Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Vote for Best Article Hasby

The Hasby Award for Best Pro-Israel Article is being opened up for popular votes.

The nominees for Best Article are:

A Letter To Palestinian Supporters Tempted To Co-Opt Native American Struggles, Ryan Bellerose

It’s Not An Argument, Ryan Bellerose

History Matters ,Ryan Bellerose

Why I Am Pro-Palestinian Ryan Bellerose

The Palestinian Theft of Jewish Identity, Binyamin Arazi

The Rage Less Traveled, Kay Wilson

Calling BS on BDS - Apartheid Law vs. Israeli Law, Judean People's Front

The Biggest Mistakes Pro-Israel Advocates Make, series (Lex)

Is Israel a democracy? (Vic Rosenthal)

online polls

(I mistakenly placed a Barry Shaw book on this Articles list, please so not vote for that yet.)

Poll will close on Wednesday evening.

Hasby Award Winners - Best Young Defender of Israel

For the Best Young Defender of Israel award, I am awarding both the regular Hasby award and a Popular Vote award.

The winner of the Best Young Defender of Israel for 2016 is:

01/17 Links: Israeli woman Stabbed to Death; Fatah: Female terrorist killers are role models

From Ian:

Attacker stabs Israeli woman to death in her West Bank home

An Israeli woman was stabbed and killed in an attack inside her home in the West Bank settlement of Otniel, outside of Hebron, on Sunday evening.
The attacker, whose identity was not immediately known, fled the scene of the crime.
The army said in a statement that the assailant broke into the woman’s home and stabbed her to death.
Soldiers and police officers launched a manhunt for the attacker, setting up checkpoints in the area. The attacker was believed to have fled to a nearby Arab village, specifically Khirbet Karme, located just north of Otniel, according to Israeli media.
The army instructed residents to remain in their homes as they searched for the attacker.
The name of the woman, described in her late 30s, was not given. A child was reportedly in the home at the time of the attack, according to Channel 2 news.

PMW: Fatah: Female terrorist killers are role models

Fatah's first attack against Israel which targeted Israel's National Water Carrier (Jan. 1, 1965), is seen by Fatah as the "Launch" of the Fatah movement. Fatah Central Committee member Amal Hamad took the opportunity of this year’s anniversary celebrations to honor four female terrorists, three of them murderers, as outstanding role models for Fatah.
The four female Fatah terrorists Hamad chose to honor were each unique in some way. Dalal Mughrabi led the most lethal terror attack in Israel's history, when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus in 1978 and killed 37 civilians, 12 of them children. Ayyat Al-Akhras, at 17 years old, was the youngest female suicide bomber in history. She killed 2 people in her 2002 bombing. Wafa Idris was the first female suicide bomber who killed 1 and wounded over 100 in 2002. Fatima Barnawi placed a bomb in a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967 in an attempt to murder movie goers, but the bomb failed to explode. She was arrested and became the first female terrorist to be incarcerated in an Israeli prison.
Amal Hamad, Fatah Central Committee member: "Dalal Mughrabi led a squad of honorable and noble fighters. She crossed all the borders and the beach with them, and reached the center of Tel Aviv. She got on a bus and massacred the enemy and caused dozens of deaths. She was the commander and the role model... There are many Martyrdom-seekers among the Fatah women. The woman was present from the first moment. She took part in the national struggle, bore arms, resisted the occupation and detonated [bombs]. Fatima Barnawi blew up a movie theater in Jerusalem. Dalal blew up a bus, and killed officers, not civilians, and not children, women or elderly. She killed officers of the Israeli occupation army (sic, they killed 37 civilians, including 12 children). Among our female fighters there were role models: Wafa Idris (i.e., first suicide bomber, killed 1) and Ayyat Al-Akhras (i.e., 17-year-old, youngest suicide bomber, killed 2)." [Official PA TV, Jan. 1, 2016]

Fatah official names 3 murderers who in total killed 40 people as female role models

Who Is Betraying the Palestinians?

If the Americans and Europeans continue meddling, the stable but still fragile Palestinian social fabric in the West Bank will tear, and at the first sign of weakness, Hamas and ISIS will rush in -- as they have long been planning -- to take over.
Every Arab regime has, at one time or another, used the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an excuse to oppress its people. Our fellow Muslims have been happy to use us as a pretext: We are waging war because of the Palestinians. We refuse to fight because of the Palestinians. We cannot do what you want because of the Palestinians. At no time did they ever seriously seek to resolve the conflict -- nor did they ever want to.
The sheikhs who claimed it was forbidden for Muslims to live under the shadow of infidel European Christianity now have to watch as Muslims grovel at Europe's feet and beg the infidel Christians for a safe haven and shelter from... other Muslims.

