a purely antisemitic article about "secrets of the Jews." It includes the classic blood libel, saying that Jews kill Christian children to bake both Passover matzoh and Purim pancakes with their blood to appease their god who demands gentile blood from them.

It also says that Jews are commanded to rape gentile women because they are considered animals, and lots of other lovely "secrets" of the same type.

And on top of that page is, again Vodafone.

The company might want to know that their name is being associated with Jew-hatred.

(h/t Shawarma News)

Poll indicates that J-Street Jews are JINOs (Jews In Name Only)

The American Jewish Committee just released a poll of US Jews' opinions on many subjects, including the Iran deal.

It finds that a small majority of American Jews support the deal, although those with strong opinions were far more against it:

Recently, the U.S., along with five other countries, reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?

Approve strongly
Approve somewhat
Disapprove somewhat
Disapprove strongly 16.4
34.2
19.8
27.4

But when asked about specifics, practically none felt that the deal would do what J-Street claims it would do:

How confident are you that this agreement will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?

11. Will Israel’s security be more threatened or less threatened by the Iran nuclear deal?

More Threatened
Less Threatened
Stay the same 42.8
17.9
37.8

12. How confident are you about the ability of the U.S. and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to monitor Iran’s compliance?

Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not so confident
Not at all confident 6.1
37.8
28.2
26.1

- See more at: http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8479755&ct=14759049#sthash.PgPHBBvQ.dpuf

Here's the interesting part, though.

Support for the deal plummets among Jews in direct proportion to how much they care about Judaism and Israel.

As the AJC press release says:

While 51 percent of total respondents approve of the deal and 47 percent disapprove, there is a significant split within the community on the issue: those who consider being Jewish very important, those who view caring about Israel as a key part of their Jewish identity, and those belonging to the traditional denominations of Judaism are far more likely to oppose the deal than others. It may, in fact, be appropriate, in light of the data, to speak of two diverging Jewish sub-communities.

Among those who consider their being Jewish “very” important, 61 percent disapprove of the agreement (37 percent “strongly”), while 38 percent approve it (12 percent “strongly”). In contrast, 55 percent of those for whom being Jewish is “fairly” important approve the deal (15 percent “strongly”), as do 59 percent of those for whom being Jewish is not important (22 percent “strongly”).

Similarly, a majority—54 percent—of those for whom caring about Israel is an important component of their Jewish identity disapprove of the deal, 19 percent “strongly,” while 66 percent of those for whom caring about Israel is not an important component agree with the deal, 27 percent “strongly.”

Fully 67 percent of Orthodox and Conservative Jews disapprove of the agreement, 45 percent “strongly.” Yet 54 percent of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews approve of it (19 percent “strongly”), as do 69 percent of those who identify as “just Jewish” (24 percent “strongly”).

Unfortunately, there are many more American Jews who are Jewishly ignorant than those who care about Judaism and Israel. 74% of those surveyed identified with being Reform, Reconstructionist or "just Jewish" - a plurality of 37% for the latter category. (While there are certainly some Reform Jews with strong Jewish identities, most Jews who know nothing about their religion but go to synagogue twice a year will self-identify as Reform.)

So this is how you can find absurd results like the responses to these two questions:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The goal of the Arabs is not a peaceful two-state agreement with Israel, but rather the destruction of Israel.”

Agree
Disagree 73.1
25.1

Do you favor or oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state?

Favor
Oppose 51.9
46.1

How can this be reconciled? Because so many Jews don't care about Israel.

And those are the Jews who support the Iran deal.

When J-Street claims to be representing the majority of American Jews, they are still lying - as the poll shows, a plurality of American Jews feel that the deal is dangerous and practically none buy into J-Street's argument that the Iran deal is actually good. But the Jews who most strongly support the deal are the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel or Judaism - Jews In Name Only, or JINOs.

And the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel and Judaism - the ignorant Jews or the Jews who are hostile towards Israel - are the ones who support J-Street's positions.

Gulf News feature on Jerusalem filled with anti-Jewish lies

Gulf News created a slick, multimedia feature article about Jerusalem that is filled with absurd anti-Jewish lies.

Jerusalem was illegally annexed by Israel after it conquered the city in 1967. Almost 50 years later, the 350,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem still live under a brutal Israeli occupation that ignores their rights, and they have no realistic hope of any change.

They have every right to become Israeli citizens and enjoy the same rights as any other Israeli citizen. And many have done so.

The Israelis are strangling Jerusalem’s unique Arab culture which must rely on its own powerful heritage to give itself what strength it can find.

Um...no, they're not. Even the Israel Museum includes plenty about Muslim and Arab culture. Nothing is happening to jeopardize Muslim holy places.

