Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

12/01 Links Pt1: How To Stop Mass Casualty Terror Attacks: Take Violence Against Jews Seriously

From Ian:

How To Stop Mass Casualty Terror Attacks: Take Violence Against Jews Seriously

You don’t have to be Hercule Poirot to realize that a justice system headed by a man who doesn’t consider synagogue attendance as a gathering or Jewish museums as public places isn’t going to try especially hard to pursue justice when the victims are Jews. A year after the shooting in the Jewish Museum, Brussels was on an unprecedented four-day lock down following the shootings in Paris, with many of the suspects traced back to the same neighborhood and the same network that spawned Nemmouche.
And the Belgians are hardly alone. On Nov. 5, 1990, the Israeli rabbi and politician Meir Kahane finished a speech in the Marriott East Side hotel in Manhattan. He stepped off stage shortly after 9 p.m., surrounded by well-wishers and supporters. A man disguised as an Orthodox Jew emerged from the crowd, drew a .357 caliber pistol, and shot Kahane from close range, killing him. He was revealed to be El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen living in Jersey City.
Nosair, authorities soon learned, wasn’t working alone. He was part of a network run by Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik. So great was the jury’s contempt for Kahane, that they acquitted Nosair of murder and convicted him only of assault and possession of an illegal firearm, a decision that the trial’s judge, Justice Alvin Schlesinger, lamented went “against the overwhelming weight of evidence and was devoid of common sense and logic.” Nosair’s legal defense was paid by a wealthy supporter of Abdel-Rahman, one Osama Bin Laden. Three years later, several of Abdel-Rahman’s other disciples were arrested for attempting to blow up the World Trade Center.
Could Abdel-Rahman have been stopped? Would a more aggressive investigation of Nosair have led to his operator and curtailed not only the first attempt on the World Trade Center but also the second, and tragically successful one, on Sept. 11, 2001? And, more importantly, have we the mindset necessary to prevent the next attack?

JCPA: Connecting the Terror in Paris with the Terror against Israel

In this regard the struggle that the ultra-radical Islamists are waging against the West and its allies, on the one hand, and the Palestinian struggle against Israel, on the other, complement each other. Their common goal is to destroy the world order that the West created after the First World War, which included the dismantlement of the caliphate, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the adoption of the Balfour Declaration at the San Remo Conference as part of the British Mandate. This world order was reinforced after the Second World War, among other things by the decision to establish a Jewish State in Eretz Yisrael, whose implementation in the face of Muslim opposition is still rejected by the Palestinians and by radical Islam in all its variants. Thus, the terror against Israel and the terror against the West are two sides of the same coin from an ideological standpoint as well, not only regarding its methods and the means of fighting it. Israel needs to make this connection clearer to its friends in the West.
What disturbs the Palestinians is that as radical Islam’s direct warfare against the West expands, they lose a key asset for promoting their goals. If, as is becoming increasingly clear, the Palestinian issue is not the heart of the problem, then the West’s expression of regret for its “crimes” on this issue will not solve the greater problem. The request for penance must be much more far-reaching; Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently made dialogue with the United States conditional on an American request for Iran’s forgiveness. In addition, the more the connection between the two kinds of terror grows, the more the radical Islamic component of the Palestinian rejection of Israel’s existence as the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people and preference for a violent struggle to eliminate it, is exposed. The West would better understand how difficult it is to promote a settlement and may (as Israel would hope) come to understand that the terror against Israel is essentially part and parcel of the terror against the West.
Israel’s outlawing of the northern branch of the Israeli Islamic movement, which is the arm of realistic radical Islam among the Israeli Arabs, is part of the struggle against this radical ideology. Unfortunately, many in the West still think that realistic radical Islam (Rouhani and the Muslim Brotherhood, for example) is a legitimate partner in the fight against the ultra-radical Islamists, and favor it over the pragmatic elements in the Islamic world. I’m afraid that even the current wave of attacks will not suffice to change this mindset.