Erik Tillman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at DePaul University and one of my colleagues on the Academic Board of Trustees at Vocal Europe.

We seem to have differences concerning the significance of the migration crisis currently playing itself out in Germany and Sweden, among other western European countries.

In a piece entitled, Is the Refugee Crisis Fueling a Radical-Right Surge in Europe?, Tillman claims:

the refugee crisis is helping to push those voters attracted to the radical right—individuals who value security and social cohesion over individual autonomy and universal rights—to vote for those parties. (Emphasis mine.)

My question is whether or not the current refugee crisis will incline European voters who are already attracted to the "radical right" to vote for right-leaning political parties, as Tillman implies, or are we seeing a reasonable and growing concern among native Europeans about the political sensibilities and behavior of many of the Arab-Muslim immigrants pouring into their countries?

Tillman, for his part, took exception with my statement, within Arab Migrants, Jews, and the “Radical-Right” in Europe:

One thing that we know with certainty is that the great majority of Middle Eastern immigrants into Europe do not hold liberal values, i.e., the values of minority rights, gender equality, free speech, freedom of religion, and Gay rights.

Tillman points out:

But what do we “know with certainty” about the values of Muslim immigrants in the West? Because it is difficult and expensive to conduct survey research on a minority population, there is not a great deal of evidence.

He notes:

it is not a monolithic religious community, and significant differences exist between Muslims of different branches.

Islam numbers around 1.5 billion people from virtually every corner of the world... with the possible exception of Japan... so, yes, it is exceedingly diverse.

Tillman concludes:

many European Muslims display lower levels of prejudice closer to those of European Christians. This fact should remind us that individual personality traits that predispose one to prejudice exist across all religions and societies.

I absolutely agree.

Nonetheless, the data clearly shows levels of anti-Semitism throughout North Africa and the Middle East topping out over the 90th percentile according to Anti-Defamation League world statistics. The current genocide of Christians within that part of the world is staggering, and entirely under-reported, as Raymond Ibrahim, a scholar of Coptic descent, can easily attest. The rights of women and Gay people are regularly trampled throughout the Arab-Muslim Middle East and few in the West seems to care.

It is a matter of fundamental common sense, therefore, that traditionally oppressed groups within Europe, such as the GBLT community or the Jewish minority, not to mention women, should have a heads-up concerning the political nature of this Islamic influx.

Tillman takes a helpful step in that direction by breaking down some of the differences between Islamic groups. For example, he notes that there are significant differences in outlook between Sunni Muslims and the more liberal-minded Alevi Muslims. However, Alevi Muslims only represent between fifteen and twenty million people throughout the world, which means that they represent only a tiny percentage of the world Muslim population.

In any case, my question above stands.

Are the Europeans who will be voting for right-wing political parties likely to do so, as Tillman suggests, because they were already attracted to the "radical right" or will they do so out of a moderate and reasonable concern over how this mass migration will alter the nature of Europe?

The question is important because if the answer is the former they can easily be dismissed as radical right-wing bigots. However if the answer to the question is the latter then their politics will have significantly greater weight among opinion makers, policy makers, and the general public going forward.

Michael Lumish is a blogger at the Israel Thrives blog as well as a regular contributor/blogger at Times of Israel and Jews Down Under.

We are doing everything we can to fight for Israel with hard work, research and - above all - the truth. I could sure use your help. Please donate today. If you have other skills you can volunteer for EoZ, send an email to volunteer@elderofziyon.com

From an UNRWA job posting:

The Director of UNRWA Operations acts as UNRWA’s representative in the West Bank where s/he directs UNRWA’s programmes... for a population of more than 750,000 registered Palestine refugees.

The Director leads UNRWA’s responsibility for addressing the needs of Palestine refugees in the West Bank whose limited rights, restricted movement and an Occupation contribute to their marginalized existence.

The job description itself says that Israel oppresses Palestinians whose lives are miserable.

Employees are required to take the Palestinian side of the issues:

Client Orientation: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect...

But, the posting emphasizes:

UNRWA is a United Nations organization whose staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, neutrality and impartiality.

How, exactly, can people be neutral when they are explicitly told to empathize with one side?

While UNRWA employees are told to push the narrative of how awful life is for Palestinians, the UNRWA website that tries to attract employees completely contradicts the description of "limited rights, restricted movement and an Occupation:"

Working for UNRWA in the West Bank is challenging and rewarding. Jerusalem is a family-friendly duty station.

Public transportation is very common in the West Bank. Local residents use either buses, taxis, or their private cars when commuting to the various locations in the West Bank, which are generally easily accessible.

