Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

The antisemitism behind calling Jesus a "Palestinian"

Some large excerpts from an excellent essay by Richard Mather:

It is not just Islam and the Left that are responsible for anti-Zionism and the rise of anti-Semitism. Christians who have embraced Palestinian replacement theology (which has disturbing echoes of the Nazis’ depiction of Jesus-as-Aryan) must also be held to account for the propagation of anti-Jewish hatred.

Jesus was not a Palestinian. There is no reference to Palestine in the New Testament for the simple reason that the land of Israel was generally known as Judea and Galilee until 135 CE. The Gospel of Matthew, which was written around 80 CE does, however, mention “the land of Israel” and the “cities of Israel.” The term Palestine is rarely used in the Tanakh, and when it is, it refers specifically to the southwestern coastal area of Israel occupied by the Philistines who had disappeared as a distinct people by the time of the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BCE.

Christians throughout the centuries have tended to imagine Jesus according to their peculiar prejudices. One of the most outlandish was the Jesus-as-Aryan theory. During the Third Reich, some German Protestant theologians redefined Jesus as an Aryan and Christianity as a religion at war with Judaism. The Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence published books defaming Judaism (including a dejudaized version of the New Testament) and a catechism proclaiming Jesus as the saviour of the Aryans.

Since the 1960s, a number of Christians (and Muslims) have revived and revised the Aryan Jesus myth as a tool for propagating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionist propaganda. Jesus the Aryan is now Jesus the Palestinian martyr living “under occupation.” The Jews are depicted as a cruel and oppressive people who have merited everlasting exile. And the Hebrew Bible is “de-Zionised” and/or radically reinterpreted by writers and teachers in order to downplay what they say is Jewish “exclusivity” in the Tanakh (the words “Zion” or “Israel” are removed from the Psalms, for example).

The founding document of Christian Palestinianism is the 1967 Arab-Christian memorandum entitled “What is Required of the Christian Faith Concerning the Palestine Problem.” The document, which had the blessing of Catholic and Orthodox clergy, declares that it is “a total misunderstanding of the story of salvation and a perversion of God’s plan for a Christian to want to re-establish a Jewish nation as a political entity.”

In one of its most audacious passages, the memorandum reads: “The Christian conscience should always discern what is the authentic vocation of the Jewish people and what is the other side of the coin, that is, the racist State of Israel.” In fact, the memorandum calls for a permanent exile of the Jews on the grounds that “the Jewish race was chosen to serve the salvation of humanity and not to establish itself in any particular religious or racial way.”

The Christian Palestinianist movement was given a fresh impetus in 2009 with the publication of the Kairos Palestine Document. Subtitled “A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering,” the paper claims to speak on behalf of Christian and Muslim Palestinians, who apparently share a “deeply rooted” history and a “natural right” to the land.

In contrast, the State of Israel is viewed as an alien entity, and only exists because of Western guilt over the Holocaust. Israel is even associated with the words “evil” and “sin.” According to the text, the so-called Israeli occupation “distorts the image of God in the Israeli who has become an occupier.”

One of the most vocal Christian Palestinianists is Naim Ateek, who was born in Beth She’an in what is now northern Israel. He was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church in 1967 and was (until recently) a cleric in St. George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem.

In 1989, Ateek published Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation, which drew much of its strength from South American liberation theology. Five years later, Ateek founded an organisation called Sabeel – the Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.

The version of liberation theology espoused by Ateek is that of Jesus as “a Palestinian living under an occupation.” In his 2001 Easter message, Ateek spoke of Jesus as “the powerless Palestinian humiliated at a checkpoint” and he used anti-Semitic language to evoke the image of Jews as Christ-killers:

“In this season of Lent, it seems to many of us that Jesus is on the cross again with thousands of crucified Palestinians around him. It only takes people of insight to see the hundreds of thousands of crosses throughout the land, Palestinian men, women, and children being crucified. Palestine has become one huge Golgotha. The Israeli government crucifixion system is operating daily.”

Yasser Arafat also played on the theme of Jesus as a Palestinian martyr. When he made his first Christmas appearance in Bethlehem in 1995, he invoked the Christian nativity by crying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.” To which the crowd responded, “In spirit and blood we will redeem thee, O Palestine!”

Other times, Jesus is referred to as a Shahid, a holy martyr of Islam. Arafat often referred to Jesus as the first Palestinian martyr, which is not only historically incorrect, it is at odds with Islamic tradition. There are no references to Jesus as a Shahid in Islamic works, and it is impossible for Jesus to be a martyr if he did not die on the cross, which is the view of the Quran.

Of all the anti-Israel discourses that exist today, Christian Palestinianism is perhaps one of the most disturbing because it resurrects the notion of Jews as accursed Christ-killers who deserve permanent exile. As with all anti-Semitic ideas, Christian Palestinianism is about resentment. It is a projection of a sense of inferiority onto an external scapegoat –the Jews.

As well as being politically motivated, Christian Palestinianism is a religious assault on Judaism and should be seen in the context of centuries of anti-Jewish persecution and ridicule by both Christians and Muslims who are embarrassed and frustrated by the continued existence of the Jewish people.

Make no mistake. The cultural-economic boycott of the Jewish state draws a great deal of strength from Christianity. Much of the anti-Zionism emanating from West can be traced back to faith-based organisations who are either ambivalent about Israel or downright hostile. Christian Aid, the Quakers, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland and the Presbyterians are among those who are guilty of demonising Israel.

And then there are individuals such as Reverend Dr. Stephen Sizer (a prominent and notorious Anglican vicar in England) who believes that Jerusalem and the land of Israel “have been made irrelevant to God’s redemptive purposes,” and that Jews were expelled from the land because “they were more interested in money and power.”

In other words, it is not just Islam and the Left that are responsible for the ostracism and demonisation of the Jewish state. Many Christians, especially those who have embraced the new anti-Semitic replacement theology known as Christian Palestinianism, should be held to account for rekindling the same anti-Jewish prejudices and hatreds that resulted in the Holocaust.