PMW: Mahmoud Abbas: Murdering Israelis is "popular peaceful uprising"

A statement by PA Chairman Abbas explains why he has not yet condemned even one of the 22 murders of Israelis during the past two months of terror, even though he tells the international community he is against terror. Referring to the current Palestinian terror uprising, which at the time of Abbas’ statement had already murdered 14 Israelis and wounded 167 in 65 stabbings and 8 shootings, Abbas announced on PA TV that it is a “peaceful uprising.” [Figures from http://mfa.gov.il]
Abbas: “No one called for this uprising and no one asked for it. It stemmed from the hearts of the young... We said to everyone that we want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is. However, the aggression of firing bullets has come from the Israelis.” [Official PA TV, Nov. 16, 2015]
According to Abbas, when Palestinians kill young Israeli parents in front of their children, kill Israeli teens, or kill Israeli fathers with their sons, it is not to be condemned as terror because it is an expression of “peace.” And therefore, when Israelis kill the stabbers and shooters who are trying to peacefully kill Israelis - it is the Israelis who are the “aggressors.”
Significantly, Abbas openly admitted that he called “to everyone” for this violence:
“We said to everyone that we want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is. That’s what this is.”

Some more Saudi media Jew-hatred

Last week I wrote about an antisemitic op-ed in Saudi Arabia's Al Riyadh newspaper.

It wasn't the first.

And it wasn't the last, either.

Maha Mohammed Sharif writes a historical essay on the Rothschild family in that news site.

Not from the article, just a random Rothschild meme.

Saudi readers learn that Nathan Rothschild, the "shrewd founder of the English branch of the family," was the "architect of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and the most dangerous conspirator known to the world." His grandchildren inherited the conspiratorial Jewish mindset.

Although the Rothschilds bragged about controlling the world, the most sickening thing they ever did was buy some land in Palestine for Jews to live. The reason he bought the land, of course, was to sow discord and cause displacement of Arabs and create conflicts. Because that is what Jews do!

The Rothschilds and their spiritual heirs are the "diabolocal minds" behind dividing up the Arab world and to weaken their governments and to damage religious institutions.

The final paragraph:

With the whole world mortgaging their possessions to Jewish money, the Jews have excelled in all fields and disciplines and transformed Zionism into a political movement that has attracted international attention. They have also sought to develop science and Jewish culture and their scientists won a multitude of Nobel prizes, and here we can only say they have succeeded with resounding success in all of their tyrannical and scientific methods. They created the largest terrorist movement in history through this Zionist family's leadership, famous for the planning of the killing and bloodshed against Arabs and Muslims.

This is not even the first time Al-Ruyadh obsessed with the Rothschilds, proving that the Jews are controlling the minds of the Saudi columnists there.

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A little more @UNRWA worker antisemitism

From the Facebook page of UNRWA worker Othman Al Nashash:

The implication is that Jews have no real roots in Israel, while the Palestinians do, and a simple slingshot proves how easily the frightened Jews run away.

Palestinians try to hijack climate conference (ElderToons)

It is truly amazing.

Every time "Palestine" manages to get membership in an international forum, they try to hijack it for their own selfish purposes.

They do it with UNESCO. They do it at conferences for refugees. They do it during international days for children and for women.

Yesterday, the pattern continued:

President Mahmoud Abbas Monday said Israel’s ongoing violations of international law regarding preserving Palestine’s environment are a major challenge.

Abbas delivered a speech at the Paris Climate Change conference, which was held at Le Bourget starting from November 30 and is expected to continue until December 11.

Abbas addressed the issue of climate change, saying it has become a national challenge for all countries all over the world.

He said, “The state of Palestine, which is a full member in many international organizations and agreements, continues its preparations to join the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change, and to simultaneously and positively contribute and hold its responsibilities as a member state in the near future.”