Compare how a Muslim leader and a Christian leader refer to Jerusalem:

Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Shaikh Ekrima Sabri, agreed on the powerful spiritual importance of the city, when he told Gulf News that “Jerusalem is a spiritual and religious city. It is the site of the miracle of the Mi’raj which links Jerusalem to heaven and to Makkah”.

And Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III of Jerusalem, also insisted that a formal inclusion of religion must be part of the eventual solution as he told Gulf News “We want Jerusalem to be a city for two peoples and three religions, and Jerusalem has enough room to accommodate everyone.

The only people who want to destroy the existing religious character of the city are the Muslims.

Al Buraq Wall
The foundation stones of the last Jewish temple built by Herod in 20 BC make up Al Buraq Wall, called the Western Wall or Kotel by the Jews. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and the huge stones visible today are the last remnants of the temple. As such they are a holy and venerated site for all Jews.

After 1967 when the Israelis captured the Old City, they bulldozed the houses nearby and forced the creation of the modern day plaza in front of the Wall. Al Haram Al Sharif is directly above Al Buraq Wall and the more extreme Jews believe that they have the right to intrude into Al Haram Al Sharif to prove their dominance over the Muslims. The Israeli police and authorities have permitted this activity despite it being illegal under international law.

Jews visiting their holy sites is actually protected under international law, not illegal.
Of course the article doesn't say that the Jewish Temples were on the Temple Mount.

In the chaotic days of 1,000 BC the Jewish tribes of Israel were split between the southern confederation of Judah based in Hebron, and the northern confederation of Israel based in Nablus. These two Jewish groups were divided by the pagan city of Jerusalem which was independent under its Jebusite rulers. King David reunited Israel and Judah but found it impossible to turn them into one nation until he conquered Jerusalem and established it as the new capital of the united Judah and Israel.

This is complete fiction. Judah and Israel were not separated in David's time.

The entire article is filled with similar falsehoods and exaggerations in an attempt to teach lies to their readers.

(h/t John G)

Imperial War Museum calls Jewish Brigade WWII soldiers "terrorists"

This is outrageous.

The Imperial War Museum describes the Jewish Brigades of World War II this way:

Terrorist activities: Men of the 1st Battalion, Jewish Brigade during a march past. The Jewish Brigade was formed in September 1944 and fought in Italy under the British Eighth Army. Many of its members went on to join the Haganah and other illegal formations.

That is how they describe the Jewish Brigades???

This is inexcusable. Nothing about how they were formed, how they trained, how they fought - just calling them future terrorists (and incidentally referring to the Haganah as an illegal organization, which it wasn't - at times it cooperated with the British.)

The IWM does have some interesting pages, though, like this photo of a menorah built for orphan children from a Sten gun and cartridges.

(h/t Josh K)

Israel’s two greatest strategic mistakes (Vic Rosenthal)

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Vic Rosenthal's weekly column:

The murder of Alexander Levlovitz in Jerusalem when he was driving home from a Rosh Hashana dinner, is the latest in a series of cases of Jews killed or seriously injured by rocks and firebombs thrown by Arabs. The daily attacks in Judea/Samaria and Jerusalem rarely make the news outside of Israel, and even here we seem to accept them as natural phenomena, like large hailstones or volcanic eruptions, until someone dies or is maimed for life.

Right now this kind of terrorism is particularly prevalent, while at the same time a battle between police and rioting Arabs continues on the Temple Mount. The Arabs are upset because Israel’s government has decided that it is not acceptable for screaming mobs of Muslims to accost Jews trying to visit the Mount, where they are nevertheless not allowed to pray. There is continuous incitement on social media and in mosques calling on Muslims to “defend al-Aqsa,” which they can do on the Temple Mount or on highway 443.

Ever since the riots orchestrated by al-Husseini in the 1920s, the accusation that Israel plans to replace the al-Aqsa mosque with a Jewish temple has been effective in producing violent behavior among Muslims, despite its almost comical falsehood. Anything that Israel does in connection with the Mount is used as a pretext to make this accusation. The reason it works has to do with the first of two ideological principles that serve as foundations for Arab violence against Jews in Israel. Failure to take these principles into account led to the two greatest strategic errors made by Israel’s leaders since the founding of the state.

One principle is that of Muslim supremacy, according to which it is absolutely unacceptable that non-Muslims should in any way govern or control Muslims. A corollary is that a non-Muslim presence in what Muslims consider a holy place pollutes it. The so-called ‘status quo’ that has existed on the Temple Mount since it came under Jewish control in 1967 is a compromise – and you know compromises never fly with Muslims – to try to get around this. The status quo places the Mount under civil control of the Jordanian waqf, and allows non-Muslims to visit on a limited basis, but not to pray there.