(h/t MtTB)

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“Nothing to do with Islam.” “Islam is not the problem.” “Islam is a religion of peace.” “All religions have their extremists.” How the denials echo in the wake of every atrocity on infidel soil enacted by terrorists screaming in Arabic the message that their deity is superior to everyone else’s. How thin the denial sounds. How craven the politicians who mouth it. How noisome the complacency from quarters that should know better, yet dice with the futures not only of ourselves but of Western generations yet unborn. And among those quarters I include certain naïve or perverse souls in the Jewish community.

To quote the British journalist Charles Moore, former editor of the London Daily Telegraph, writing last month in the wake of the atrocities in Paris
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11997070/How-many-more-people-have-to-die-before-we-stop-appeasing-Islamists.html)

“[It is] extraordinary … that a great many modern European leaders and policymakers still do not understand … the implacable enmity of Islamism… Essentially, Islamism is a doctrine which provides a reason to hate and kill everyone who does not subscribe to it. Start with the people in the front line of your malice – Jews, Christians in the Arab world, the professional soldiers of infidel countries. Progress to those who transgress your morality. And then end up with anyone – everyone – who does not submit to the will of Allah, as interpreted by your pop-up theologians… It would be harder to imagine a clearer foe, yet we still have difficulty making policy in the light of the threat… What brings it all home, literally, is immigration… If a million Muslims … are reaching Germany this year, and even if only one per cent of them subscribe to the doctrines of Isil, that still means 10,000 people dedicated to killing their hosts and assailing the society that accommodates them.”

Half a world away from the troubles of Europe lies Australia, yet “the Lucky Country” is not impervious to the threat of Islamic terrorism: we have seen that twice so far this year. As Joshua (Josh) Frydenberg, federal Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia in the Malcolm Turnbull government, wrote on his blog (http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/guest/opinionDetails.aspx?id=194):

“[W]hile this barbaric attack happened in the heart of France, all Australians know but for the grace of God it could have been us. Frighteningly, hundreds of Australians are either fighting with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq or lending their support back at home. More than 40 Australians have already died in the conflict, some of whom were suicide bombers. More than 140 Australian passports have been cancelled and our security agencies have said that they have more than 400 high-priority terrorist investigations under way. The Lindt cafe siege and the shooting outside the NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta were painful reminders that Australia is not immune. Were the perpetrators of these crimes able to access even more devastating weaponry than they did, I have no doubt they would have used it. The question becomes for freedom-loving nations such as Australia and France: what do we do to prevent religious zealots from taking democracy hostage and destroying innocent lives? Australia is like France, a sport-loving, diverse society where a strong safety net exists to help those who cannot help themselves. We are not responsible for these heinous acts and we should not make excuses for those who are. Their evil barbarity now seen well inside the gate must be tackled head on with all the resources we have available. It is a battle that must be won because our way of life as we know it is being challenged. Terrorism in our cities must never be accepted as the new normal.”

Journalist Paul Sheehan, in deploring the myth of “victimology” of Muslims that’s endorsed by the
federal Human Rights Commissioner, reminds us (http://www.smh.com.au/comment/paul-sheehan-the-victimology-myth-about-muslims-in-australia-sells-the-country-short-20151115-gkzdeq.html) that

“Of the 20 organisations proscribed by the federal government as terrorist organisations with links to Australia, all 20 are Islamic. The most spectacular race crimes in Australia over the past three years, involving murder, attempted murder, threats to kill and plots to kill – the highest form of racial discrimination – involved Muslims planning or carrying out attacks against non-Muslims… More Muslims are fighting for Islamic State than are enlisted in the Australian Defence Force.”

Indeed, it would appear that it’s precisely that “victim” mentality which has this week prompted five campus affiliates of the Muslim Students’ Association of Victoria to indignantly refuse to participate in a governmental “Countering Violent Extremism” initiative amid claims that the initiative is “Islamophobic” and undermines “core Islamic values and ideas”.

In his response to the November atrocities in Paris, the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, an Egyptian who’s been in this country for 20 years yet cannot speak the language, and who earlier this year defended the extremist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir (http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/crisis_point_mufti_attacks_abbott_whitewashes_hizb_ut_tahrir/) issued a statement which reflected that victim mentality and placed the blame for the atrocities on Western governments); it read, inter alia:

“These recent incidents highlight the fact that current strategies to deal with the threat of terrorism are not working. It is therefore imperative that all causative factors, such as racism, Islamophobia, curtailing freedoms through securitisation, duplicitous foreign policies and military intervention must be comprehensively addressed.”

Among those criticising the Grand Mufti for this and a follow-up statement have been the popular conservative columnist Andew Bolt, the new Liberal MP Andrew Hastie (a former SAS commander who’s done three tours of duty in Afghanistan, and says “Modern Islam needs to cohere with the Australian way of life, our values and institutions. In so far as it doesn’t, it needs reform’’), and Josh Frydenberg, who – in contrast to Prime Minister Turnbull, on record as describing Islamic State as godless terrorists who “defame and blaspheme Islam” – has said that endemic to the current global terror threat

“is a problem with Islam. The point about Islam is that this is a minority of extremists, and you could argue it’s even a small minority of extremists, but it’s a significant minority of extremists and it does pose a challenge to our way of life in Australia. We need to acknowledge the significance of this threat, to acknowledge that religion is part of this problem, and … because this is the key point, we need to deal with it at a hard edge – with a military response – but we also need to deal with it a counter-narrative…”

As columnist Miranda Devine observes (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/your-morals-as-a-muslim-dont-give-you-a-free-pass/) regarding their views on this issue, leftist ABC radio host Jon Faine (who’s Jewish himself, incidentally) dismissively noted that Frydenberg is “a Jew” and Hastie “an evangelical Christian”.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison, who as Immigration Minister under Tony Abbott was crucial to the policy of “turning back the boats” (of illegal immigrants and so-called asylum seekers attempting to jump the queue of people applying for Aussie visas through lawful channels) declared (http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/scott-morrison-says-critics-of-grand-mufti-and-muslim-community-dont-get-it/) has attempted to undermine the issues raised by
Frydenberg, Hastie, and their supporters in and outside Federal parliament:

“I think all religions go through phases in this country. My own (Christianity) and many others. Over a period of time religions become more indigenised in this country. And the cultural component of our religious faiths, I think, become more indigenised. There is the pure religion side of things, the teachings and so on, and then there is how it is expressed in a particular culture. And that is true of Christianity as it is of Christianity, as it is true of the Jewish faith as it is of the Muslim faith.”