... An increasing number of cafes, restaurants and hotels have wireless internet connections.

Generally speaking for international staff, living in the West Bank is a remarkable experience with many highlights including the kindness and generosity of the people and the incredible array of sites to explore that are of historical and religious significance. ... This duty station is otherwise known for its accessibility to modern facilities including shopping centres, gyms, and swimming pools in Jerusalem and Ramallah. There are also many coffee shops and bars that provide special menus in a fabulous atmosphere.

While UNRWA writes reports about how terrible the water situation is in the West Bank, they tell employees to enjoy the fabulous swimming pools available to all Palestinians.

While UNRWA tells the world that checkpoints are oppressive, it tells its employees that travel through those checkpoints for local residents is easy.

The entire reason that NGO workers love to work in the West Bank is because it is safe, because they have easy access to all the amenities of modern life - and because Israel won't do anything to them when they write report after report on how terrible life is there.

Three Arabs from east Jerusalem were arrested near Heichal Yaakov, a synagogue in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, while worshipers were saying their morning prayers.

The Arabs were found in possession of makeshift knives that were obviously created by taking pairs of scissors apart and duct-taping the handles for easier gripping.

Look how desperate these poor Arabs are in order to create their knives! Look how thrifty - turning one pair of scissors into two weapons!

Perhaps some enterprising NGO can help them by donating proper knives so they don't have to go through this humiliation.

TOI says police have not yet determined if their intent was to stab Jews or simply to steal cars. However, scissors have been used in stabbing attempts over the past several months.

(h/t Yenta)

Qatar completes phase 1 of huge (and beautiful) apartment complex in Gaza

Somehow, despite that "siege" we keep hearing about, Qatar managed to build this in Gaza:

The first 1060 units are available now, and 1200 more coming soon.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that these apartments were a "victory for the Palestinians in the face of the occupation and the brutal aggression" of Israel.

I am a little surprised that Mahmoud Abbas' picture is so prominently displayed in Gaza.

01/16 Links: Palestinian Acts of "Peace"; A wakeup call for the left; Iran frees 4 US prisoners

From Ian:

Palestinian Acts of "Peace"

Because terrorist acts against Israelis are almost never described as terrorist acts, Israel is the only country that is found guilty of defending itself against terrorism. Israel is the only country living next to a terrorist entity, and asked not to treat it as a terrorist entity.
The illusion of the Oslo Accords was that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) could become a respectable, law-abiding government, renounce violence, and abide by an agreement. The lies of the Oslo Accords were that the PLO, representing the "Palestinian people," was ready to exchange "land for peace" and actually desired to create a state living in peace side by side with Israel.
Many Europeans are falling for Joseph Goebbels's formula, that "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." Israel is now -- solely from propaganda and the falsification of history -- possibly the most unjustly demonized nation in history.
Israel is the only country that is always supposed to make "more concessions" to enemies who do not even hide their destructive intentions.

Ben-Dror Yemini: A wakeup call for the left

To my friends on the left-wing, this is a wakeup call. Ezra Nawi's story was supposed to set off the warning bells. It didn't. If you keep on with the regular chorus of "this is an attack on left-wing organizations," you will be doing a great service for the extreme right-wing.
When did anyone level relevant criticism against you? If your automatic reaction has been for many years to cry out "fascism" or "a danger to democracy," and never really address the issue at hand, then something has gone completely wrong with you, because this is the way to close yourselves off, it's not the way to deal with it. After all, most of the automatic reactions to the "Uvda" investigative report focused on the program itself and not the things it exposed. You've been praising exposés for years, and all of a sudden you're against them? What happened?
Zehava Galon, the political leader of the left, paid lip service by condemning Nawi, but claimed that "Uvda on Thursday joined the orchestrated and institutionalized campaign against the left and against left-wing organizations." Nawi, let us assume, does not represent you. Galon does. From here on out, every uncovering of price tag activities will, according to Galon's logic, turn into a "campaign against the right and right-wing organizations." That's a shame. Such logic does not distance Nawi from the left, it brings them together.

Fred Maroun: Next year in Jerusalem: The history of the people of Israel

In the late 1800’s, Herzl started a movement to reclaim sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
It was the home where many had been killed and from which many had been banished.
A few decades later, the world acquiesced, and they started their journey back home.
They started rebuilding their nation on arid land, getting ready for independence again.
However before they could complete their task, Europe decided that they had to die.
The world ignored their pleas and refused them sanctuary, so they died by the millions.
In 1948 they reclaimed the beloved land that some had never left for 3000 years.
But soon after tolerating the killing of six millions, the world betrayed them yet again.
The world allowed their neighbors to abuse them, expel them, and isolate them.
The world permitted their neighbors to wage an endless string of wars of annihilation.
These wars continue today with limitless supplies of hate and of willing collaborators.
The 4000-year-old hate burns still, with shameless demands for more massacres.
But the descendants of Jacob are now on their own land, resilient, sovereign, and free.
They will not let hate, lies, or violence deter them because they are home in Israel.