Making this deal was the first great strategic error, because it should have been obvious that the Arabs would never be satisfied with anything less than full sovereignty over the Mount. Over the years, it has been a flash point for violence; and Israel has usually bowed to the threat of violence and little by little allowed its hard-won sovereignty to erode. For example, on several occasions the waqf has carried out construction projects while ignoring Israeli laws about safeguarding archaeologically sensitive areas; in fact, Jewish artifacts have been deliberately destroyed and Israel did nothing.

The other principle is the Palestinian Narrative, which asserts that the Jewish state is illegitimate, built on land stolen from indigenous ‘Palestinians’, and that violent ‘resistance to occupation’ is justified (indeed, more than justified: worthy of the highest praise).

The narrative got a massive boost from the second major Israeli mistake: the Oslo accords.

Oslo was not just a tactical error which led to the Second Intifada and thousands of dead Jews and Arabs, but also a strategic and ideological error from which Israel is suffering even today, long after the Intifada has been suppressed. The Oslo process implicitly validated much of the Palestinian narrative, asserting that Israel recognized the terrorists of the PLO as the representatives of the “Palestinian people” and spoke of “mutual legitimate and political rights.” Today the heritage of Oslo is the popularity in Washington and Europe of the idea that the 1949 armistice lines mark a border between Israel and ‘Palestinian’ territory, something that Yitzhak Rabin would have very vigorously opposed.

Recovery from these mistakes will be a long process and require a great deal of resolve and persistence. Among the difficulties associated with the Temple Mount is the position of Jordan, whose prestige in the Muslim world is directly tied to the waqf being in control of the Mount. No matter how King Abdullah feels about the PLO, Hamas and Palestinians in general – one suspects that his feelings are less than warm – he cannot appear less committed to Muslim sovereignty there than they are.

If Israel were to evict or sideline the waqf and take over full control, as it should have done in 1967, the pressure on Abdullah to take action would be immense. At the same time, he is dependent on Israel for the survival of his minority regime, which would place him in an impossible situation, perhaps even lead to an Islamist coup.

Only a gradual approach to recover sovereignty bit by bit, will work. Outlawing the screaming Muslim mobs on the Temple Mount was a good first step, but even that small step has had its price in Arab violence.

Neither are there easy ways to undo the damage done by Oslo. Arafat should have been killed in 1982, and the PLO should have been destroyed (both were saved by American intervention – US Marines escorted the PLO onto ships bound for Tunis). The moribund PLO never should have been revived and brought back to Israel in 1993. Unfortunately, we don’t have a time machine to go back and undo these errors.

One of the first acts of Yasser Arafat after Oslo was to take control of the media and educational system, which he turned into engines of indoctrination against Israel, Jews and ‘normalization’ – anything that might tend to reduce tensions between Jews and Arabs. 22 years later, a generation of Arabs that grew up under this system are stoning, burning and stabbing Jews to death whenever they have an opportunity.

Unfortunately, nothing has been done to change this. Oslo has long been abrogated and the Palestinian Authority has no legal authority; but Israel is afraid that if the PA collapsed it would be replaced by Hamas or worse. So it continues to prop it up. But the hateful incitement from PA media and its educational system must be stopped before it breeds yet another generation of terrorists.

Both of these mistakes were made because Israel assumed that compromise was an effective tactic when dealing with Arabs. Compromise is greatly admired in the West, where magnanimity is associated with strength. In the Middle East, an offer of compromise is understood as an admission of weakness. If I can take all of something, then why should I give you any? Therefore, I must not be strong enough to take it.

I am sure that the Arabs were surprised when Moshe Dayan offered them control of the Temple Mount. After all, Israel had conquered Jerusalem. Many of them were probably expecting to be kicked out of their homes, as the Jordanians had done to the Jews in 1948. But instead of teaching them that they had been defeated, Dayan gave them hope that by continued struggle they could prevail.

And if they do, you had better believe they will not be magnanimous.

9/17 Links: Ann Coulter's "F**ing Jews," Boy on Hamas TV wants to blow up the Jews, Reykjavik BDS in violation of WTO treaty

Ian is still recovering. From Elder:

Iceland Capital’s Israel Boycott is Flagrant Violation of WTO Treaty

Reykjavik, Iceland passed a law boycotting all Israeli products. Both Israel and Iceland are parties to an international trade treaty which bans such boycotts.

Boy tells Hamas children's TV he wants to 'blow up the Jews'

Translation of children's program broadcast on Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV shows interviewer asking young boys dressed in military fatigues what they want to be when they grow up. One boy replies: "An engineer ... so I can blow up the Jews."