What outrageous bulldust! As if either Christianity or Judaism (“The Law of the Land is the Law”) have ever been in any sense inimical to the Australian way of life and the country’s democratic values! As if either Christianity or Judaism have inspired Jihadist attacks on fellow-Australians or on non-followers of their religion overseas. As if either Christianity or Judaism have spawned individuals who consider themselves above the Australian judicial system because their religion trounces civil jurisdiction and individuals who in consequence refuse to acknowledge or accede the respect due to civil magistrates (Miranda Devine’s column has Islamic examples!).

Peter Costello – federal Treasurer under Prime Minister John Howard, who should have groomed him as his successor but failed to so, ensuring that Costello eventually left politics, a severe loss to the Liberal Party and to the nation – wrote very reasonably:

‘…. After each atrocity complacent political leaders trot out the same platitudes. They tell us: “This has nothing to do with Islam, etc.” It is wearing thin with the public. All these attacks are coming from people who subscribe to one religion …Plainly it has something to do with Islam. And the people who are doing it think it has everything to do with Islam. That is why they shout Allahu Akbar while firing their guns and detonating their explosives… Religions are not all the same. Christ never sought to establish an earthly kingdom — “My kingdom is not of this world,” he said. But Mohammed did. He led an army in the conquest of Mecca. As an earthly ruler he had quite a lot to say about how to wage war and make peace. These are the teachings radical Islamists rely on to justify their conduct. So what we need from the Islamic scholars is to tell us, and more importantly to tell would-be jihadis, why these difficult sections of the Koran and the Hadiths are not to be taken literally and not to be followed today. They should explain why “jihad”, which once did include warfare, no longer means that…’

As Andrew Bolt (whose writings are a treat for newspaper readers every Monday and Thursday, and online in between) comments on the above: (http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/andrewbolt/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/costello_it_is_about_islam_which_needs_reform/):

“Fourteen years after the September 11 attacks we are still waiting for signs that senior Muslim clerics are working on this reform of Islam. If this work does not start soon, we may have to conclude that reform is not possible.”

Labor shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who’s Jewish, told Australia’s national broadcaster, the ABC, that he hadn’t read Peter Costello’s article, “but if he in fact said that Islam was the problem then that is a tremendously wrong-headed approach. What we have here is Islamist extremists, or to be even more precise, Salafi jihadist extremists and it’s not Islam, it’s not the religion. This is a political ideology claiming to be based on aspects of a religion but it’s very distinct from the whole religion… What I’ve heard from Muslim leaders across Australia for years now is complete condemnation of this extremist Islamist ideology… ”

To which Josh Frydenberg, on the same program, retorted (http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/2015/11/P50/):

“We’re dealing with a global terrorist threat that we face significantly here at home. [L]eaders of the Muslim community, including the Grand Mufti, did not condemn the attacks in the way that he should have and that has been a very big sore point… “

As Andrew Bolt has shown in previous items of his regarding the Mufti, the latter, when visiting Hamas officials in Gaza, declared:

”I am pleased to stand on the land of jihad to learn from its sons and I have the honour to be among the people of Gaza where the weakness always becomes strength, the few becomes many and the humiliation turns into pride … We came here in order to learn from Gaza. We will make the stones, trees and people of Gaza talk in order to learn steadfastness, sacrifice, and the defence of one’s rights from them….”

And by threatening the withdrawal of Muslim support for the ALP, the Mufti stymied the bid to enter federal politics of a moderate member of the ALP, the staunchly pro-Israel Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.

Meanwhile, Diaa Mohamed, founder of the new Australian Muslim Party, which is hoping to get representation in the federal Senate, has condemned Frydenberg’s views as “offensive”. Condemning them also are two ALP (Australian Labor Party) heavies who just happen to represent heavily Muslim constituencies in western Sydney. One is Tony Burke, who recently made loathsome comments against Israel (http://www.jewishnews.net.au/burke-slammed-over-settlement-comments/37593).

It seems Joshua and his ilk have a lot of fighting still to do before the walls of wilful blindness come tumbling down.

12/08 Links Pt1: Col. Kemp: The World's Most Moral Army; Hamas planned massive attack on Sderot

From Ian:

JCPA: Fatah, with Mahmoud Abbas at the Helm, Confirms the Confrontation Strategy toward Israel

The Fatah Central Committee gave its backing to a strategy that combines the terror intifada with diplomatic and legal moves in the international arena aimed at achieving recognition of the state of Palestine as well as an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders with no political quid pro quo from the Palestinians.
The Fatah Central Committee, convened on Sunday, December 6, 2015, at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah. Fatah is led by Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) who also serves as president of the state of Palestine, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and leader of the PLO.
Total Support for the Knife Terror and the Al-Quds Intifada:
The Central Committee did not condemn the acts of violence and terror being perpetrated by Palestinians as part of the Al-Quds Intifada, which is also called the Knives Intifada. On the contrary, it characterized the foiling of terror attacks as “executions,” chose to call the perpetrators “heroes,” and promised to assist their families. The Palestinian leadership thereby gave full backing to the continuation of the terror wave against Israel.
Preparing to End the Security Cooperation with Israel:
Here the Central Committee fully endorsed Abbas’ threat voiced during his address to the United Nations that the Palestinians will stop honoring the agreements with Israel insofar as, in their view, Israel is not committed to implementing them. The Palestinian leadership no longer sees Israel as playing any part in the attainment of international recognition of the state of Palestine; instead the leadership is trying to gain such recognition independently via the UN Security Council. Thus, by taking an approach that circumvents negotiations, the Palestinian leadership seeks to compel a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, including a withdrawal from east Jerusalem, without the need for any political quid pro quo on the Palestinians’ part.
Continuing the Lawfare against Israel in the International Arena:
The Palestinian leadership hewed to the line of all-out confrontation with Israel. An important aspect of this approach is the legal arena. They regard the legal route as a force multiplier that can nullify Israel’s right to self-defense and afford legal and international legitimization for ending the “reality of occupation” and for the “right” of the Palestinian refugees and generations of their descendants to implement the “return” to their homes and property within the sovereign state of Israel.
Claiming Palestinian Ownership of the Western Wall:
The wording indicates that the Palestinian leadership, with Abbas at the helm, denies the Jewish right to the area of the Western Wall and regards it as a sacred Islamic site that is an inseparable part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

