Friday, November 20, 2015

.@Amnesty is against incitement to violence - unless it is incitement to murder Jews

This week, Israel banned the Islamic Movement Northern Branch because of its history of incitement:

The Prime Minister’s Office said that outlawing the northern branch of the Islamic Movement is an essential step in maintaining public security. The decision, the Prime Minister’s Office added, is directed toward those who motivate and support incitement and racist activities, destabilize the area and cause loss of life. “This move is not directed against the Arab and Muslim public in Israel, the great majority of which upholds the laws of the state and disavows incitement and terrorism,” the Prime Minister’s Office emphasized.

“The northern branch of the Islamic Movement has for years lead a deceitful campaign of incitement under the title ‘Al-Aqsa is in danger,’ falsely accusing Israel of intending to harm the mosque and deviate from the status quo,” read documents disturbed by the Prime Minister’s Office. The document added that “the northern branch established a salaried group of activists (called the Morabitat) aimed at initiating provocations on the Temple Mount. This action significantly raised tensions on the Temple Mount. A large portion of the recent attacks were carried out against the backdrop of this incitement and propaganda.”

The document adds: “The northern branch, led by Sheik Ra’ad Salah, is a sister-movement of the terrorist organization Hamas. The movements maintain close, secret ties. The northern branch of the Islamic Movement is a separatist, racist group that does not recognize the institutions of the State of Israel, denies its right to exist, and calls for replacing it with an Islamic Caliphate in its place.” Salah was sentenced in October to 11 months in jail after being convicted in 2013 of incitement to violence over remarks he made in 2007. He has not begun serving his term.

Amnesty, as always, takes the side of those who incite to kill Jews:

The human rights organization Amnesty International said the decision to outlaw the Islamic Movement raises concerns over freedom of speech and association in Israel, noting in particular the raids, preventative arrests and property confiscations as causes for concern. “Especially worrying is the fact the decision was made by the Israeli cabinet, without a fair process which gives the movement the chance to defend itself in legal proceedings,” said a statement released by Amnesty.

“We’re worried by the selective enforcement, that while those who encourage the atmosphere of incitement against the Palestinian minority in Israel, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cabinet ministers and other high officials enjoy immunity, the northern branch of the Islamic Movement has been outlawed due to remarks made by individual members,” said Yonatan Gher, CEO of the Israel branch of Amnesty International.

Amnesty's lies are particularly disgusting here. No one in the Israeli cabinet incites against the entire Arab population, only against terrorists and their supporters, and Amnesty is libeling Netanyahu by claiming that he does it personally.

But the Amnesty official is also ignoring the ties of the movement to Hamas, its direct incitement over supposed Israeli schemes to demolish Al Aqsa, leader Raed Salah's antisemitism, his absurd lies meant to inflame Arabs, and his explicit support of terror.

One only needs to glance at Raed Salah's Facebook page:

He celebrated the murder of Jews praying a year ago with the Koranic quote "'How terrible will be the mourning of those who were warned'" - The heroic operation of Jerusalem 2014/11/18"

He added a smiling face for good measure. The caption says that these pictures "gives you an appetite" for more.

He's a big fan of running over Jews in cars as well:

This is the free speech Amnesty supports - the ability to inflame thousands of followers to murder.

Salah also explicitly supports Hamas:

He has more recent posts inciting stabbing Jews for Al Aqsa as well:

And shooting them as well:

There are also many posters glorifying those who stabbed Jews to death recently.

The Islamic Movement is not a West Bank organization. Its audience isn't Arabs in Gaza or Hebron - it is trying to convince Israeli Arabs to kill Jews.

Amnesty is not an absolutist for freedom of speech. Here is what Amnesty says about incitement in other contexts:

International human rights law also obliges states to prohibit advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

Amnesty was more adamantly against incitement in Moscow in 2004:

It has been reported that an extremist organization has been calling upon people to attend a public meeting, under the slogan “Cleanse Moscow of Chechen bandits!” Amnesty International is concerned that this may amount to incitement of hatred on grounds of nationality and incitement to racially-motivated violence. Prominent Russian human rights groups have also expressed their concern regarding the demonstration.
"In the current climate, we are concerned that the meeting could lead to incidents of racially-motivated violence. The authorities must take all necessary steps to protect potential victims in line with their international obligations, and uphold constitutional guarantees in relation to equality of citizens. Such inflammatory slogans appear to be aimed at inciting racial hatred and should therefore be immediately removed from all public places in the capital", Amnesty International said.