This was published on November 30 at the Israel MFA site, and should be the starting point of any conversation about what "everyone knows:"

Attempts to present Jewish settlement in West Bank territory (ancient Judea and Samaria) as illegal and "colonial" in nature ignores the complexity of this issue, the history of the land, and the unique legal circumstances of this case.

The Historical Context

Jewish settlement in the territory of ancient Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is often presented as merely a modern phenomenon. In fact, Jewish presence in this territory has existed for thousands of years and was recognized as legitimate in the Mandate for Palestine adopted by the League of Nations in 1922, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state in the Jewish people's ancient homeland.

After recognizing "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine" and "the grounds for reconstituting their national home", the Mandate specifically stipulated in Article 6 as follows:

"The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands not required for public use".

Some Jewish settlements, such as in Hebron, existed throughout the centuries of Ottoman rule, while settlements such as Neve Ya'acov, north of Jerusalem, the Gush Etzion bloc in southern Judea, and the communities north of the Dead Sea, were established under British Mandatory administration prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, and in accordance with the League of Nations Mandate.

Many contemporary Israeli settlements have actually been re-established on sites which were home to Jewish communities in previous generations, in an expression of the Jewish people's deep historic and abiding connection with this land - the cradle of Jewish civilization and the locus of the key events of the Hebrew Bible. A significant number are located in places where previous Jewish communities were forcibly ousted by Arab armies or militia, or slaughtered, as was the case with the ancient Jewish community of Hebron in 1929.

For more than a thousand years, the only administration which has prohibited Jewish settlement in these areas was the Jordanian occupation administration, which during the nineteen years of its rule (1948-1967) declared the sale of land to Jews a capital offense. The right of Jews to establish homes in these areas, and the private legal titles to the land which had been acquired, could not be legally invalidated by Jordanian occupation - which resulted from their illegal armed invasion of Israel in 1948 and was never recognized internationally as legitimate - and such rights and titles remain valid to this day.

In short, the attempt to portray Jewish communities in the West Bank as a new form of "colonial" settlement in the land of a foreign sovereign is as disingenuous as it is politically motivated. At no point in history were Jerusalem and the West Bank subject to Palestinian Arab sovereignty. At issue is the right of Jews to reside in their ancient homeland, alongside Palestinian Arab communities, in an expression of the connection of both peoples to this land.

International Humanitarian Law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

International Humanitarian Law (IHL) or the Laws of Armed Conflict (LOAC) prohibits the transfer of segments of the population of a state to the territory of another state which it has occupied as a result of the resort to armed force. This principle, which is reflected in Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949), was drafted immediately following the Second World War and as a response to specific events that occurred during that war.

As the International Red Cross' authoritative commentary to the Convention confirms, the principle was intended to protect the local population from displacement, including endangering its separate existence as a race, as occurred with respect to the forced population transfers in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary before and during the war. Quite apart from the question of whether the Fourth Geneva Convention applies de jure to territory such as the West Bank over which there was no previous legitimate sovereign, the case of Jews voluntarily establishing homes and communities in their ancient homeland, and alongside Palestinian communities, does not match the kind of forced population transfers contemplated by Article 49(6).

As Professor Eugene Rostow, former US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs has written: "the Jewish right of settlement in the area is equivalent in every way to the right of the local population to live there" (AJIL, 1990, vol. 84, p.72). The provisions of Article 49(6) regarding forced population transfer to occupied sovereign territory should not be seen as prohibiting the voluntary return of individuals to the towns and villages from which they, or their ancestors, had been forcibly ousted. Nor does it prohibit the movement of individuals to land which was not under the legitimate sovereignty of any state and which is not subject to private ownership.

In this regard, it should be noted that Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been established only after an exhaustive investigation process, under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Israel, and subject to appeal, which is designed to ensure that no communities are established illegally on private land.

Just as the settlements do not violate the terms of Article 49(6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, they do not constitute a "grave breach" of the Fourth Geneva Convention or "war crimes", as some claim. In fact, even according to the view that these settlements are inconsistent with Article 49(6), the notion that such violations constitute a "grave breach" or a "war crime" was introduced (as a result of political pressure by Arab States) only in the 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions, to which leading States including Israel are not party and which, in this respect, does not reflect customary international law.