Considering the Israeli occupation’s impact in Palestine’s environment, Abbas said Israel’s continuous violations of international law regarding preserving the environment in Palestine is a major challenge for Palestinians.

He mentioned a number of violations including, confiscating natural resources, destroying agricultural crops, uprooting trees, hindering developing vital infrastructure for Palestine, dumping all kinds of Wastes in Palestinians’ lands and polluting the groundwater through a system of a racial segregation, which violates of international law.

Abbas said, Palestine continues to suffer from the Israeli occupation and the horrible crimes of Israeli settlers and daily violations of holy Christian and Muslim sites in Jerusalem.

You can tell how seriously Mahmoud Abbas takes environmental and social issues.

Do the people who work so hard on these conferences get upset at these blatant attempts to hijack them for narrow political ends? Or are they so far gone alreadythat they all believe that if only Israel didn't exist, all other world problems would go away?

Former Cambridge researcher refuses to answer 13 year old Israeli girl's question about horses (updates x2)

Dr. Marsha Levine is an expert on the history of the domestication of horses who i(still claims to be) a researcher at Cambridge University although apparently she no longer is.

A young Israeli girl named Shachar Rabinovitch wrote to her for help on a school research project:

Hello!

My name is Shachar Rabinovitch and I'm from Israel.

I'm doing an assessment for school about horses, and it will be great if you can answer a few questions that I will ask.

1. What ancient horses breeds preserved and were a base to the breeds we know today?

2. How did the ancient humens created new breeds or kept the ones who already were existent?

3. What ancient horse breed the ancient humens used the most and what were those uses?

4. Where did the ancient horses breeds lived?

Thank you for reading my questions, Shachar Rabinovitch

Here was Dr. Levine's answer:

Dear Shachar Rabinovich:

I'll answer your questions when there is peace and justice for Palestinians in Palestine.

I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians (http://jfjfp.com). I support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions. You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people. Maybe your family has the same views as I do, but I doubt it. So, I suggest that you look at this link: http://jfjfp.com/?page_id=338

yours sincerely

Dr Marsha Levine

Dr. Marsha Levine is too damned ethical to help out an Israeli schoolgirl.

Yet one of Levine's Facebook friends is Egyptian. And Egyptians have treated Palestinians like crap since 1948. But Marsha Levine doesn't boycott him. She isn't interested in Egypt treating Palestinians with any dignity.

No, her concern for Palestinians begins and ends in Israel.

Levine, like all BDS hypocrites, doesn't particularly like Palestinians. She won't say a word about how they are treated in Gaza or Lebanon or Syria or Egypt. Her Facebook page is completely empty of any criticism of how Palestinians are being treated in those countries. She just likes to use a false sense of ethics to give her seething hate for Israeli Jews a respectable front.

But her hate shines through in her sickening response to an innocent question from an Israeli Jewish schoolgirl.

(h/t David Collier and SFI)

UPDATE: TheJC contacted Levine and she doubled down, calling Israeli Jews "Nazis."

UPDATE 2: The Telegraph also interviewed her:

“Kids have questions, I usually answer their questions,” she said. “But I have agreed to BDS [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel], and I do want to see justice for Palestine.

“In Israel the majority of Israelis support the policies of the government which abuses the rights of Palestinians, so the fact is I don’t want to help Israelis, and if you don't start with children where do you start?

“And she is not that young anyway, her English is pretty good. If people don’t stand up for justice, the world is going to come to an end.”

So insulting rudely treating a 13-year old girl is now called "justice."

Here's a Muslim who DOESN'T blame Jews for #ParisAttacks. (He blames the French.)

From MEMRI:

In a recent Friday sermon, Egyptian cleric Sheikh Talaat Zahran, a professor of humanities at Alexandria University, said: "When France saw that there were six million Muslims on its land... they began to fear that the Muslims would storm their democratic system, and would take over power and become ministers. That is why they plotted this trap, losing some lives, just like America lost thousands of lives when the Twin Towers were destroyed."