But there apparently is an exception clause in Amnesty's opinion: when the incitement is merely to murder random Jews shopping and praying, then it is a "freedom of expression" issue, not a human rights issue.

Because, to the bigots at Amnesty, Israeli Jews just don't count as human.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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Palestinians claim Arab victim of Gush Etzion shooting as "martyred by Israel"

Shadi Arafeh

The attack as described by the Jerusalem Post:

Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year old American on a gap year in Israel was among three victims of a terror attack late Thursday afternoon at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank. Seven others were lightly wounded in the attack.

He was in a van with five others friends from the Beit Shemesh yeshiva where he studied. They had been in the area to distribute food to soldiers stationed in the region.

A Palestinian who drove from the direction of the Kfar Etzion junction, machined gunned the cars, with an automatic rifle, before hitting a vehicle. Security forces surrounded the terrorist and arrested him.

Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced Schwartz dead at the scene. His five friends were evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, three were treated for light injuries and two for shock. They were all released.

A second victim from the attack, Palestinian Shadi Arafeh, 24, of Hebron, was also pronounced dead at the scene.

Yaakov Don, 51, a teacher and father of four who lived in the nearby Alon Shvut settlement was evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in serious condition and was pronounced dead upon his arrival at the hospital.

The official Palestinian Wafa "news" agency writes:

The [Health] Ministry said in a press release that the occupation forces have killed Shadi Zuhdi Arafa, 26, from Hebron, near the settlement of Gush Etzion built south of Bethlehem, while the young martyr Mahmoud Said Alian, 22, died from injuries sustained about 10 days ago, during clashes with Israeli occupation forces in the city of al-Bireh.

Yes, they are claiming that Israelis, and not one of their heroes, killed Arafeh. (And the murderer is regarded as a hero.)

Martyr inflation. Arabs kill Arabs and both the killer and victim are heroes.

What about this other poor innocent person who succumbed to his wounds, Mahmoud Alian?

Here's a collage of photos of this peaceful young man, who was also a member of Fatah:

He was probably picking flowers when he was shot.

11/19 Links Pt2: Student Warned to Abstain From Pro-BDS Vote Due to His ‘Jewish Agenda’

From Ian:

UC Santa Cruz Student Warned to Abstain From Pro-BDS Vote Due to His ‘Jewish Agenda’

A Jewish member of the student government at University of California, Santa Cruz was warned to “abstain” from voting on a pro-BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement) resolution because he is the president of the schools’ Jewish Student Union and was “elected with a Jewish agenda.”
The incident occurred prior to a vote by the UCSC student council to annul a veto an earlier Israel divestment bill. On Nov. 17, the UCSC voted 28 in favor and five against, with seven abstaining, to reinstate a divestment resolution that was vetoed in 2014.
In a text message sent to UC Santa Cruz Jewish Student Union (JSU) President Daniel Bernstein, the sender wrote, “You will be abstaining, as the president of JSU that is the right thing.”
“There was also a comment tonight that you were elected by a..hmm Idk if these are the right words but let’s say…a Jewish agenda,” the text message added.
In response, Bernstein posted on Facebook, “The implication that I, as a Jewish student and leader in the Jewish community, should not be allowed to vote on an issue that so deeply impacts the Jewish community, and that I should abstain because I cannot be trusted due to an alleged, ‘Jewish agenda,’ echoes the racism Jews have faced all over the world throughout our history.”

Sanders Accuses Israel of ‘Overreacting’ to Hamas Missile Attacks [video]

Bernie Sanders has accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of being responsible for what he said was Israel’s “overreacting” to Hamas missile attacks last year and causing civilian damage.
The man who wants to be the first Jewish President, although he says he has no use for organized religion, told Rolling Stone:
War is terrible unto itself. But I think that Israel overreacted and caused more civilian damage than was necessary.
They have very sophisticated weapons systems. They make the case, and I respect that, that they do try to make sure that civilians are not damaged. But the end result was that a lot of civilians were killed and a lot of housing was destroyed. There was terrible, terrible damage done.
He obviously is not running after Tea Party voters.
Sanders left out of his comments what he said at a Town Hall meeting earlier this year, as reported here:
After saying that Israel overreacted, he added, as seen as seen and heard in the video below:
On the other hand, you have a situation where Hamas is sending missiles to Israel, and you know where some of these missiles are coming from? They are coming from population areas.

