Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, August 07, 2016

VIDEO: Ben Ehrenreich shares his love for the Sbarro massacre mastermind’s family

This Tuesday will be the 15th anniversary of the infamous Sbarro pizza shop bombing, masterminded by Ahlam Tamimi.

The attack, on August 9, 2001, killed 15 people and injured 130. Among the dead were a pregnant woman and seven children – some counted eight, including an 18 year-old who had just finished school; the injured also included one young mother who was left in a permanent vegetative state.

For the families of the victims, this year’s 15th anniversary of the attack may well be particularly grim, because of a fawning book that has been recently released by Ben Ehrenreich, lionizing the murderous Tamimi clan.

Who would have ever imagined that an American writer would come out with a book that presents the family of Ahlam Tamimi – the Sbarro massacre mastermind – as simply wonderful people? This despite the fact that the Tamimis not only continue to justify the Sbarro attack, but are openly cheering pretty much every terror attack that has been perpetrated over the past year. And who would have ever imagined that prestigious publications like the New York Times and The Economist would praise this hagiography of the terror-supporting Jew-hating Tamimis to the high heavens? What is it about killing Jews that is so romantic that the NYT would gush about Ehrenreich’s “Love Letter to Palestine” and The Economist would fawn about all “the hope, and the love” that infuses Ehrenreich’s depiction of the Tamimis?

For a glimpse of the intense Jew-hatred and the ardent support for terror that animates Ben Ehrenreich’s protagonists, watch the video below that will introduce you to the four people Ehrenreich lists first in the Acknowledgements for his book: Bassem and Nariman Tamimi, and Bilal and Manal Tamimi.

The video was conceived, researched and written by Petra Marquardt-Bigman. Narrated and directed by Elder of Ziyon.

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The Forward has a decent summary of how the Black Lives Matter platform is anti-Israel:

What does it say about Israel?

It singles out Israel as the recipient of $3 billion in U.S. aid, calling it “a state that practices systematic discrimination and has maintained a military occupation of Palestine for decades.”

The platform seems to imply that Israel benefits from military aid to Egypt. It invokes the fact that together the two countries receive close to 75% of U.S. aid money, and claims that Egypt is “Israel’s most important regional ally.”

The platform devotes a whole paragraph to Israel, in which it criticizes Israel’s “genocide” against the Palestinians, calls it “an apartheid state with over 50 laws on the books that sanction discrimination against the Palestinian people” and claims the Jewish state arrests Palestinians as young as 4 years old.

The anti-Israel sections were written by three dedicated anti-Israel grups: Adalah, the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and the Institute for Middle East Understanding.

There is an irony here.

The Black Lives Matter movement is keyed on ending what it perceives as exploitation of blacks:

Black humanity and dignity requires Black political will and power. Despite constant exploitation and perpetual oppression, Black people have bravely and brilliantly been the driving force pushing the U.S. towards the ideals it articulates but has never achieved. ...While this platform is focused on domestic policies, we know that patriarchy, exploitative capitalism, militarism, and white supremacy know no borders. We stand in solidarity with our international family against the ravages of global capitalism and anti-Black racism, human-made climate change, war, and exploitation.

Yet the authors did not realize that they are being exploited by a group that has no interest in black lives at all, a group that only cynically uses black people for its own purposes.

The anti-Israel section of the BLM platform is filled with the usual lies (like the "fifty laws on the books" lie and charges of apartheid and genocide by Israel.) Those lies were placed there for only one reason, and it has nothing to do with the goals of Black Lives Matter - it is naked exploitation of blacks by a non-black group. Allowing the Palestinian groups to attempt to write part of the platform is a historic mistake that will hurt it.

This has been the Palestinian way of thinking for a while- infiltrate an organization and then hijack its goals to focus on hate for Israel. They did it with numerous UN agencies and other international organizations and commemorations that had been useful before they were co-opted.

The idea that the black movement was ripe for exploitation has been on the Palestinian radar for years. It is doubly cynical, because not only does it attempt to hijack the movement to become yet another vehicle to bash Israel, but it also disenfranchises the many Jews who have been in the forefront of the civil rights movement since it began.

Adding lies to the platform does not strengthen the movement, on the contrary, it weakens it considerably. What could have been the beginning of a serious discussion is now sidetracked and the Palestinian hijacking of yet another liberal social movement has begun - to the detriment of the actual people that the movement was meant to help.

One would have hoped that the BLM movement would have been more conscious of how it feels to be exploited by a group that doesn't give a damn about anyone besides themselves and who only wants to use blacks for its own purposes.