'Hamas planned massive attack on Sderot during Protective Edge'

The Israel Defense Forces was able to thwart a major Hamas terrorist attack in the southern town of Sderot last summer, Southern Brigade commander Col. Dado Bar-Kalifa revealed Monday.
Speaking of Operation Protective Edge with bereaved families at a Hanukkah candlelighting ceremony, Bar-Kalifa said the military had indication that a clash between IDF soldiers and Hamas terrorists emerging out of a tunnel dug near Kibbutz Nir Am had effectively prevented a terrorist attack in Sderot.
Four soldiers, including Lt. Col. Dolev Kedar, 38, commander of the Gefen Battalion of the IDF's Bahad 1 officers' training base, were killed in the July 22, 2014 clash.
"While I cannot go into details, I can tell you that the Nir Am tunnel attack was mistakenly named, before we learned of the enemy's plans to reach Sderot," Bar-Kalifa said.
The terrorists killed in the clash "planned to lead 60 terrorists to the heart of an Israeli community, where they planned to embark on a killing spree and abduct soldiers and civilians," he said.

The World's Most Moral Army

Is the Israeli military a paragon of morality and wartime ethics? Or is it an oppressive force that targets innocent Palestinian civilians and commits war crimes as a matter of policy? Colonel Richard Kemp, who was the commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, was in Israel during its war against Hamas in 2014, and analyzes whether Israel's military is ethical, evil, or somewhere in between.

Google News continues to include antisemitic articles

A few years ago I spent some time documenting how some conspiracy websites with antisemitic articles were being indexed by Google News as legitimate news sites. I had a brief and funny battle with "The People's Voice" which seems to have been finally removed from Google News, along with Uruknet. I also haven't seen any antisemitic articles being indexed in Google News from Veteran's Today lately.

But new antisemitic "news" sites keep appearing and getting indexed by Google as "news" sites. (I'm referring of course to English language sites - Google News indexes tons of antisemitic Arabic articles.)

Today's example is from "Kashmir Watch:"

In wake of America’s continued fake global war on terror, various drastic developments such as Syrian crisis, terror-activities of the Islamic State group (ISIS), tension between Russia and Turkey, the post-November 13 phenomena of Paris attacks, backlash against the Muslims in Europe and the US are, though part of the double game of the US-led Israel, but have seriously been creating economic instability in the world, thereby harming the financial interests of the Jews. This cognitive dissonance of the Jews is not only surprising for the international community, but is also alarming.

It is notable that visibly or invisibly, many big cartels of the world are owned by the Jews. By controlling the major multinational corporations, arms factories, five star hotels, oil companies, liquor business, food industries, technologies, mining and mineral resources, banks, film industry, print and electronic media in the US in particular and the world in general—having influence on the UNO, financial institutes like World Bank, IMF through the sole superpower, Jews have direct and indirect hold on the global economy.

In this regard, many intellectuals like Don Allen and others reveal, “The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) was founded in New York City by Col. Edward Mandell House (real name: Haus–Jewish), chief adviser to President Woodrow Wilson, in league with stockholders of the Federal Reserve Bank…was part of a conspiracy to gain control of both US political parties to use them as instruments…seventy-three percent of the members of the Council on Foreign Relations are Jews. There are a number of organizations that comprise the Invisible Government that runs America and the world…from behind the scenes. A Jewish group which is in control of national governments and multinational corporations promotes world government through control of the military, media, foundation grants and education including NGOs…and controls and guides the issues of the day, and thus they control most options available. They will manage the money, the land, the food, and the guns of everyone in the world.”

The funniest part of the article is a disclaimer by the author to try to forestall any criticism of him as a Jew-hater:

Note: My article is not about all the Jews as a community, as I have received emails in relation to my previous article.

Whew!

Iran's PressTV is usually more careful, only referring to "Zionists":

“What we have now, is you have the same Zionist media and you have this Zionist-occupied government of America as well, which are pushing this clash of civilizations between the Christian and Muslim world,” the analyst added.

[James] Morris, editor of America-hijacked.com, noted that this policy falls in line with the “Israeli Likudnik Oded Yinon neocon plan,” under which the stage is being set for more wars in the Middle East.

Uninformed people in the US and other parts of the world being “geared up” by the Zionist media to fight an all-out war between the followers of Islam and Christianity, Morris said.

(Oded Yinon wrote an obscure article in the 1980s that has been misused by conspiracy theorists as a blueprint for Jewish world domination.)

You can report antisemitic "news" articles to Google here. They will remain indexed in Google itself - as they should, because people need to know that this hate exists. But they should not be featured as news articles.

From Ma'an:

Gazan Civil Defense rescue teams on Tuesday morning were battling to save the lives of 14 Palestinians who went missing inside a smuggling tunnel when Egyptian military forces filled it with seawater.

Muhammad al-Meidana, a Civil Defense official, told Ma'an that rescue teams had been able to save the lives of seven tunnel workers, but that contact was lost with 14 others, who were now missing.

Initial reports that the Civil Defense had established contact with these 14 workers turned out to be false.

There were apparently 21 people in the tunnel, and seven of them managed to get out.

Even the Palestinian press, while reporting it, is not treating this as that big a deal so far.

Because dead Palestinians are only newsworthy based on who can be blamed for their deaths.

Another amazing coincidence as randomly killed Palestinian is member of terror group

Ma'an reports:

Israeli forces shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian during a predawn detention raid into Duheisha refugee camp to the south of Bethlehem on Tuesday.