Source: Palestinian President Canceling Meetings Due To 'Deteriorating Health'

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ health has significantly deteriorated in recent days, according to a source in the office of the Palestinian leader.
The PA insider, who spoke to Breitbart Jerusalem on condition of anonymity, said a meeting between Abbas and Chinese Vice Prime Minister Wang Yang was delayed for two hours last Friday because of what the source described as Abbas’ “weak” physical condition.
The insider further revealed that numerous other meetings were cancelled over the past few days, though Abbas did sit down with some foreign delegations.
The source in Abbas’ bureau said the Palestinian leader has been visiting his medical team in Amman, Jordan with increased frequency over the past few weeks.
The office of PA Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh released the following statement in response to a Breitbart Jerusalem query on the matter of Abbas’ health:
“No meetings were cancelled or delayed, including the meeting with the Chinese guest. President Abbas is in good health.”

Palestinian media calls all murdered Israelis "settlers"

Palestine Today (Islamic Jihad) says "Four settlers were killed and 11 others wounded in two operations; one occurred in the city of Tel Aviv in a stabbing operation, and the other occurred near two settlements in the occupied city of Hebron."

Palestine Press Agency (Fatah) says "Two Israeli settlers were killed and two others were seriously injured on Thursday afternoon in a stabbing operation in 'Tel Aviv' territory."

Fatah's Facebook page shows a photo of the murderer in Tel Aviv and refers to the dead as "settlers."

How can these media outlets tell their millions of readers that Israelis who are well within the Green Line are settlers?

Firas Press (Fatah- Dahlan faction) supplies the answer. It reported the incident as "The killing of two settlers and wounded two others in the stabbing operation in the "Tel Aviv" territories occupied in 1948."

They do not distinguish between either side of the Green Line in what they want for their state. Because their desire for a state was never about independence - it was always about destroying Israel.

Their "state" is not meant to be a state, but a stage.

Vic Rosenthal's weekly column

Lately there is a controversy in the US about demands by students for “safe spaces,” which apparently are places where like-minded folks can vent their prejudices without having to worry about hearing dissenting opinions. It made me think about a different kind of safe space, a place where a Jew doesn’t have to constantly look over his or her shoulder.

In California, where the Muslim population is less than 1%, the thought that my pro-Israel activities might endanger me or my family was never far from the surface. I was comforted by the thought that I was so ineffective in combating the anti-Israel propaganda flowing from multiple directions that they wouldn’t bother to beat me up, but I still always looked around carefully after pulling into my driveway. I don’t think I could have imagined what it is like for Jews today in France.

In France, Jew hatred is at unprecedented levels. Apart from the major terror attacks, many Jews have personal stories about harassment and beatings in the street, in schools, and elsewhere, which have increased “exponentially” since the attack on the Hyper Cacher supermarket in January. Although last week’s attacks didn’t specifically target Jews like the Ozar Hatorah or Hyper Cacher shootings, it would be natural for someone to think “if they can’t even protect themselves, how will they protect us?”

In Israel, despite the terrorism and constant threat of war, a Jew has a sense of security that exists nowhere else, even in the Jewish paradise of America.

It’s paradoxical. Here we are surrounded by Palestinian Arabs, presently in the middle of what has been called the 3^rd intifada, and there are daily incidents of terrorism against Jews. From October 1 to November 13, 14 Israeli Jews have been murdered by Arab terrorists and 167 wounded.

Hezbollah has more than 100,000 rockets aimed at the country, and Hamas has tens of thousands. I have heard the booms of rockets blown up in the air over my head by Iron Dome, and when I go to Jerusalem or even Tel Aviv, I am very careful crossing the street or waiting at bus stops (probably a good idea in any event). And yet I’m less tense than I was in California.

One obvious reason is that Israel is much better prepared to deal with war and terrorism than the rest of the world. It has one of the world’s best air forces, and a nuclear deterrent with second strike capability. Security checks at the airports and bus and train stations are better. Even shopping malls have guards; every car trunk is looked into at the entrance to the parking lot. But it still doesn’t fully justify the feeling of safety.

Having done reserve duty, I know that the army is not always what it is cracked up to be. The police are like police anywhere, some competent, some not. Security guards, well, let’s just say that they tend not to be highly paid former commandos.

But there are psychological factors. Israel’s Jews mostly see themselves as in it together. They are each as much targets as the next one, and they look out for one another. It’s their state, their imperfect state with its imperfect army and imperfect police that is charged with protecting them. This is comforting in a way that similar institutions in the Diaspora cannot be.