Following are excerpts from the sermon, which was delivered on November 20, 2015 and posted on the Internet.

Talaat Zahran: You have all heard about what happened in France. ISIS members carried out some bombings, killing some soccer fans in a stadium. They also attacked people in a theater, killing some of them. How has Islam and the Muslims benefitted from this? What good has this brought upon Islam and the Muslims? It has only served to further distort the image of Islam.

[…]

Indeed, this organization and its mother organization, Al-Qaeda, are Western-made. They were established by America and the West, in order to harm Islam and the Muslims and to conspire against them. The infidels are spending enormous sums for this purpose.

[…]

As I've said, the French and others built and funded these organizations. Otherwise, how did the ISIS members get all these weapons? Where do they get all these funds on which they live? First, the [West] helped them to flee from the prisons in Syria and Iraq, and made them join training camps, in which they received weapons, and then the [West] started carrying out theatrical bombings on them, in which they drop weapons, ammunition, and supplies for ISIS, in order to help them kill the Muslims.

[ISIS] kills only Muslims. They ignore the pagans. When France saw that there were six million Muslims on its land, and that they are preaching to join the belief in Allah, they began to fear that the Muslims would storm their democratic system, and would take over power and become ministers. That is why they plotted this trap, losing some lives, just like America lost thousands of lives when the Twin Towers were destroyed. They did all of this using ISIS members.

Even if France had mobilized armies, and sent planes, tanks, and supplies, it would not have benefitted – the West would not have benefitted – as much as it benefitted from the deeds of people who belong to Islam.

11/30 Links Pt2: Israel suspends EU contact over peace process; NGOs and the Economic War

From Ian:

Shmuley Boteach: British Jewish students attempt to silence my mention of Israel

Yet this week, for the first time in my life - having spoken at Universities across the world - I encountered a form of censorship in the most unlikely of all places: when I spoke to the Jewish Society at King’s College, London.
European Jews developed a survival instinct over centuries of persecution. They lie low, avoid public displays and use quiet diplomacy to defend themselves and Israel. British Jews have pursued this approach with a high degree of success in the last half century. However, on my current visit to England I detect a shift away from associating with Israel in the way I was accustomed to as founder and head of the Oxford L’Chaim Society.
What finally shook much of my confidence in British Jewry was my experience where I was invited to address the Jewish Society at Kings. In the course of the discussion, I focused my remarks on Israeli democracy and the blessing it can be to the innocent Arab citizens of Israel’s autocratic Arab neighbors. Israel is the great hope for the spread of human rights throughout the Middle East.
As I spoke, I could see my hosts growing restless and the discomfiture on their faces surprised me. I was in for a bigger shock, however, when my hosts essentially stopped me in the middle of my remarks. I am always happy to respond to questions, friendly or hostile, but I have rarely been interrupted so abruptly by people who invited me to speak.
When I asked for an explanation, I was told by the president of the organization, a young man wearing a yarmulke, that the Jewish Society has a policy against speaking about Israel. The group, he said was non-political and focused on “Jewish subjects.”
I was dumbfounded. Was Israel not a Jewish subject? It was as if Israel had become the Voldemort of nations, the country that dare not be named.

Israel marks exodus of Jews from Arab countries

Israel is marking on Monday its annual Memorial Day of the expulsion of some 850,000 Jews from Arab states and Iran.
At Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed that there be an expansion of education on the heritage of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, and that consideration be given to a proposal to establish a Prime Minister’s Prize for academic research into the issue.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to flee Muslim countries in the years preceding and directly after the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. Known collectively as Mizrahi Jews, the community has gained political power in recent years alongside increased recognition of its members’ refugee status and celebration of their cultures.
The cabinet discussion preceded a UN discussion of the subject scheduled for Tuesday. Minister for Social Equality Gila Gamliel (Likud) was scheduled to fly to New York City to speak at the UN session.