Medics identified the Palestinian as Malik Akram Shahin and said he had been shot in the forehead, where the bullet remained lodged.

Witnesses said he was "left bleeding for long before he was evacuated to the public hospital in Beit Jala, where medics pronounced him dead."

He was killed when large numbers of Israeli forces stormed Duheisha camp in the early hours of Tuesday, detaining a number of local residents and delivering summons to others.

As the soldiers broke into Palestinians' homes, they reportedly fired live rounds, tear gas canisters, and stun grenades "indiscriminately" through the camp's narrow alleys.

An Israeli army spokesperson said that "overnight, a riot broke out" in Duheisha camp, with Palestinians throwing "pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails" at Israeli soldiers.

And it just so happened, if you believe this report, that a 19 year old man was killed. But it could have easily been a 72 year old woman. After all, the bullets were indiscriminately fired, we are told.

But if you read the description of his death issued by the terror group PFLP, a different picture emerges:

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine mourns the martyr hero of the uprising Comrade Malik Akram Shahin, 19, and who was martyred at dawn today during violent clashes with Israeli soldiers during the storming of Dheisheh camp and their implementation of a campaign of arrests against our comrades.

The Popular Front expresses great pride over the hero martyr, and praises his virtues of struggle and heroism and intense resolve to confront the occupation and respond to it, especially when it tried to storm the camp.

The Popular Front confirmed that the continued targeting by the Zionist occupation of our cadres and members in Dheisheh camp and carrying out a wide arrest campaign against them will not extinguish the flame of the burning of the intifada, especially on the eve of the 48th anniversary our glorious beginnings.

The PFLP sonfirms that the continuation of the occupation in the commission of heinous crimes against our youth who are leading the fighting in the field directly against the occupation will not prevent them from continuing to escalate the confrontation and clashes with the occupation soldiers and settlers.

Sure enough, Shahin's funeral was a PFLP affair.

The PFLP webpage's current logo is a stylized Molotov cocktail:

That is what Ma'an doesn't bother to say to its English speaking audience (and the many who read sites that syndicate Ma'an's content.) We wouldn't want to muddle a good narrative with extraneous facts, would we?

12/07 Links Pt2: Muslim scholar: No connection btw Temple Mt. and Islam; A Quiz for Christian Anti-Zionists

From Ian:

Egyptian Muslim scholar: No connection between Temple Mt., Islam

Renowned Egyptian scholar Youssef Ziedan, a specialist in Arabic and Islamic studies, has given a series of interviews to Egyptian television stations of late, the purpose of which appears to be to anger his Muslim colleagues.
His main point has been to say that there is actually no connection between Jerusalem and ancient Islam. When Islam was founded during the 7th century, he says, Jerusalem was a holy city to the Jews, while the Mosque of Omar was not even built until 74 years after Muhammed's death. The reason it was built, Ziedan says, is because the builder wished to detract from the centrality of Mecca in Islam.
Prof. Ziedan is the director of the Manuscript Center and Museum in the Library of Alexandria. He is a public lecturer, university professor, columnist and prolific author of more than 50 books. He won the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his work Azazeel, which was also translated into Hebrew.
Jerusalem was not known as Al-Quds (City of the Sanctuary) during Muhammad's times, Ziedan says.
"Al-Aksa is not ours," he emphasizes, "and though the word comes from the word 'extreme,' it does not refer to the far mosque on the Temple Mount, but rather to a mosque that is the "further" of two mosques in Mecca.
According to Ziedan, Muslims are purposely and falsely turning a political struggle between Israel and the Arabs into a religious one. "The religious aspect of the conflict is nonsense… The only reason why Muslims insist on the sanctity of Jerusalem is simply politics." (h/t Gee)

France's Thousand Year War Against the Jews

Ironically, according to Islamic doctrine, many Muslims may well see themselves as lining up in Europe to supersede the Catholic Church as they pursue their dream to conquer the world for Allah.
Some suggest that if current population trends continue, prodded by the new migration and the extended families that are sure to follow, Islam will soon be the new majority. Such a demographic shift would not only leave Christians in jeopardy, but Jews in double jeopardy -- antipathy from their own government and overt hostility from Islam.
While it was not French Christians per se who fired the gun on the Jewish shoppers outside Paris in January, it is legitimate to question the role that Christian anti-Semitism plays in creating this climate shift as Jews, yet again, become victims in their own homeland.
The "Supersessionist" DNA, hidden beneath the surface of society, is what drives secularized Christian nations such as France, Britain and Sweden to appease Islamists, who are working to increase their influence, numbers and decibel levels.
"France does not really oppose Palestinian terrorism. On the contrary, France facilitates it. Every year, the French government pays millions of euros, dollars and shekels to Palestinian NGOs whose stated goal is to destroy Israel." – Caroline Glick.

Yisrael Medad: A Quiz for Christian Anti-Zionists

Dear Christians who support Palestinianism and fight Zionism, those who think we Jews have no rights to the Land of Israel, the name of a country as we know from Matthew 2:19-20:
An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel,
some of who are uncouth:

It appears that Judaism made a mistake when it rejected Christ’s gospel of Love. As a consequence, Judaism may have become a primitive and possibly dangerous anachronism in the 21st Century…Judaism is a xenophobic totalitarian belief system that has morphed into a fanatical Zionist ideology that now threatens the whole world.
who believe the content of the Kairos Document, those who will be attending the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference in March, which promotes “Any exclusive claim to land of the Bible in the name of God is not in line with the teaching of scripture” and those who reinterpret the Abrahamic Covenant. You are wrong. Jesus was not a Palestinian.