When I lived in the US, the strenuous efforts of the Obama Administration to define Islamic terrorism as anything other than what it is created feelings of helplessness and frustration in those who saw themselves as possible targets of it. In France, there is the simple fact that, although they appear to be trying, the authorities are unable to get ahead of the rising tide of Jew hatred.

Here in Israel the government is taking strong action (see Naftali Bennett’s Facebook post) against incitement and terrorism, including destroying the houses of terrorist murderers, outlawing the Northern Branch of the Islamic movement (which has been responsible for promulgating the very dangerous lie that Israel intends to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque), and other steps. Perhaps a little late, but moving in the right direction. The latest wave of terrorism isn’t over, but it seems to have crested.

It’s possible for an Israeli to appear very cynical about the motivations of politicians and other officials. There is a small subset of the population that despises the whole enterprise, many of whom are media personalities, academics and journalists, that makes an outsize impression to observers outside of the country. But this segment is taken much less seriously by the people that live here. Most Israeli Jews do identify with the state and its institutions, especially the army. And that makes them feel secure.

On the other hand, news reports suggest that French Jews are made to feel more anxious rather than less by the armed police posted outside synagogues, because they are reminded that at any moment they could be under terrorist attack.

By far the greatest number of Western Europeans emigrating to Israel in recent years have come from France. In 2014, some 7,000 French Jews made aliyah to Israel, while 3-5,000 went to other places, like Canada. One of the reasons is that the immigration process to Canada is slower and more complicated. It’s not a simple decision, because professionals face difficulties getting comparable jobs in Israel, and housing is expensive here also.

But I suggest that European Jews who chose to leave Europe take into account not only their physical security – although it is likely to be as well-protected in Israel as anywhere else in the world – but the psychological security that comes from living in the Jewish state.

Israel will emphatically never be the kind of “safe space” that the American students are looking for, a place in which they will not have to listen to anyone that disagrees with them. The opposite is true; in Israel disagreements are ubiquitous and eloquent. But maybe it is the kind of safe space that European Jews need today.

11/19 Links Pt1: 5 Israelis murdered in shooting and stabbing attacks; Fatah: All Israelis are Nazis

From Ian:

3 killed, including American tourist, in terrorist shooting near Gush Etzion in the West Bank

Three people were killed late Thursday afternoon when a Palestinian terrorist shot at cars stuck in a traffic jam near the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank.
Initial reports suggest that the terrorist fired at the cars and then sped in the direction of the Alon Shvut settlement and slammed into a car.
The terrorist exited the vehicle and attempted to fire off further shots. Security forces shot at the terrorist and then arrested him.
MDA paramedics pronounced an approximately 18-year old man dead on the scene after efforts to resuscitate him failed. The youth was an American tourist. An approximately 50-year old man was critically wounded and taken to Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem where he was pronounced dead.
The third victim was a Palestinian passenger who was sitting in one of the vehicle's that the terrorist shot at.
In addition, four others were lightly wounded and were evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, which is also located in the capital.

Two killed in stabbing attack at Tel Aviv office building

Two Israelis were killed and at least two others wounded in a stabbing attack in southern Tel Aviv Thursday afternoon.
The incident took place in the Panorama office building at an entrance to a room used for prayer services next to the parking lot as afternoon prayers were taking place, according to reports from the scene.
One victim was declared dead at the scene and a second died after being rushed to a hospital with serious injuries.
Two more people suffered light and moderate injuries, according to officials. The identity of the victims was not immediately released.
The Palestinian attacker was caught by passersby and arrested by police at the scene. He was taken to a hospital with light injuries.
Police identified him as Raid Halil bin Mahmoud, a 36-year-old father of five from the West Bank village of Dura, near Hebron, and said he did not have a criminal record.

PreOccupiedTerritory: Obama Says Palestinian Stabbings Also ‘Contained’ (satire)