Fred Maroun: Occupied by choice: why I do not support the Palestinian cause

Every day since November 29, 1947, exactly 68 years ago, the Palestinians chose hate, terrorism, and dependence over statehood and independence. They continue to do so today.
By contrast, the Jews accepted the 1947 UN partition plan despite strong reservations, they evacuated Gaza despite the pain it caused to many Israelis, they offered peace agreements that were agonizing for most Israelis to offer, and the Israeli Prime Minister continues to accept the two-state concept despite the decreasing credibility of that concept among Jews. This is because, unlike the Palestinians, the Jews cherish their nation-state, and they are willing to compromise to keep it.
As an Arab who feels a kinship with the Palestinian people, I would like to support the Palestinian cause. As a left-leaning person who feels sympathy towards the weak and disadvantaged, I would like to support the Palestinian cause. But I do not, and no reasonable person should.
If the Palestinian cause consisted of striving for the end of occupation and for the creation of a Palestinian state, I would support it. I would support it just as strongly as I support Israel’s right to exist. But this is not what the Palestinian cause is about. It is about the destruction of the Jewish state, and this is something that I will never support.

This @UNRWA teacher hides her job so she can post hate

Here's an interesting case.

Someone with the nom de plume of "Ãląą Türĸmąņ" on Facebook puts her job as "‎Ñø-ŧĥìñğ at UNRWA and ‎Teacher at ‎مدرسة بنات عسكر الاولى‎‎‎."

The school, which is the Askar Girls Primary School, is an UNRWA school in the Askar UNRWA camp near Nablus.

Here's something she posted a few days ago:

The caption says “Beware of the harm of the Palestinian when he gets angry.”

Her comment is "Get angry, by Allah, I have never seen someone more beautiful then you when you get angry, Get angry, the spark suits your eyes, the flame in them (your eyes) seduces/tempts me, Get angry, it is the fire of the revolution, you are its fuel and its firewood"

Apparently, she is trying to be cute by saying she is "nothing at UNRWA" but in fact she is an UNRWA teacher - and she posts incitement.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

I’ve often asked myself this question. It may not be so black and white. Is UNICEF really ignoring Palestinian child abuse or is there something deeper worth looking into? UNICEF is one of the better umbrella organizations of the UN, and I do applaud their work in helping children world-wide in lesser developed, war-torn nations.

As I was researching for this article, I noticed on UNICEF’s social media pages there isn’t one tweet or Facebook post showing outrage for the rampant abuse children in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza experience on a daily basis: Hamas paramilitary camps that start at a young age, children used as human shields and put in very dangerous areas where rocket launchers and guns are going off, storage of weapons in schools in Gaza, beatings and emotional abuse by elders such as parents, uncles and and the education system that teaches them to hate Jews from day one. Then there are parents who encourage children (such as the Tamimi family) to be used as weapons to harass soldiers, and finally, the current wave of stabbings by a generation taught by all of the above. The youngest terrorist being eleven years old.

In my research for this article I noticed that Middle East Monitor posed an article claiming that UNICEF stated: “Israel deliberately murdered 264 Palestinian children.” That headline is the furthest thing from the truth. Monica Awad, Communications Expert for UNRWA, vehemently denied accusing Israel of murdering children. In my interview with Monica, I found her to be extremely dedicated to her job. She expressed that at the time of her interview with Al Jazeera quoted by Middle East Monitor that five minutes after the interview the female writer changed the entire narrative She was clearly upset over the libel written about her.

So what is really happening and why? Is the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Fatah and the PLO censoring every effort UNICEF’s Jerusalem bureau is doing to help these children? Is UNICEF afraid to speak out against them for fear of retribution?