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08/07 Links: Danon: 'If they see the facts, they won't believe Palestinian lies'; Anti-Israel blacklisters complain they are unfairly being blacklisted

From Ian:

'If they see the facts, they won't believe Palestinian lies'

Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon expressed great satisfaction with the visit to Israel he led in which 11 UN ambassadors representing countries from four different continents had the opportunity to observe life in Israel for themselves.
"It was a very effective visit. We managed to show them the chief challenges we're dealing with in only four days," Danon told Arutz Sheva.
Danon recounted that the ambassadors first visited the border with Gaza, where they saw the threat of the rockets and tunnels, and then went north to the border with Lebanon, in order to observe the threat posed by a rearming Hezbollah. Danon showed the ambassadors maps of the various Hezbollah bases that are located in the heart of local villages very close to the border, complete with rocket launchers.
Ambassador Danon claims that there is no doubting the effectiveness of these types of visits and tours. He says that it's not a matter of gaining victory in a knockout blow but rather gaining "points" little by little, with the fruits of these efforts becoming apparent in future diplomatic struggles. Danon said that the maps and pictures he showed the ambassadors are of great value in rebuffing baseless criticisms of Israel, and that if he could he would bring all the ambassadors in the UN for a similar visit.
When asked whether any of the visiting ambassadors hailed from countries that are consistently anti-Israel, Danon replied that most of the countries were what he would call "middle-of-the-road" regarding their Israel policy, and that the great advantage in bringing their ambassadors over for a visit is in the fact that it makes it far less likely that they will turn anti-Israel in the future, as they have seen the facts on the ground first-hand, and aren't just getting their information from pro-Palestinian propaganda.

Peace Now leader wants Israel to overthrow the Palestinian Authority

Peace Now has long functioned almost as a defense attorney for the Palestinian Authority--vigorously demanding Israeli concessions to the PA, while refraining from criticizing the PA's sponsorship of terrorism and its constant incitement against Jews and Israel.
Martin Bresler's op-ed began with the usual litany of denunciations of Israel's behavior. "The occupation is evil," he informed Jewish Week readers. "It is immoral. It is un-Jewish." Israel has become "the oppressor of another people." This "twists the souls" of Israelis, and is "making the entire body [of Israel] sick." It even "feeds anti-Semitism."
But not to worry—Mr. Bresler has a solution. He has a six-step peace plan, and here's step #1: "Israel can announce…that it recognizes that the occupation must end at some point, that it will do so as soon as the security situation permits, and until that time it will administer the West Bank for the benefit of its Palestinian inhabitants and its own safety."
Come again?
Martin Bresler, in the name of Americans for Peace Now, wants Israel to "administer the West Bank for the benefit of its Palestinian inhabitants."
Right now, of course, it is the Palestinian Authority which administers 99% of the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of Judea-Samaria (the West Bank). The PA has been doing so since 1995, when then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin withdrew Israel's forces from the areas, called A and B, where nearly all of the Palestinians reside. Only 4% (about 50,000) of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria still live in area C under Israeli administration, as do all the Jews.

Palestinians: The "Country" Where Crime Is an Official Job

"[W]hoever was imprisoned for five years or more is entitled to a job in a PA [Palestinian Authority] institution. Thus, the PA gives priority in job placement to people who were involved in terrorist activity." – Yigal Carmon, president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), in testimony to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, July 6, 2016.
In 2016, not less than $300 million (between 7% and 10% of the budget) was allocated to prisoners, their families, and to "martyrs' families."
In June, an independent report commissioned by the Britain's Department for International Development concluded that by enabling the PA to pay salaries to terrorists, British aid to the PA had made anti-Israel terror "more likely." DFID dismissed the report.
Palestinian society is totally built and organized on the basis of "resistance". It is a society where jobs, fame and money go to people who are in, or who have spent years in, Israeli jails. There, legitimacy goes to people who are considered "martyrs."

I remain dismayed at what looks to be a sincere disregard for the well-being of Jewish students on the campus of San Francisco State University.

This may come as something of a surprise to SFSU President Leslie Wong because I have no doubt that he thinks of himself as just as much a friend of the Jewish community as he is with every other ethnic group at the university.

Well, sadly, he isn't.

Let's look at two very simple facts.

1) Wong praised the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) and their advisor, Professor Rabab Abdulhadi, as representing the best values of the school in April of 2015.

2) GUPS calls for violence against Jews within Israel, if not elsewhere.

What I fail to understand is how he can possibly square this circle.

In a video created during a reception to celebrate the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) initiative, and the creation of an undergraduate minor in that sub-field, Wong said:

"I want to offer my personal congratulations to the student leadership of GUPS. They have been an inspiration for me. And they have helped me when I have to tell other community groups to mind their own business. GUPS is the very purpose of this great university."