The official noted the lack of fatalities or serious injuries among Israelis resulting from Palestinian attacks in the last two weeks, evidently under the erroneous presumption that if anything had happened, he’d be aware of it. “None of the major news networks have said anything about new attacks,” explained the official, unaware that numerous attacks have in fact taken place, and the only reason they have not been widely reported in Western media is that the latter tend to focus on fatal incidents, or non-fatal incidents in which Israel can be made to look brutal.
Experts say the contrast between Obama’s pronouncements and the actual, physical reality has often become apparent. “If you look at the way the president keeps backtracking on what he said he aimed to do to ISIS, this should come as little surprise,” said commentator Mitch N. Accompliszt. “There’s a constant negotiation of the gap – a chasm, really – between what he says and what actually happens. Sometimes he is able to anticipate the emerging reality, and walk back his rhetoric: ‘degrade and destroy ISIL’ becomes just ‘degrade,’ for example. But almost as often, events give the lie to the president’s assertions in what amounts to real time, and these moments are what results.”
Obama of course is not the first leader to have his pronouncements trumped by reality. A similar episode occurred before the Second World War when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed to let Nazi Germany annex parts of Czechoslovakia, accepting Hitler’s assurances that Germany sought no more territory than that, and even proclaiming upon his return to Britain that he had brought “peace for our time.”

The World Council of Churches just had a meeting in Switzerland where they issued a statement of their position on Israel and the Palestinians.

The WCC executive committee, meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13-18 November 2015, accordingly expresses its grave concern at recent developments in Israel and Palestine, involving renewed violent attacks against people of both communities and measures entailing long-term time division of access to Al-Aqsa mosque and affecting access to other holy sites. Such measures further diminish hope in the realization of this vision.

"Renewed violent attacks against people of both communities" - so Arabs stabbing and running their cars over Jews has exactly the same moral weight as Israelis defending themselves from those attacks? Has the IDF been attacking any random Arabs they come across?

"measures entailing long-term time division of access to Al-Aqsa mosque and affecting access to other holy sites" - While I would welcome a fair division and equal access to the Temple Mount (a phrase that the church group chooses to discard i favor of "Al Aqsa Mosque") I cannot find a single statement by the Israeli government that would allow such access. I'd love to know which hours of the day Jews can visit without fear of being screamed at or attacked.

In other words, this paragraph shows that the WCC doesn't give a damn about facts. They are dhimmis, wanting to accept the wildest Arab accusations without proof, so they can issue a supposedly "even-handed" resolution that diminishes Jewish rights.

The one-sided nature of the resolution continues:

Neither the spate of individual violent attacks against Israelis, nor the violent response and extra-judicial killings that have followed, can be condoned. They further undermine hopes for peace, already seriously diminished by the perpetuation of the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, successive restrictions and impositions, growing settlement activity, impunity and the international community’s inadequate response. We are deeply concerned that this heightened sense of hopelessness and frustration risks generating further uncontrolled waves of violence, with tragic consequences for the people of the region.

So the "individual violent attacks" are also Israel's fault, because they come from "hopelessness and frustration." Not a word about how the Palestinian government and its ruling party celebrates the attacks and encourages more. They can find a context for why Arabs stab Jews, but they can find no such context of why Jews might want to do things to avoid being stabbed.

I guess that's because, in the Church's eyes, only Jews have to turn the other cheek.

This is a disgusting resolution, where facts are discarded in favor of the politically correct position that Israel is always to blame. And because of resolutions like these that equate the attackers and the attacked, Arabs feel emboldened to perform further attacks, as we have seen today in Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion.

Of course, this is part of a pattern of lying and anti-Israel incitement from the WCC.

(h/t Arnold)

Last March I reported that the American Library Association was once again partnering with the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) in the United Arab Emirates, a fair that has a history of featuring antisemitic books.

This year's fair, which just ended, is no exception.

The organizers of the fair deny that they allow such books to be shown as this Gulf News article about the opening of the fair reported:

In his keynote speech, Dr Shaikh Sultan said "the book is the light against ignorance". He added that all books are welcome at SIBF as long as they don't preach hate against anyone.

Here is a photo taken at the Ruslan Publishing House booth at the fair:'

What is that book that has the most copies on the table?

This one:

The ALA's President Sari Feldman gave the opening keynote speech to this fair that features hate - and denies it.

Some members of the ALA have used their status as librarians to vilify Israel and there have been unsuccessful attempts for the ALA to boycott Israel.

The same publishing house that publishes the Protocols also features an "Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism and Zionism" although I'm not certain it was sold at the fair:

That work has been criticized by other Arabs as to being too pro-Jewish, although the author says that he avoided using the term "Jewish people" because the concept of a Jewish nation is "incompatible with reality."

(h/t Shawarma News)

Headline inversion in The Mirror

From The Mirror (UK):

Yes, Islamophobia is the real issue, while antisemitism is relatively normal. In fact, attacks on Jews create Islamophobia, it appears. Either that or stabbing Jewish teachers is a normal "backlash" after Islamist terror attacks.