On the UNICEF Jerusalem website, statistics of Israeli and Palestinian children killed in war are listed. Poverty in Gaza is duly noted. Here is where it gets interesting. Going back to 2012, Jerusalem Post journalist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote an article that Palestinians were going to boycott UNICEF for taking bids from Israeli contractors for construction in Gaza. At that time, Catherine Weibel of UNICEF explained, “the plan was to use Palestinian contractors for goods and services needed in those areas, and if those contractors could not provide necessary needs, Israel was the next option.”
If Israel was only considered as a second option in 2012, why the outrageous threat of a boycott? It feels very sinister that Palestinians in certain positions will do anything including harassing and intimidating women in UNICEF willing to work with Israel to help those less fortunate. Perhaps anyone who gets too close to helping these children not be used disposable collateral will suffer a devastating consequence. It sounds like Gaza is the Saudi Arabia for children. Use them as chattel, bring them out as victims, and use them as launching pads when their desire for Jewish deaths reaches the boiling point.

I wish UNICEF safety and security during this current intifada.

I'm still trying to get hold of UNICEF officials to see what light they can shed on their operations.

11/30 Links Pt1: Murray: The Real Lesson of the Paris Attacks; Deeds of defiance; Calling their bluffs

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: The Real Lesson of the Paris Attacks

When the truth is revealed, it can be not merely unpleasant but often accidental. There have been several striking examples of this since the massacre in Paris earlier this month. In the days immediately after the attack, The Times of London interviewed residents of Paris. Referring to the latest attacks, one 46-year old resident also referred back to the attacks in January on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket. "Every Parisian has been touched by these attacks," she said, referring to the latest attacks. "Before it was just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists."
If "just the Jews" was an unfortunate way of putting it, it was no less unfortunate than the reaction of America's top diplomat. Days after the latest Paris atrocity, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said:
"There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. 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."
To the extent these comments have been noticed, they have been ridiculed. It is what lies revealed beneath the statement that deserves our attention.
The true problem with the line that it used to be "just the Jews, the writers or cartoonists," is not that it is offensive or inelegant or any of the other words that are now used to shut down a discussion -- though all these things it may be. The problem is that it suggests that people were not paying attention during those earlier attacks. It suggests a belief that the terrorism in January was a different order of terrorism -- call it "understandable terrorism" -- rather than part of a continuum of terrorism that now reached its logical endpoint, as "impossible-to-understand terrorism" -- because "Jews, writers or cartoonists" were missing.
What if the terrorists had been targeting "just Americans," or "just diplomats" -- would that be "understandable terrorism" in Kerry's thinking? That it used to be "Jews, writers or cartoonists" is precisely what made the attacks on everybody else inevitable. The only surprise should be our own surprise.

Deeds of defiance

As I sat there in the marketplace that night, surrounded by friends and strangers, I was struck by how this was the perfect example of the difference between Europe and Israel, and how this seemingly mundane activity was the guarantee of our survival. The Jewish community I had just left chose to shut down at the mere threat of terror. Here, where that terror is a reality rather than a suspicion, it is met with life and resistance. When they cut us down we rise. When they fight us, we grow stronger.
Israel has chosen life, and as evidenced by last week's events, Europe has also made its choices. Closing down Jewish life to avoid trouble ironically serves to invite trouble in. Faced with appeasement and silence, the voices of evil will soon speak in unbridled unison.
As I prepare to leave Israel to go back to Sweden, my heart aches as more pieces of it are left behind with every visit. I'm safe here, no matter the terror, because while a minority may wish to harm me, the majority will stand with me. The good speaks loudly here, and the message is clear to anyone who cares to listen: Our love of life trumps the enemy's cult of death and our defiance is measured in babies and land, just as our forefathers promised.