The student leadership of GUPS?

Would that include this former president of GUPS, Mr. Mohammad Hammad, and his famous blade from 2013?

In case anyone has any difficulty reading Mr. Hammad's sentiment, he claims:

"I seriously can not get over how much I love this blade. It is the sharpest thing I own and cuts through everything like butter and just holding it makes me want to stab an Israeli soldier."

The case of Mohammad Hammad, from 2013, when he posted his violently-inclined social media bit, was well-known to President Wong long before he praised GUPS leadership as a personal inspiration in 2015. This story was well-covered and we know for a fact that Wong was well aware of it.

As I wrote at the time:

Tammi Benjamin, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the ACHMA Initiative seems to be taking the lead and "Dusty" at Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers put up a website devoted entirely to SFSU and its ongoing reputation for hostilities toward the Jewish State of Israel. The Elder of Ziyon has also showed considerable interest and linked to one of my posts at the Times of Israel with the exceedingly sad title, "Canned Palestinian Children Meat."

Israellycool is covering it.

The Jewish Press is covering it.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is involved.

The Times of Israel has taken notice.

The Jewish Journal Says Hello.

Furthermore, it must be noted that when the students of GUPS stand on the quad at Malcolm X Plaza and chant "Intifada! Intifada! Long live the Intifada!" they are quite literally calling for the murder of Jewish people.

What does SFSU President Wong think that "Intifada" means?

This material is largely a rehash, of course, but the issue hangs in there - as we see from this recent piece by columnist Cinammon Stillwell, published in the Independent Journal Review entitled, "Why Is A San Francisco University Secretly Partnering With An Arab College That Promotes Jihad?"

It is precisely because so many at San Francisco State University honestly believe that Arabs have good reason to seek the murder of Jews that Wong has little problem with student cries for Intifada.

In the mean time, I would recommend that Jewish students take up a martial art, perhaps Krav Maga.

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.

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Last month I noted that Palestinian authorities were cracking down on car-theft rings and destroying the cars that were found - and I showed that most of those cars were stolen from Israel.

Instead of returning the stolen vehicles to their rightful owners, the Palestinian Authority decided to destroy them.

There are some more details that were revealed in a Ma'an story about stolen cars in the West Bank.

The article admits that most of the cars are stolen from Israel, and it estimates that some 40,000 vehicles in the West Bank are actually stolen from Israel. The PA destroyed over 4500 cars this year alone!

However, Palestinian security officials spin the thefts as more of a public safety issue, because the cars are not inspected properly. It also improbably claims that many of the cars are sold illegally by Israelis to Palestinians.

Why doesn't the PA simply return the cars to Israel?

It turns out that the Palestinian Authority doesn't completely destroy the stolen vehicles. They make them unusable, for example by bashing in the roofs, but the cars are then auctioned to auto-repair shops for spare parts - and "the proceeds of the sale are deposited in the state treasury according to Palestinian law."

Which means that the PA is not interested in stopping the car thefts. They just want to make sure that they make a profit from the work of the thieves.

The rampant car theft helps enrich the Palestinian Authority - which is why their crackdown is not to stop the thefts but to ensure that they make money off of them.

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The Olympic-sized swimming pools in the West Bank that Reuters couldn't find (update)

Remember Mary al-Atrash, the Palestinian Olympic swimmer who told Reuters' Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh that she had no Olympic-sized pool to train in, and couldn't make it to Jerusalem "due to the conflict" to train in one there?

I showed that she lied about having no access to swimming pools in Jerusalem - she simply never applied for a permit.

But it turns out that she lied about something more fundamental. After I publicized the story, Tablet magazine showed that there are indeed 50-meter Olympic sized pools in the West Bank.

And there are quite a few.

Here is one in her own home town at the Murad Tourist Resort:

Here is a screenshot from a video about how a Bedouin woman opened up a water resort in Jericho that included an Olympic sized pool - a pool that apparently was funded by the International Olympic Committee specifically to help Palestinian swimmers!

Here's one in Qalqiya:

And an indoor pool also in Qalqiya:

And in Hawara:

For Reuters, the story of evil Israel and poor Palestine was too good to check.

Because, that is what Reuters reporters believe.

UPDATE: Some are not sure that most of the pools here are 50 meters, as opposed to 25 meters.