Fred Maroun: Aboud Dandachi: An Arab voice that the world needs to hear

There are too few voices for peace coming from the Arab world today. In fact this penury is so dire that Mahmood Abbas, a habitual liar and terrorist enabler, is widely courted by Western governments as a hope for peace! What a joke.
We need genuine Arab voices for peace. We do not need Arab voices that hide their anti-Semitism by recognizing only the few Jews who do not support Israel. We need Arab voices who, when they say that they support peace, they mean it because they support Israel as well.
Aboud Dandachi is such a voice.
Dandachi lost his house in the Syrian war, and he was forced to flee. He wrote, “Despite my best efforts and most earnest wishes, in the end I could not avoid becoming a refugee, one among millions of other Syrians scattered across the region and the world”. Dandachi now lives temporarily in Turkey.
Before the war started, Dandachi had worked in several positions in the Information Technology (IT) industry in various Gulf countries, and he was ready to settle down back home in Syria. The war disturbed his plan, and he became what he never thought he would become, a refugee dependent on the help of others.
But Dandachi is not just any refugee. Through his writings and interviews, he has become known around the world, especially among Zionists. Dandachi is one of the rare Arabs and Muslims who openly and eloquently speak in support of Israel and Jews. What’s more, he has made his voice heard while still a refugee and while still living in the Middle East.

Chanukah Videos Night 2: Six13 - Watch Me (Spin / Drey-Drey) plus Pot in the Latkes (MC Flow)

Bonus video: This is quite different- "Pot in the Latkes"

Haaretz doesn't want emergency medical services to be funded if they are for "settlers"

Every once in a while, anti-Zionist media come out with a breathless article about how there are organizations helping out Jews in Judea and Samaria that are considered tax deductible in the US. (The first, I think, was the NYT in 2010.)

Keep in mind that there are many categories of organizations that are tax exempt in the US (including charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering amateur sports competition, or preventing cruelty to children or animals) and that there is nothing in the IRS code that says that if the organization is going against current US foreign policy that it should lose funding. Such a law would be problematic, to say the least.

One of the organizations that offends Haaretz is Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron - the first-responder ambulance services used by Jews in Judea and Samaria (and which also saves Arab lives.)

Haaretz looks at Hatzalah not as a lifesaving organization but as just another enabler of the most horrible crime that newspaper knows of - keeping certain Jews alive.

How much hate Haaretz has for its fellow Jews who want to live in their historic homeland.

As a friend mentioned to me, if Israel passed a law saying that organizations that are at odds with Israel's foreign policy are ineligible for tax exempt status, Haaretz would be the first to call this a fascist law.

One other interesting fact - self-righteous Haaretz accepted a grant from a tax-deductible organization to pay for the research to write this article.

This morning I made the short trek to Efrat from Tekoa having some business regarding my drivers license eye exam to take care of. I love exploring yishuvim and areas I’m unfamiliar with. I love when I learn where I’m going in Israel. It’s a huge achievement for any new immigrant. So, I gladly pat myself on the back.

What we all don’t love right now is the third intifada we’re facing where stabbing, shooting and car ramming attacks are happening all over the country.

On my way from the health clinic walking safely to the Trempiyada (where people hitch rides) was windy and sunny. The more I walked, the more open and naked I felt to an attack. I know what my friends in Efrat would say; “you’re fine, don’t worry.” But was I? Are we? And why was there not one soldier guarding that area so our citizens can safely get picked up G-d forbid a forced kidnapping were to happen in broad daylight by terrorists.

I stood in the brutal wind watching car after car go by. Kind fellow Israelis letting me know through hand gestures they were leaving the Gush and couldn’t afford me a ride. And then it happened; Many Palestinian license plates revealed themselves. It wasn’t just one here and there. It was one after another. I was alone at this area where people hitch. Without cause or second guessing myself, I quickly pulled out my pepper spray, tightly in my hand ready for anything. Still, the feeling of complete isolation overwhelmed me. Everyone in Israel knows someone directly involved in a terrorist attack. It could be any of us at any time morning, noon or night.

Yes, a black SVU with the other area license plate drove by, slowed down and proceeded to open the car. Calmly, I allowed them to see what was in my hands ready to spray directly in their faces had the individual tried to harm me. I was and am prepared. I hope everyone who carries it makes sure it’s in their hands at all times while we’re out conducting business. I know what you’re all thinking; what if they come up behind you, Estee? Well, I would be fresh out of luck, but at least knowing what’s in front of me leaves me with some sort of defense.

Before I made aliyah to Israel, I owned a plethora of firearms. I learned to shoot correctly through the National Rifle Association. It is the biggest self esteem booster for a woman to learn how to shoot a gun. It’s an even bigger boost to know having a husband who fully trusted me with a firearm and a small child while he was at work knowing he felt I could protect us in the event of a crime is the greatest gift a husband can give a wife. But now? Downgraded to pepper spray until the three year mark of living in Israel is over, and I can apply for a permit. One per home in Israel. For now, it’s one can of pepper spray for the three of us. Something is better than nothing. My hope and dream is for our government to issue more gun permits and put their trust in us to use our common sense in defending the lives of our family and loved ones.

Do you think the men in Palestinian license plated cars don’t stare at Jews waiting for rides? Combine bloodthirsty with rage and sprinkle knives on top of it and it becomes an opportunity to never miss an opportunity to choose between terror and feeding their family. When they choose terror and our security neutralizes them, their widows and children can expect a bulldozed house that leaves them homeless and going hungry. If anything, the family that terrorists leave behind should blame the stupidity, arrogance and selfishness on the husband/father who causes this to happen to his own family. A man or teenage boy who chooses to destroy the lives of a Jewish family It’s time their demand for privilege and world sympathy come to complete halt. You only have yourselves to blame for choosing this way of life. They attempt to destroy a Jewish family’s existence. They stab their own people for looking Jewish and destroy any ounce of trust that could come with a peace deal. In my humble opinion, any deal will never see the light of day.

Only until they are sick and tired of being sick and tired will they begin the hard road to recovery. I hope that road that won’t be laden with relapse. And we pray that Hashem fixes their minds for the better. Whether it is in my lifetime or my child’s future is the question. In the meantime, I see no future of Palestinians ever choosing to accept the existence of a Jewish state that is here to stay.
I can guarantee one thing is for sure; you terrorists won’t be ruining our Hanukkah any time soon. We will light the candles, sing, eat and rejoice that the G-d almighty is with us every step of the way.

For now, I remain downgraded to pepper spray.