Journalist Sparks French Ire Over Biased ‘Headline’ About Paris Attacks Parodying Coverage of Terror Against Israelis

An Israeli reporter was met with indignation from French citizens and tourists whom he presented with a biased headline about the recent Paris terror attacks, Israeli website nrg reported on Sunday.
Zvika Klein, the Makor Rishon/nrg journalist — whose viral video about walking the streets of Paris illustrated a rise in antisemitism in France — filmed passersby in Paris’ Place de la Republique (Republic Square) reacting to a screenshot of a slanted headline reporting on the November 13 ISIS attacks that resonated around the world.
The format of the headline – purposely fabricated by nrg as an experiment — emulated that of certain international media outlets’ coverage of recent terror attacks against Israelis, creating the impression that terrorists are victims as well. The phony screenshot was a virtual replica of a BBC headline that appeared following the murder of two Israelis, and serious wounding of a mother and her baby, in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on October 3.
The BBC headline read: “Palestinian shot dead after attack kills two.”
The headline cooked up by nrg a few days after the Paris attacks was: “7 men shot dead during Paris attack; 129 dead.”
Klein is seen in the edited under two-minute video clip conducting man-in-the-street interviews with a cross section of people walking through the famous Parisian square. Holding out his phone to show passersby a fake website, “The Damascus Daily,” on which the ostensible news story and headline are featured. (h/t Yenta Press)

How did the French react to a biased headline after the terror attack in Paris?

Egyptian siege of Gaza continues

The Gaza ministry of the interior released statistics on how many people have crossed between Gaza and Egypt this year, and compared it to previous years.

So far this year the Rafah crossing has only been open for 19 days.

This chart based on the data shows how restrictive Egypt has been year over year.

In contrast, Israel has allowed about 140,000 crossings this year at Erez, based on Gisha's chart of the first ten months of the year.

If you look at goods that were imported from Egypt versus Israel, it would look even worse for Egypt.

Yet we are still not seeing any articles about Egypt's "siege" of Gaza.

Egypt says that these closures are necessary for security reasons. But Israel has far more fear of violence from Gaza and yet it allows far more access to and from an enemy territory.

This is how Arabs treat their Palestinian brethren. But that doesn't make the news.

Egyptians who support Israel's right to exist can lose their citizenship

Egypt's Ahram Online reports:

Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decree on Sunday revoking the nationality of three Egyptian citizens for joining the military service of foreign country without a permit from the Minister of Defense.

According to the decree, Mohamed Fayez Hussein Hassan Fogo, Ragab Ismail Ragab Bazazou and Walid Salman Hamdan Abdel Rahman El-Talbany were stripped of their Egyptian nationality for joining a foreign army and for working in a foreign security apparatus without a permit from Egypt's defence ministry that is necessary according to constitution.

The prime minister also issued a decree to cancel the Egyptian nationality of Emad Sami Hassenein for becoming an Israeli citizen without a permit from the interior ministry that is likewise required according to the Egyptian constitution.

I cannot find anything yet on the case of Hassanein, and how he could have become an Israeli citizen. Chances are high that he married an Israeli.

But an article in AllAfrica elaborates on the law on stripping Egyptians of citizenship. According to article 16 of law no. 26/1975, the valid reasons for such a move are:

People who acquire a foreign nationality without obtaining permission from the Interior Ministry

Joining the military service of a foreign country

Living abroad while convicted with crimes related to harming state security

Accepting a position in a foreign government or a foreign international body despite the issuance of a justified order by the Egyptian Cabinet to withdraw from that position

Joining a "foreign body whose purposes include working for the undermining of the social or economic order of the State, by the use of force or any other illegal means"

Working "for a foreign state or government which is in a state of war with Egypt, or with whom diplomatic relations have been severed,....[which] would constitute harm to Egypt's military, diplomatic or economic situation, or would adversely affect any other national interest."

People who at any time has been "qualified as Zionist."

In other words, when Egyptians accuse citizens of being Zionist, they aren't just insulting them - they are putting their citizenship at risk.

This could help explain why Egypt's dwindling Jewish community has been careful never to say anything remotely pro-Israel - it could get them deported.