In legal terms, the West Bank is best regarded as territory over which there are competing claims which should be resolved in peace process negotiations - and indeed both the Israeli and Palestinian sides have committed to this principle. Israel has valid claims to title in this territory based not only on the historic Jewish connection to, and long-time residence in this land, its designation as part of the Jewish state under the League of Nations Mandate, and Israel's legally acknowledged right to secure boundaries, but also on the fact that the territory was not previously under the legitimate sovereignty of any state and came under Israeli control in a war of self-defense. At the same time, Israel recognizes that the Palestinians also entertain claims to this area. It is for this reason that the two sides have expressly agreed to resolve all outstanding issues, including the future of the settlements, in direct bilateral negotiations to which Israel remains committed.

Israeli-Palestinian Agreements

The bilateral agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinians, and which govern their relations, contain no prohibition on the building or expansion of settlements. On the contrary, it is specifically provided that the issue of settlements is reserved for permanent status negotiations, reflecting the understanding of both sides that this issue can only be resolved alongside other permanent status issues, such as borders and security. Indeed, the parties expressly agreed - in the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement of 1995 - that the Palestinian Authority has no jurisdiction or control over settlements or Israelis and that the settlements are subject to exclusive Israeli jurisdiction pending the conclusion of a permanent status agreement.

It has been charged that the prohibition, contained in the Interim Agreement (Article 31(7), against unilateral steps which alter the "status" of the West Bank and Gaza Strip implies a ban on settlement activity. This position is unfounded. This prohibition was agreed upon in order to prevent either side from taking steps which purport to change the legal status of this territory (such as by annexation or unilateral declaration of statehood), pending the outcome of permanent status negotiations. Were this prohibition to be applied to building - and given that the provision is drafted to apply equally to both sides - it would lead to the dubious interpretation that neither side is permitted to build homes to accommodate for the needs of their respective communities until permanent status negotiations are successfully concluded.

In this regard, Israel's decision to dismantle all settlements from the Gaza Strip and some in the Northern West Bank in the context of the 2005 Disengagement Plan were unilateral Israeli measures rather than the fulfilment of a legal obligation.

Conclusions

Attempts to present Jewish settlement in ancient Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) as illegal and "colonial" in nature ignores the complexity of this issue, the history of the land, and the unique legal circumstances of this case.

Jewish communities in this territory have existed from time immemorial and express the deep connection of the Jewish people to land which is the cradle of their civilization, as affirmed by the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, and from which they, or their ancestors, were ousted.

The prohibition against the forcible transfer of civilians to territory of an occupied state under the Fourth Geneva Convention was not intended to relate to the circumstances of voluntary Jewish settlement in the West Bank on legitimately acquired land which did not belong to a previous lawful sovereign and which was designated as part of the Jewish State under the League of Nations Mandate.

Bilateral Israeli-Palestinian Agreements specifically affirm that settlements are subject to agreed and exclusive Israeli jurisdiction pending the outcome of peace negotiations, and do not prohibit settlement activity.

Israel remains committed to peace negotiations without preconditions in order to resolve all outstanding issues and competing claims. It continues to ask the Palestinian side to respond in kind. It is hoped that such negotiations will produce an agreed secure and peaceful settlement which will give legitimate expression to the connection of both Jews and Palestinians to this ancient land.

01/15 Links Pt2: Wiesenthal Center calls on Obama to hold anti-Semitism summit; Why BDS can't win

From Ian:

Rabin Would Not Have Supported the Positions of Today’s Israeli Left

What would have happened if Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin hadn’t been murdered? Would history have been altered?
Not according to former IDF Intelligence chief and Labor Party frontbencher Amos Yadlin, who said the following last week. “He would have lost the elections in any event to Binyamin Netanyahu in ’96. The public atmosphere in the country was that the Oslo process failed, the terror attacks of [Islamic] Jihad and Hamas were unacceptable and Rabin himself would have reconsidered Oslo. I have no doubt that he lost his trust, if he even had it, in Yasser Arafat.”
Yet, whether or not Yadlin is correct — and he might well be — Rabin’s murder actually did alter history. It created a mythology on which subsequent Israeli leaders have acted, or felt obliged, to act.
One need only read the pronouncements of some avowedly left-wing American Jewish groups last November on the twentieth anniversary of Rabin’s murder to see that mythology in full flight.
For example, J Street: “We stand for the legacy of Yitzhak Rabin — responsible leadership, bold vision, pursuit of peace. The current Israeli government has ignored that legacy.”
Indeed, J Street, American Friends of Peace Now, the New Israel Fund, Ameinu, T’ruah and Partners for Progressive Israel, and Living Rabin’s Legacy produced a ‘Statement of Principles,’ calling upon American Jews and Israelis to “recommit to carrying out Rabin’s legacy.”
This legacy was not defined by the Statement’s framers, but there is little mystery surrounding their meaning: the cause of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Wiesenthal Center calls on Obama to convene anti-Semitism summit; releases top 10 list