12/07 Links Pt1: What John Kerry should have told the Saban Forum; The Terrorist Double Standard

From Ian:

David Horovitz: What John Kerry should have told the Saban Forum

We were short-sighted, hesitant, weak. We failed to create the climate in which you in Israel could take the steps you need to take to separate from the Palestinians. I hope my successors will do better
We came into office — and this is, of course, before my time as secretary of state — in an America that was emphatically intent on avoiding fresh military entanglements in your part of the world. And I acknowledge that the desire to stay out of potential new conflicts, a desire that reflected the will of the American people, impacted policy-making from the get-go.
We missed an early opportunity to back the people of Iran in 2009 when they courageously attempted to rise up against the benighted regime that oppresses them. They sought reform. They sought an end to religious coercion. They sought equality for women. They sought the freedoms that we in the West, certainly including Israel, insist upon. And we did nothing to help them. We failed the people of Iran then; I hope and pray that we did not fail them, and did not fail you and indeed ourselves — as I know you believe we did — in the signing of the nuclear deal we reached with the regime in July. I want to believe that we have all but eliminated the Iranian nuclear threat, though I must recognize that the accord cements that regime in power, emboldens it, gives it the resources to promote its pernicious agenda across the region and orchestrate terrorism worldwide. History will be our judge.
We were short-sighted about the Arab Spring, wanting to believe that sheer people power would be enough to drive popular uprisings against tyrannies across the region toward the establishment of genuine, vibrant, abiding democracies. You Israelis warned us. You, in your ambivalence — delighted to see much of the Arab world demanding democracy, but only too aware that it was the Muslim Brotherhood in one guise or another that was best placed to capitalize on the chaos — you told us that, left alone, the heartfelt desire for change would be co-opted, abused by Islamist groups in country after country. And so it proved.
In Syria, weak, hesitant and unprepared, we failed to substantially assist the early secular, relatively moderate opposition to Bashar Assad. I must personally acknowledge that I was wrong about him. He is, of course, anything but a reformer. It is shameful that, even today, he remains in a position where he is capable of slaughtering still more of his people. Not America’s shame alone, I should stress. His continuing presence is a global stain. A mark of moral and practical failure.

The video of revelers cheering 9/11 that no one got to see

Here are the facts, all of which are matters of public record. On the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of jubilant Palestinians took to the streets, chanting “God is great,” firing automatic weapons and handing out sweets to passers-by. The largest demonstration took place in Nablus in the West Bank, where some 3,000 marchers danced and cheered as guerrillas fired assault rifles and grenades into the air.
Many journalists were on the scene, but they were forcibly detained in a hotel by armed Palestinian security forces to prevent coverage of the rally. One cameraman — a freelance AP reporter — nevertheless managed to film some of the celebration.
The next day, members of Tanzim, the military arm of Fatah, physically threatened the cameraman and warned AP not to air the material. A cabinet secretary for the Palestinian government told the Associated Press that the government could not “guarantee the life” of the cameraman if the film were broadcast.
The Palestinian information minister explained to the Washington Post that the coercive tactics “were not against the freedom of the press but in order to ensure our national security and our national interest. We will not permit a few kids here or there to smear the real face of the Palestinians.”
The threat worked. After initially declining to confirm the incident, the AP bureau chief in Jerusalem acknowledged the intimidation and the news organization’s capitulation to it. On Sept. 14, 2001, the news organization made known that “in light of the danger,” it wouldn’t release the video for world broadcast because “the safety of our staff is paramount. At this point we believe there to be a serious threat to our staff if the video is released.”
Fourteen years later, the historic footage from 9/11 remains inaccessible to public view.

The collapse of the Palestinian Authority may already be here

United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s scenario outlining a potential collapse of the Palestinian Authority, laid out Saturday at the Saban Forum in Washington, DC, sounds more than realistic.
For a change, the US administration, an expert at making fatal mistakes in the Middle East, seems to read the state of Palestinian affairs correctly, though the secretary errs in using the word “collapse.”
Instead, it should be substituted with the term “disintegration,” which in some ways has already begun.
The shooting attack on Thursday, in which Preventive Security Services member Mazen Aribe opened fire on Israel Defense Forces soldiers near the Hizme checkpoint, marks a crossroads.
Aribe was killed by fire from soldiers at the scene. The Palestinian Authority, instead of condemning or at least not supporting the action, sent head Palestine Liberation Organization negotiator Saeb Erekat and the mayor of Jericho to visit the home of the attacker’s family.

One of the cases of sabotage

From Daily News Egypt:

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum spokesperson Hamdy Abdel Aziz said they will appeal the Swiss court decision of fining the ministry and the holding company for natural gas (EGAS) with USD 1.7 bn to Israel electricity company and USD 288 m to the Mediterranean Gas company on Sunday.

An international Swiss court issued a verdict after more than three years against Egypt when the Israeli company filed a lawsuit calling on Egypt to pay USD 4bn due to shortages caused in their natural gas supply after suspension of the 20 year long agreement of exporting gas from Egypt to Israel, which hindered their electricity exports, in the wake of January 25 uprising in 2011 and the constant attacks on the gas pipeline which followed the uprising.

Abdel Aziz told CNBC Arabia channel in a TV interview on Sunday, “the contract with Mediterranean Gas ended on 2012 for not paying delayed expenses and there are lawsuits filed against them because of that”.

“The ministry will suspend talks of some companies importing gas from Israel until all the appeal procedures are done,” he said.

In late November, partners in the Israeli Leviathan gas field announced in the Israeli stock market their initial short term agreement with an Egyptian company to supply it with gas. The Leviathan gas field is scheduled to launch in 2019/2020.

Israel is, perhaps overly, optimistic:

Israel hopes that its “close ties” with Egypt will enable talks on gas exports to restart, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said, following an Egyptian decision to halt negotiations. Israel is also planning to advance exports to other markets including Jordan, Turkey and Western Europe, he said.

“The State of Israel assigns great importance to its security and energy ties with Egypt in their entirety, and hopes that due to its close bilateral ties, it will be possible to continue to move forward on the gas issue soon,” Steinitz said in a text message. Israel must develop its offshore gas fields quickly to achieve energy security, he said.