But this law also helps explain why Egypt has one of the highest rates of antisemitism in the world.

Wikipedia's entry on Egyptian nationality laws pointedly ignores the Zionism part.

Libya's nationality law had an almost identical provision until 2010, when it was changed. But over 35 years after Camp David, Egypt has not modified this law that is clearly against human rights principles of freedom of expression and belief.

I haven't seen any "human rights' group say anything negative about this, though.

Horrible IDF attack on kindergarten inexplicably not photographed (correction - video/photos)

Today, the Palestinian Authority's official WAFA news agency reported:

Israeli forces Sunday raided and wreaked havoc into a Kindergarten in the town of Beit of Ummar to the south of Hebron, according to a local official.

Spokesperson of the anti settlement popular committee in Beit Ummar, Mohammed Awad, informed WAFA that armed Israeli soldiers raided a kindergarten at dawn, after breaking down its main front door and windows.

He said that forces further destroyed the furniture, computers, and children’s belongings, as well as ripped up the tiles of one of the classrooms, before withdrawing from the area.

This was reported elsewhere, always quoting Mr. Awad, whose committee of which he is almost certainly the only member is named "Popular Committee Against Settlements and the Apartheid Wall in Beit Ummar." The supposedly raided kindergarten is called "Hope for the Future of Children."

One would think in an age where everyone is carrying a camera in their pocket that photos and videos of this damage would be widely published. But for some reason, I cannot find any photos of smashed computers, broken windows and ripped up floor tiles. No photos of children's toys strewn about either.

A different kindergarten in Beit Ummar

Remarkably, this is not the first time that Mr. Awad claimed that Israeli forces raided a kindergarten in Beit Ummar. In 2010 he gave an eerily similar report about IDF forces ransacking the "Birds of Paradise" kindergarten that was published by Ma'an - again without photographs and without anyone sending a photographer to document the crime.

It almost seems as if they are just making stuff up. But we can't accuse the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian media of doing that, can we?

UPDATE: Bob Knot found the Facebook page for the kindergarten. It mentions that it was closed yesterday because of the IDF but does not mention any damage or what they did there.

He also found a video showing damage to the kindergarten and Awad's (actually Ayyad's) Facebook page had photos.

There was a major IDF operation in the area yesterday and apparently the kindergarten was used at one point.

.@UNRWA worker didn't get the "neutrality" memo

Hossam Ghali is a staff nurse at UNRWA in Gaza.

On Facebook, here was one of his profile pictures:

It looks like UNRWA didn't manage to get the message to everyone that their jobs are supposedly in jeopardy if they post messages that violate UNRWA's stated neutrality rules.

Egypt's Al Azhar U to hold "Al Quds" conference. Not likely to be sympathetic to Israel.

From Egypt's Al Ahram:

Egypt's Al-Azhar, the world's highest Sunni authority, says it will convene in February an international conference on violations committed by Israeli occupation forces against Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is considered the third holiest site in Islam.

Al-Azhar's High Clerical Council said in a statement Friday that the conference will address "violations committed by the Zionist entity against the holy mosque, questions around whether Muslims could visit the mosque, and how such a move could affect the interests of the Palestinian people."

A wave of Palestinian protests - met by Israeli repression - in recent months has been triggered by an increase in Jewish settlers attacks and storming of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli troops have killed more than 100 Palestinians during clashes since October. At least 17 Israelis were killed in separate attacks by Palestinians.

Settlement-building, racial discrimination, confiscation of identity cards, long queues at checkpoints, and the desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque, have been the daily routine in Palestinians' lives under occupation in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

There is something somewhat interesting that will apparently be addressed by this conference, though.

There has been bitter debate in the Arab world as to whether it is permitted for Muslims in countries surrounding Israel to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque, which means getting approval from Israel.

Palestinians want their brethren to visit, but many say that such a move would be "normalization" with the "Zionist enemy."

So that aspect of the conference might actually be interesting.