The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Friday called on US President Barak Obama to convene a summit on anti-Semitism during a press conference as the center unveiled its annual Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Incidents of the year for 2015.
In a statement issued Friday, representatives of the organization, along with "13 diverse New York elected leaders," expressed their commitment to battling "against history's oldest hate" while invoking "the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to inspire a new coalition" of community leaders as the anniversary of the civil rights figure's birthday approaches.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in the statement that “Last year was a disastrous year. We are confronting an unprecedented and toxic combination of terrorist threats, an online sub-culture of hate and theologically and ideologically fueled anti-Semitism."
He added, "To defeat anti-Semitism, we need to build new coalitions. Today’s remarkable turnout representing the full diversity of the great City of New York, is an important step in the right direction, but we need to do more… we call on President Obama to convene a summit on anti-Semitism in the coming months.”
New York political figures also joined the press conference, expressing their solidarity with the Jewish community.

Sailing body: Malaysia won’t be punished for excluding Israel

World Sailing has declined to punish the Malaysian Sailing Federation after two Israeli athletes withdrew from last month’s Youth World Championship due to conditions imposed by government authorities.
World Sailing says an investigation found that requirements by the Malaysian government breached World Sailing’s “no-discrimination” regulations.
World Sailing officials say they “deeply regret” the Israeli sailors were unable to compete.
The governing body says that in the future, it can sanction national governing bodies for breaches of the “no discrimination” regulations.

The nutty, anti-Israel website Salem News says:

Sheikh Akrama Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, says he will protest against the Saudi government for hiring the company (G4S) for Hajj security.

He said that the company has been active in occupied Palestinian territories for years.

According to reports, Sheikh Sabri spoke to Muslims at a gathering in Germany, saying, "(G4S) is a security company that equips and maintains the Zionist detention centers and jails where Palestinian political prisoners, including children, are held and tortured.

"G4S is complicit in Israel's occupation. Those who help the occupation must be held accountable and are complicit in the crime, as those who help aggressors also are aggressors. How (can) Saudi Arabia call itself a pro-Islamic and Arab nation while it hires G4S, (an) accomplice to Israeli torture for Hajj security?"

The company was heavily targeted by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement in recent years due to its tactics against Palestinians incarcerated in Israel.

This I had to check out, and sure enough, it is confirmed by The National (UAE) from September 2014:

Saudi Arabia will rely on surveillance technology, a 60,000-strong security force, and private contractors to protect this year’s Haj after taking a hardline stance against Islamist extremism.

The British contractor G4S, which has offices in Jeddah, will provide additional assistance, along with a security force of around 60,000 officers

G4S has been one of the biggest targets of the BDS movement since 2012. The first reports of Mecca hiring G4S for Hajj came out in 2013.

Which means that this is about as big a BDS fail as can be imagined.

01/15 Links Pt1: Fatah: US created ISIS as part of “American infernal plot”; Wallstrom’s chutzpah

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: How (and Why) Palestinian Leaders Scare the World

Abbas has perfected the art of financial extortion. Every Monday and Thursday, as it were, the Palestinian Authority (PA) president has threatened to resign and/or dissolve the PA. This tactic has a twofold aim: cold hard European and American cash, and a gaze directed away from the PA's turmoil.
The PA wants the following response from the international community: "Oh my God, we must do something to salvage the peace process. We need to put even more pressure on these Israelis before matters get out of hand."
Abbas wants the world's eyes on Israel -- and Israel alone. That way, the fierce behind-the-scenes battle for succession that has been raging among the top brass of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank will stay far from the limelight.
The PA seeks a solution imposed upon Israel by the international community. Why negotiate when Western powers are prepared to do everything to see Israel brought to its knees?

Caroline Glick: The Obama administration’s most covert war

Over the past several weeks, we have learned that the Obama administration believes it is at war with Israel. The war is not a shooting war, but a political war. Its goal is to bring the government to its knees to the point where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu loses power or begs Obama and his advisers to shepherd Israel through a “peace process” in which Israel will renounce its rights to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
One component of this war is espionage. Last month The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel is a top target for American espionage.
The other component of the administration’s war against Israel is political subversion. Over the past week, the administration has campaigned against the NGO bill sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. If the bill, which was approved by the government, becomes law, it will require political NGOs that are principally financed by foreign governments to identify as foreign agents in their official communications and interactions.
Last week, State Department spokesman James Kirby lambasted the bill at an official briefing. Among other things, Kirby rejected Shaked’s claim that her bill is less restrictive than the US’s own Foreign Agents Registration Act. Kirby offered no substantiation of his claim.