Egypt exported natural gas to Israel until it canceled the deal in 2012 as its wells became depleted and new exploration slowed. It has said that any gas import deal with Israel should include a resolution to international arbitration cases.

Egypt’s decision to suspend the talks may be temporary, Amos Gilad, a senior Defense Ministry official, said in an Israel Radio interview. He also emphasized Israel’s ties with the country as well as Egypt’s role as a stabilizing influence in the region.

“You have to look at the entire picture,” Gilad said. “There is a whole set of interests.”

But will Israel interfere with the legal issues between private Israeli and Egyptian companies the way Egypt is?

.@UNRWA worker wants to see lots of dead Jews

Ali Esbaita (Wael?) identifies as a UNRWA worker in Gaza. He includes photos from his workplace in his Facebook timeline.

On Facebook, he posted this:

The caption says ""Oh Allah, make their dead as many as those who say 'amen'"

His comment:

"Oh Allah, bless our master Muhammad as many times as is the number of the Jews that have been killed and will be killed... Bless the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers (Muhammad)"

He has another similar post where he hopes to see more Jews crying over their dead:

Given that he works at a progressive organization as UNRWA, he naturally is very supportive of women's rights:

So - will UNRWA discipline him, as they promised to for those who violate its "neutrality" policy?

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

J Street U - Vassar refuses to counter "Zionism=racism" canard

Something very interesting happened at Vassar over the past couple of days. From the J Street U Vassar Facebook:

Earlier this week, Matt Kolbert, J Street U Vassar co-chair, and our treasurer, Ben Rothman, attended a meeting with the VSA [Vassar Student ssociation] finance committee. The committee was reviewing our application for funding to attend the HaaretzQ conference, a major conference in New York City next Sunday that seeks to address questions of peace and democracy in Israel and Palestine. Our understanding of the discussion that occurred at this meeting was that some members of finance committee raised the concern that the VSA, as an explicitly anti-racist organization should not fund our attendance of the conference. The logic of this concern was based on the belief that Zionism is an inherently racist ideology, and multiple speakers at the conference identify as Zionists, so supporting our attendance of this conference would be contradicting the VSA's anti-racist stance. Because of this concern, the committee decided they would table the application and allow the greater VSA to discuss and vote on it.

The concerns raised by the finance committee trouble us deeply for two reasons. First, because we disagree with the notion that this conference is contrary to the VSA's anti-racist values. Second, because our own anti-racist ideologies are the very reason we exist as an organization: to oppose the occupation of the West Bank and fight for a two-state solution. Attending this conference will enable us to advance those goals.

We will seek to convince the VSA to fund our application. The HaaretzQ conference is educational, and all Vassar students have the right to be informed about all sides of world issues. As J Street U, we intend to remain fully independent in our thinking, and hope that we will be able to bring back knowledge will help us in our effort to end the occupation of the West Bank and forge a two-state solution.

J Street U members had the chance to say that they disagree with the notion that Zionism is racism - and it failed. Instead, they said that the HaaretzQ conference isn't racist, but as for Zionism altogether, well....let's not go there.

A truly pro-Israel organization would have been offended and angry at the equation of Zionism and racism, and would have condemned those words in no uncertain terms. Instead, J-Street U chose to ignore that canard altogether - because these proud, idealistic young people felt that the few hundred dollars they wanted is more important that standing up for their purported principles.

How proud they must be!

It is also interesting that the organization couches its opposition to Jews having equal rights to live in Judea and Samaria, and their support for a Judenrein "Palestine," as "anti-racist."

Then came this:

Thank you to the VSA for enabling us to take further steps in ending the occupation by voting unanimously in favor of accepting our fund app to attend the upcoming Haaretz Peace conference. While we are troubled that our app was tabled at all, we are gracious that we now have the opportunity to attend the conference.

We would like to address two misconceptions that the wider community may have about what has taken place over the past few days. First, prior to tonight’s meeting, the VSA finance committee did not approve nor deny our request for funds to attend this conference, instead they tabled the application so that the wider VSA council could vote on it.

Second, we are under no impression that the decision to table our application for funding was anti-semitic in nature. We understand that it may have had anti-Zionist implications, but J Street U Vassar does not assume that correlates to anti-semitism.

Explicitly saying that Zionists are racists "may have anti-Zionist implications"? wow, what brave fighters they are for Israel!

Moreover, J Street U had the chance to proudly stand up for the right for Jews to have their own homeland - and instead their members cowered and refused to say anything negative about the people who want to deny Jews that right. Instead, they cravenly go out of their way to say that they can fully understand why people want to deny Jews any self-determination, and in no way see that as a problem, just another valid opinion that must be respected (as opposed to, of course, those who feel that Jews have the right to live in their ancestral lands, which is completely unacceptable and, according to them, racist.)

The reason that J-Street U cannot proudly say they support a Jewish state is because - they don't support as Jewish state. They support an "Israeli" state. This is JSU-Vassar's Facebook header graphic:

Jews don't have the right to self-determination according to J-Street U. "Israelis" do.

Does that mean that on May 13, 1948, there was no right for Israel to exist? Sure sounds like this is J-Street U's position.

We have seen before that parent organization J-Street also refuses to say that Jews have a right to a Jewish state in their stated principles.

There is a little bit of schadenfreude in this episode where J-Street U felt what it was like to be accused of racism at the same time that they accuse so many other Jews of the same. Yet they clearly didn't learn any lessons from this. Instead, they want to ingratiate themselves with those who want to destroy the Jewish state - for funding.

Now you know what J-Street means when they say they are "pro-Israel."

(h/t JW)

EoZ lecture: "Speaking 'Truth to Power' About the Arab-Israeli Conflict" (video)

I gave this hour-long talk on Sunday morning at the Summit (NJ) Jewish Community Center.

It was well-attended (about 50 people) and well-received.

I do not have permission to post the Q&A this time.

If anyone else wants me to speak to their organization in the NY/NJ area, let me know. I never give the same lecture twice, although I might repeat myself now and then....