The article is not much better:

A Muslim woman was wounded with a box cutter in a race-hate attack following the Paris terrorist atrocities, France's interior minister has said.

Bernard Cazeneuve condemned the assault and another attack on a Jewish teacher as "cowardly" and urged French citizens to remember the "values of the Republic".

I am in no way condoning the attack on the Muslim woman, but the framing here is completely backwards. A backlash against terror attacks is one story; antisemitism that is part of the fabric of a segment of French Muslim society is a much different (and much more important) story. The Mirror is trivializing, and even to a small extent justifying, the antisemitic attack.

(h/t Craig)
.

COGAT says 27,000 Palestinians work in Jewish settlements

COGAT put out its October statistics infographic:

The small print on the bottom is interesting.

In September, the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics said that about 90,000 Palestinian Arabs worked for Israelis within the Green Line and 20,000 worked in settlements. COGAT says far fewer work in Israel - but far more work in settlements, nearly 27,000.

I don't know which is more accurate. But COGAT's figure is awfully specific. It appears that they are counting permits.

It is against PA law to work for Jews in the territories. But if these numbers are accurate, then we can estimate that about 6% of the West Bank economy comes from people who work in the settlements (assuming double the average salary.)

11/18 Links Pt2: Glick: EU waging a trade war against Israel; Murray: A Society Ripe for Submission

From Ian:

US terror victims hold banks liable for Iranian terror funds

Legal rights organization Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center has sent warning letters to eleven banks believed to maintain frozen accounts for Iran, they announced Wednesday, advising them that the funds are still restrained for the benefit of terror victims who hold unsatisfied judgments against the Islamic Republic.
The letters caution the American branches of the foreign banks that the funds in the accounts may not be transferred despite the anticipated lifting of financial sanctions by the Obama Administration.
The accounts are believed to hold up to $100-150 billion in frozen oil revenues currently restrained under the sanction regulations in overseas banks.
“You are hereby warned that all accounts maintained by your financial institution at any of its branches in the name of Iran, the Central Bank of Iran, the Naftiran Intertrade Company, the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company or any other agency or instrumentality of Iran are restrained and subject to a lien in favor of my clients under United States law," the letter states.
Although Iran negotiated to have sanctions lifted and funds returned, the accounts in fact have now been blocked by virtue of a “Citation to Discover Assets” (“Citation”) which was issued against Iran on October 26, 2015 in the Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran case in the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Glick: EU is waging a trade war against Israel

Senior contributing editor to The Jerusalem Post Caroline B. Glick accused the European Union on Wednesday of waging a secret trade war against Israel.
Glick, speaking at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, outlined a series of steps she recommends Israel take to counter the "discrimination" of the recent EU decision to label products produced in West Bank settlements.
"Today we are in the middle of Europe's trade war against Israel," she said. "It's never acknowledged, it's hidden by lies about international law, lies about consumer protection and lies about human rights."
But, Glick added, "the war itself is a breach of international law, it doesn't protect consumers and it harms human rights." The EU's recent decision in regard to settlement products is "illegal under international law. Under the WTO [World Trade Organization] treaties it is illegal to introduce technical barriers to trade among trading nations."
The EU, she said, should either leave the WTO or apply this policy equally to other places in "the same legal situation" as Israel. For example, she said, it should insist that products produced in Western Sahara are labeled as "Moroccan settlement products made in Western Sahara."

Israel cheapens memory of Holocaust by likening settlement labels to Nazi boycott, EU envoy says

EU ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen hit back against comparisons of the EU's labeling of settlement products to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, saying that even when disagreeing, it was necessary not to “confuse fact with fiction.”
“Talk of a European boycott just does not stand up to a reality check,” he said at the Jerusalem Post's Diplomatic Conference. “Let me say loud and clear: Europe is not boycotting Israel, and Europe is not boycotting settlements.”
His comments came after a number of speakers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, blasted the EU for its directive to label products from the settlements.
=said that the EU opposes boycotts and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and that products from the settlements will continue to enter the EU markets.
Faaborg-Andersen said that the EU has been “accused of a variety of sins” in recent days from the highest echelons of the Israeli government, including anti-Semitism, hypocrisy, rewarding terrorism and destroying Palestinian jobs.
“I've been shocked to hear claims of anti-Semitism and historical comparisons or analogies to the persecution of Jews in Germany in the 30s and 40s,” he said. “In my mind this is a distortion of history and belittlement of the crimes of the Nazis, and the memory of their victims.”