PMW: Fatah official: US created ISIS as part of “American infernal plot”

During an interview with the Iraqi paper Al-Mashriq, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki described what he called "the American plot" in the Arab region. Zaki claimed that the US has destroyed some Arab states and denied others help in order to weaken them so they would be unable to tackle Israel:
"The American plot began by targeting the heart of the Arab nation, by destroying Iraq and Syria, and weakening Egypt... The strong Arab states did not receive support that would enable them to deal with Israel and stop its spread on Arab land." [Al-Mashriq (independent Iraqi newspaper), Jan. 10, 2016]
Zaki called this a "infernal plot to dismantle the Arab nation, split it, and kill its spirit of solidarity."
The next step in the American plan was, according to Zaki, to create ISIS and with it an Islamic state, whose existence would then serve as the ultimate justification for the need to establish a Jewish state - with no Palestinians:
"ISIS is an American product, necessary for the establishment of an Islamic state in order to justify the existence of a Jewish state, in which there is no place for Palestinians."
Zaki stated that "the Americans were not serious about their attacks against ISIS and eliminating it." As proof of the lenient US attitude toward ISIS, and its "deception" of the world, Zaki claimed that Russia's attacks on ISIS "exposed the American deception":

From The History of the Hebrew Nation: From Its First Origin to the Present Time By Rev. Joshua William Brooks, 1841:

As regards the present political condition of the Jews, notwithstanding the decrees in their behalf which have been passed, the Christian reader will be deceived if he concludes that the reproach of Israel is yet “rolled away from off all the earth.” The public mind has recently been startled by the report of cruelties and injustice to which the Jews of Damascus and Rhodes have been subjected, as if such instances of persecution and oppression were a novelty in these times. But in the East the Jews have all along been exposed to them, though their wrongs have failed until now in arresting particular attention. In the year 1823, at the same Damascus, all the Jews suspected of having property were thrown into prison, and compelled to pay forty thousand purses or lose their heads. At Safet, in 1834, their houses were stripped, and great personal cruelties inflicted upon them, for the like purpose of extorting money; and generally in Syria they were compelled to work for the Turks without payment, being bastinadoed if they remonstrated. The lowest fallaah would stop them when travelling, and demand money as a right due to the Musselman; which robbery was liable to be repeated several times a day upon the same Jew. Throughout the East they are obliged to affect poverty in order to conceal their wealth ; the rulers in those countries making no scruple of seizing what they can discover. And though not interdicted from holding land, yet the enormous taxes demanded of them (equal to one-third of the produce, whilst the Mahometans pay only one-tenth), effectually exclude them from agriculture.

The occupation of Syria by the Egyptians did not mitigate the hard condition of the Jews of Palestine' They were still defrauded and insulted; the commonest soldier would seize the most respectable Israelite, and compel him by blows to sweep the streets, and to perform the most degrading offices. The contempt indeed in which they are held by Mahometans, however difficult to be accounted for, exceeds that which they have experienced in Christian lands. In the East they are truly become a proverb, the term Jew being applied despitefully, as the most reproachful and degrading known.

Even the Christians of Syria manifest a degree of malignity and contempt for the Jews, not witnessed in other places: the Nestorians in particular entertain a bitter hatred toward them; and were a Jew to set his foot within the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, he would be stoned by the Christians of all denominations. ...

In Persia the condition of the Jews is worse even than in Syria. Often whilst they are assembled in their synagogues, a soldier enters with an order from the Shah for money; they are compelled to work without payment; and their women are unceremoniously taken from them, without their daring to murmur. Their poverty and wretchedness may be best understood by the following graphic description given to Dr. Wolff, before he visited Shiraz, by a Mahometan: “Every house in Shiraz with a low, narrow entrance is a Jew's. Every coat much torn and mended is a Jew's. Every man with a dirty camelhair turban is a Jew. Every one picking up broken glass and asking for old shoes and sandals is a Jew." This description was afterwards confirmed by the doctor's own observation, who found old and young in the street of their quarter sitting and crying to every stranger, with outstretched hand and feeble voice, “Only one pool (penny) for poor Israale !”