Ann Coulter accuses Republican candidates of pandering to 'f---ing Jews'

Controversial conservative pundit Ann Coulter posted a series of arguably anti-Semitic tweets at the tail end of Wednesday night's Republican debate, accusing the candidates of pandering to Jewish voters, including one posing the hypothetical question of: "How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?"
Coulter, who has 660,000 Twitter followers, was reacting to the frequent mentions of Israel made by participants in the second televised Republican debate held Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.
She first tweeted criticism of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's support for Israel when answering the question "What will AMERICA [emphasis her's] look like after you are president?", asking "How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?” She also wrote: "Good Grief, Huckabee is running for prime minister of Israel."

"Disgusting," charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish Human Rights NGO. "And if a simple, "I am sorry" is beyond the reach of the vocabulary of this noted wordsmith, then perhaps she has unearned her spot among top tier political pundits," Cooper concluded.

UNRWA teacher says he'll sweep the floor with a Jew's beard

This is an UNRWA teacher in the West Bank who calls himself "Abu Laure" on Facebook.

He has posted this picture with the caption, "With this you will find the resistance appealing."

And he also posted this photo:

The text says:

"I wear a keffiyah and I dance, and with [the keffiya] I'll catch the Zionist's beard and sweep [the floor] with it."

Ironically, the photo is of an anti-Zionist.

But we all know what "Abu Laure" really means when he says he wants to sweep the floor with the "Zionist's" beard, don't we?

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

UPDATE: The page has been taken down.

Al Quds al-Arabi has an exclusive interview with Mahmoud Abbas where he threatens to "explode a bomb" at the end of his upcoming speech at the United Nations.

He is presumably speaking metaphorically.

In an exclusive interview with «Quds Al-Arabi» Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke frankly about American, Arab and Israeli pressure, which made him consider resigning.He also spoke about the strong opposition to the idea of a Jewish state as a justification of religious wars in the Middle East and as [the same as] extremist organizations calling themselves the "Islamic state." The meeting with Abu Mazen took place in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, and contrary to reports in some Israeli media from their security services, Abu Mazen at the age of eighty showed a sharp mind through the interview and remembers the smallest details.

On the volatile situation in Jerusalem Abbas said Israel is practically dividing the Al-Aqsa Mosque temporally and perhaps spatially between Jews and Muslims, saying that "the temporal and spatial division will not succeed at all", and "Jerusalem is a red line that we will not allow any infringement upon".

And on his next trip to the United Nations, Abbas said he will talk about Oslo and the Israeli violations represented by the decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court to allow the demolition of Palestinian homes in areas A and B, two areas which are supposed to be subject to the rule of the Palestinian Authority administratively.

Abbas has promised that he will present a surprise, saying "I will at the end of the speech have a bomb. I will not reveal what the bomb is".

Whatever stunt he decides to pull - and it will be a stunt, not substantive - it will be because of something else he said in the interview, that "the Arab world is preoccupied with their problems."

Abbas has over the years threatened to resign, threatened to stop security coordination with Israel, threatened to dismantle the PA multiple times. Each time it was a pathetic attempt to become the focus of attention when the world was concerned with real problems. As Abbas himself has admitted, his people are not in bad shape by any measure. But like a toddler, Palestinian Arabs hate not being the center of attention, so they will continue to threaten to blow up the Oslo process without being willing to lose the benefits that the process gave them - autonomy, world acceptance as a state and the symbols of sovereignty. They hope that their threats will increase pressure on Israel, because to them this is preferable to actually making any meaningful gestures for peace.

Abbas attacked the idea of a Jewish state saying:"If Israel wants to be a Jewish state, there would be justification for the organization "Islamic state" and others to create an Islamic state in Syria, Gaza, Egypt and so on.

This fits in with the Arab view that Judaism is only a religion, and not an expression of nationhood, as it has been understood for millennia. Calling Israel a Jewish state is analogous to calling "Palestine" an Arab state, not an Islamic state.

But Abbas' hypocrisy is crystal clear even without that argument.

Just look at the Palestinian constitution and you will see that "Palestine" already defines itself as an Islamic nation!

Palestine is part of the Arab homeland. The state of Palestine abides by the Charter of the League of Arab States. The Palestinian people are part of the Arab and Islamic nations.

Most Arab countries already define themselves as "Arab states" and Islam as their official state religions.

And:

Islam is the official religion in Palestine.

Israel doesn't even have a state religion. "Palestine" does.

It would really be nice if a reporter would one day confront this hypocritical bigot with his own words. Abbas is coming to New York - which reporter has the guts to actually do his or her job?