UNRWA, Hamas Hoping For Harsh Winter To Highlight Palestinian Misery (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Gaza City, November 18 - United Nations and Hamas officials confirmed today that both organizations want this coming winter to be especially cold and wet, so that the consequent suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is intense enough to be used effectively in international publicity and fundraising.

A spokesman for the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, told reporters the organization was looking forward to what forecasters predict will be another harsh rainy season. "We anticipate that if this coming winter is as rainy, possibly snowy, and frigid as the last few have been, we ought to come out of it with some dynamite images and stories of heartbreaking misery," said Chris Gunness. "Donors love that. They just eat it up. So if we want to keep this operation well funded, and not have to find an actual peaceful solution for Palestinian refugees the way the UN does for every single other kind of refugee, we're counting on some good flooding, hypothermia, homelessness, and possibly even a cholera outbreak or something, to give the story that post-calamity feel and really tug at the heartstrings."

"Wait, is that hypothermia or hyperthermia? I always get mixed up."

A Hamas official expressed similar sentiments. "We rely on, and engineer, continued Palestinian misery to use a political and propaganda weapon," explained Mahmoud al-Zahar. "Our continued diversion of materials from reconstruction of people's destroyed homes to build up our tunnel and bunker network is more than just a way for our forces to get their hands on those precious supplies; it also serves the purpose of keeping thousands of people rendered homeless in the last war out of permanent housing, people whose suffering is pure gold when it comes to generating international sympathy for us and making Israel look bad regardless of Israeli behavior one way or the other."

Analysts note that the increasing reliance on nature to produce Palestinian misery in Gaza helps save Hamas resources in its war against Israel. "Conserving military resources is even more important now that Egypt has destroyed or shut down so many of the smuggling tunnels under the border at Rafah," said Jordanian commentator Malik Kiwals. "If the weather cooperates and just slams Gaza this winter, Hamas won't have to fire volleys of precious rockets at Israeli civilians to provoke retaliation resulting in death and destruction. They can just let Mother Nature do the job, and use the rockets later."

Gunness said that last year at this time his agency had considered taking active steps to increase suffering in Gaza but that was rendered unnecessary when sudden flooding occurred and international media immediately and uncritically parroted local sources accusing Israel of opening dams to cause the deluge. "Apparently there are no Israeli dams in the area," he chuckled. "Who knew?"

11/18 Links Pt1: Fatah: Murdering Israelis is Palestinian "right"; Kerry: Hebdo attack had a 'rationale'

From Ian:

PMW: Fatah official: Murdering Israelis is Palestinian "right"

Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen participated in a rally honoring Palestinian terrorist murderer Muhannad Halabi, and “saluted the soul of [the] Martyr, who detonated the Jerusalem intifada,” Ma’an news agency reported. The Fatah official supported the murders committed by Halabi and the other recent shooting and stabbing murders, saying that Palestinian young men have the “right” to cause “Israeli women to cry”:
“It is the right of our young men to cause Israeli women to cry like our women are crying, even though our women make sounds of joy after their sons’ and husbands’ deaths as Martyrs.” [Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 14, 2015]
Palestinian society continues to give special honor to Halabi, more than the other murderers of the current terror campaign, because he carried out the first “successful” stabbing attack. He murdered two Israeli men who were walking with their wives in Jerusalem, and his attack was then copied by dozens of other terrorists. According to Muhaisen, who spoke at a rally in Halabi’s honor, Halabi “detonated the Jerusalem intifada.” The rally itself “turned into a national wedding,” the news agency reported. This is a reference to the Islamic belief that "Martyrs" for Allah are wedded to 72 Virgins in Paradise.
At the rally, PLO Central Committee Member and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) member Omar Shehadeh stated that Halabi “represents an example and role model for generations of young.” [Ma'an, independent Palestinian news agency, Nov. 14, 2015]. PLO Executive Committee member and Deputy Secretary-General of the DFLP Qais Abd Al-Karim called terrorist Halabi a “hero,” expressed “pride” in him and talked about Palestinian “loyalty to [his] blood.”

Douglas Murray: Why are the Gulf states bankrolling IS barbarians?

Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Cameron said: “It is not good enough to say simply that Islam is a religion of peace and then to deny any connection between Islam and the extremists. Because these extremists are self-identifying as Muslims.”
In telling this truth the PM is following the example of Sajid Javid, who said the same thing after January’s Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.
Many people of Muslim background, like Javid, know what vicious and fanatical foes we are all up against.
It has taken 14 years, since 9/11, to get Western leaders to the point where they are willing to say this. But it is important. Unless we understand what drives the terrorists we cannot defeat them.
As the fallout from Paris shows, there is support for IS in Europe. Britain is not exempt — more British Muslims have gone to fight for IS than serve in our British Armed Forces. This swamp of support must also be tackled.
Even if IS are crushed there are many other groups with the same aims. Before anyone had heard of IS there was al-Qaeda. Before al-Qaeda, there were others.
The problem is the ideology. As are those “friends” in the Middle East who back it.

Douglas Murray - Spectator PodCast - The Paris attacks and what happens next (best bit 7:20)

John Kerry Offers “Rationale” for Charlie Hebdo Terror Attack

Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to justify the terror attacks earlier this year on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo during remarks in Paris Tuesday, saying that there was a “rationale” behind the murders of 11 cartoonists and journalists.
Kerry contrasted that massacre with the recent wave of terror attacks last week, in which 129 people have died. “There’s something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that,” he said while speaking at the American embassy in Paris. “There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of – not a legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, okay, they’re really angry because of this and that. This Friday was absolutely indiscriminate. It wasn’t to aggrieve one particular sense of wrong. It was to terrorize people. It was to attack everything that we do stand for.”
The terrorists who committed the Charlie Hebdo attack were reportedly upset by the magazine’s disrespectful portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad. Following the attack, no top U.S. dignitaries appeared at a major rally in Paris to support free speech and stand up against terror. (h/t Yenta Press)

Gaza-based Felesteen reports that Gazans are now creating knife and dagger-based theme parties and weddings in order to celebrate the wave of terror attacks across Israel over the past six weeks.

At weddings and other parties, children are wearing military uniforms while young men are displaying daggers and knives. Singers are rhapsodizing about the "heroes" who stab Jews and call for more attacks.

Fadi Abu Jabb, 27, wore military trousers on the eve of his wedding while placing a dagger at his waist during a bachelor party, whose attendees loved the idea. Throughout hours of the party, Fadi's friends and relatives who shared his joy by dancing with their own knives, to show their support for terror attacks in Jerusalem.

Fadi said that the military uniform was his fiancee's idea, and that this party was meant to show that all Palestinian people support "armed resistance" and car rammings and stabbings and shootings in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He prayed for God to bless him and give him the ability to set up a jihadist family to be part of the Palestine Liberation Army, Allah willing.

In a similar scene, at the wedding party of Murad Hussein there were songs associated with the stabbings. 12 children in keffiyehs performed. They put on a comic play showing Palestinians attacking a group of Jews causing them to flee even though they had submachine guns, to the amusement of the audience.

Majed Nofal, a tailor in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City, says, "There is a big demand for the purchase of military clothing by citizens, who wear them during special events such as parties and weddings." He also provides military clothing for women who wear them at their own parties as well.

From the UN News Centre:

In shadow of Beirut and Paris terror attacks, UN Security Council discusses root causes of conflict

The United Nations Security Council held an already scheduled debate on conflict prevention today amid added urgency fuelled by last week’s terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressing that counter-terrorism must also tackle such root causes as bad governance, injustice and exclusion.

“Today’s violent conflicts and violent extremism are often rooted in a mix of exclusion, inequality, mismanagement of natural resources, corruption, oppression, governance failures, and the frustration and alienation that accompany a lack of jobs and opportunities,” he said at the opening of the Council’s day-long debate on ‘Security, development and the root causes of conflicts.’

But not radical Islam.

Turning to the most recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad, last month’s apparent bombing of a Russian plane over Egypt, and the mounting threat from Da’esh [also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL], which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq, Mr. Ban warned against taking reprisals against Muslims.

“No grievance or cause can justify such acts,” he said of the terrorist attacks. But, he added: “I am especially concerned about reprisals or further discrimination against Muslims, in particular Muslim refugees and migrants. This would just exacerbate the alienation on which terrorists feed.”

Yes, the UN is more concerned about a possible - and mostly mythical - backlash against Muslims than they are about Islamic terror itself.

So what would solve the problem of Islamist terrorism? Glad you asked:

He laid out four principles for preventing conflict and terrorism, stressing the crucial importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which calls for achieving peaceful and inclusive societies that provide access to justice and build accountable institutions.

If only ISIS and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah and Al Qaeda felt more included in the world community and had access to justice, we wouldn't have any of these problems.

Of course, their definition of justice is to kill the infidels.