In Morocco they are equally ground down by a barbarous despotism. The Moors consider that the object of a Jew's birth is to serve Musselmen, and he is consequently subject to the most wanton insults. The boys for their pastime beat and torment the Jewish children: the men kick and buffet the adults. They walk into their houses at all hours, and take the grossest freedoms with their wives and daughters, the Jews invariably coming off with a sound beating if they venture to resist. In 1804 those of Algiers were subjected to horrible tortures, being suspended from the walls by long ropes with hooked nails at the ends, merely because they had unsuspectingly lent money to persons who were secretly conspiring against the Dey; nor were they released without the payment of a large sum. In 1827 the Dey threw a rich Jew into prison for no other purpose than to extort from him 500,000 Spanish dollars. At Tripoli the bashaw extorted a large sum from them on account of the drought, which he declared them to be the cause of. Mr. Ewald, after describing the beauty, fertility, and prosperity of the island of Gerba in Morocco, “where, if any where, (he says) every one lives quietly beneath his own vine and fig-tree,” next speaks of the Jews as the only exception, among whom he nowhere witnessed greater poverty and oppression; insomuch that he could have imagined he was beholding the Israelites of Egypt in Pharaoh's time, under their taskmasters. They were the quarrymen, hewers of wood, and drawers of water; their food consisted entirely of barley flour with salt and water; and they were altogether in an abject state of slavery. Since the occupation of Algiers by the French, the political condition of the Jews in that part of Morocco is improved; but their religious state, from their having imbibed the French infidelity, is more hopeless.

One of the nominees for an Academy Award announced yesterday was Ave Maria, by Palestinian director Basil Khalil.

The premise sounds pretty good:

What do you get when you force Palestinian nuns and Israeli Jews to work together? Well, as evident by Basil Khalil’s Ave Maria, it’s just the right ingredients for a quirky comedy.

The 15-minute short follows a group of five Palestinian Carmelite nuns from the Sisters of Mercy convent who are forced to abandon their silent prayers after a bantering family of Israeli settlers accidentally crash into their property.

In spite of their religious differences, the nuns, who are forbidden to speak due to a vow of silence, and the Israeli family, whose own physical abilities are limited due to the Sabbath, must work together to find a solution.

From the trailers and interviews with the director, I do not sense any overtly political or anti-Israel message. It really makes fun of what seem to be arbitrary religious rules colliding with each other. That is a promising premise for a comedy. The director says that his point is to show how rules that seem strict can be broken sometimes. Without seeing the film I cannot say how respectfully he looks at either the Jews or the nuns, but there are no obvious problems in the trailers.

Although the film is considered "Palestinian," the director appears to be an Israeli citizen - he says he was brought up in Nazareth.

And in interviews he reveals his own biases, mentioning those fictional "Jews-only roads" and implying an equivalence between Palestinians today and Jews of the 1930s in Europe:

I like comedies… I like entertaining films, at the same time, stories from the Middle East are always grim and miserable, especially from Palestine, and yes the situation is quite grim and miserable, but we, especially Palestinians, have developed a sense of humor, like the ghetto humor, which you got in Europe in the 30s, where they had to alleviate their sufferings through laughing or finding jokes around their own miserable lives, as well as educating on the situation. You will find people more likely to watch a comedy than a politically charged film, and will learn that in the West Bank there are roads for Jews only; nice road, and there are roads for Arabs only, which are full of pot holes and are less maintained.

Even so, based on the trailers, the film does not appear problematic.

Here is one scene:

Here is how Ma'an reported an incident yesterday:

Israeli forces Thursday shot and killed a Palestinian near the Beit Einun junction northeast of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stab attempt, witnesses and Israel’s army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers stationed near the junction, who responded by opening fire on the alleged assailant.

If Israel says that he tried to stab someone, it is a mere "allegation."

Even when the stabber was explicit about his plans:

The man was identified as Muayyad Awni Jabbarin, 20, by his father, who arrived at the scene following his death.

The 20-year-old’s family told Ma’an that the funeral of their son would be held on Friday, when they would bury him in the Sair village’s cemetery.

Jabbarin's family said they found a letter written by him, in which he asks his parents to forgive him for the pain he caused them.

"God, please forgive me mom and dad, I will kill two Israeli soldiers and take revenge for all the Palestinians they killed! Mom! Do not be sad! Your son died a hero,” the letter read.

“Please forgive me, and am really sorry for the pain I caused you, but may God be with you,” the letter added. “No matter how darkness stays, the sun will rise again, chains will break and we will all be free one day.”

But it might all just be a coincidence!

Of course, the Arabs consider him a hero, not a victim. Ma'an Arabic notes that Jabarn's funeral today was attended by Abbas Zaki, of Fatah's Central Committee, "and a number of national figures."

UPDATE: The letter (h/t Bob K)