The Jericho pool, however, certainly seems to be the right size:

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08/06 Links: UN Deletes Article Calling Hamas Operative “Hero”; Hey Black Lives Matter, your anti-Semitism is showing

From Ian:

Political play in Rio: 'The Lebanese refused to board a bus with Israelis'

The Rio summer Olympics premiered Saturday night with an exceptionally large Israeli delegation - the largest in history - made up of 47 athletes. Excitement was at its peak when the delegation traversed across the Rio stadium, with rhythmic gymnast Neta Rivkin at its head. But prior to the ceremony, an awkward incident occurred between the Israeli and Lebanese delegations.
The Israelis, upon preparing to board a joint-bus, were turned down by the Lebanese who refused to share the ride. To avoid a diplomatic feud, event organizers decided to drive each delegation independently to the stadium.
Israeli sailing coach Udi Gal described the incident in a Facebook post. "2016 Olympics...shame on you," he wrote. "The Israeli delegation was preparing to board a bus to the opening ceremony, which was to be shared with the Lebanese delegation. The Lebanese, upon comprehending that they were to share a bus with the Israelis, addressed the driver in refusal and demanded that the door to the bus be shut. Event organizers then attempted to scatter us on different buses - something that is unacceptable for security and representative reasons."
"We insisted that we board the bus designated for us - and that the Lebanese should de-board if so they wish. So the bus driver opened the door. But this time, the head of the Lebanese delegation blocked the entrance to the bus with his own body. Event organizers - attempting to prevent a diplomatic incident - then organized a separate ride for us. But the diplomatic incident already occurred - shame!"
He added: "How can it be that something like this occurs on the eve of the Olympic opening ceremony? Does this not directly oppose what the Olympics represent and stand for...I cannot begin to express my feelings, I'm in shock from the incident."

Meet Lady Jenny Tonge, a leading UK anti-Semitic inciter

Tonge said in 2004 that if she were Palestinian, she would consider becoming a suicide bomber. This fits an example of anti-Semitism from the definition – “calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.”
The IHRA definition includes among other examples of anti-Semitism, “making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective.” Tonge did so when in 2006, while still a Liberal MP, she alleged that the “pro-Israeli Lobby has grips on the Western World, its financial grips. I think they’ve got a certain grip on our party.” – as well as other similar remarks in 2012 about the power of the pro-Israel lobby in the UK and US.
Another IHRA definition example of what is anti-Semitic is, “accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.” In a letter to the Independent in 2006 Tonge blamed Israel for suicide bombings in Iraq, writing, “Israel's security wall is forcing them to export themselves to another arena to fight in this ridiculous ‘war’ against terrorism being waged by the donkeys who lead us in the West.” She has also blamed the treatment of the Palestinians by Israel as “the root cause of terrorism worldwide.” This in addition to the aforementioned accusation of Israel’s responsibility for the rise of extreme Islamism and Isis”
In 2009, at an anti-Israel rally in London during the Gaza war Tonge said that “Jewish people should be totally ashamed of themselves that they are not doing more to stop Israel.” She added that it is “absolutely disgusting.” In 2015 she has called on Jewish leaders in Britain to condemn Israel. Her statements seem to imply “accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.” This is another example of anti-Semitism stated in the IHRA definition.
The IHRA definition mentions as a further example of anti-Semitism, “accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.” Tonge accuses Jews of “using the Holocaust” as she questions whether Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is allowed to continue because of “Holocaust guilt.”
The IHRA definition mentions furthermore that it is anti-Semitic to deny “the right of Jewish people to self-determination.” Tonge attended an anti-Israel event at Middlesex University in 2012 where she stated that “Beware Israel. Israel is not going to be there forever in its current performance… Israel will lose its support and then they will reap what they have sown.”

The serious terror-funding allegations against the World Vision head in Gaza

However, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs put out a detailed statement giving both particulars of the allegations and a description of the methods used to carry out the alleged fraud. Furthermore, it sets out a series of admissions El-Halabi is alleged to have made under cross-examination.
El-Halabi is alleged to have admitted to joining Hamas in his youth, and been planted with World Vision by the terrorist group, having worked his way up the ranks until he controlled the multi-million dollar budget, equipment and aid packages.
The specific allegations against him include:
• Promoting fictitious agricultural associations as cover for transfers to Hamas;
• Transferring money to Hamas members fraudulently registered as employees of charity-sponsored projects;
• Issuing inflated invoices and fictitious receipts with the excess being transferred to Hamas;
• Issuing fictitious tenders for work to be done for World Vision, with the "winning" tenderer to transfer 60% of funds received to Hamas;
• Transferring directly to Hamas equipment and aid packages provided by World Vision;
• Initiating a greenhouse project to use the greenhouses to hide the sites of terror tunnels;
• Disguising Hamas warehouses as World Vision warehouses so Hamas could take materials delivered to them;
• Diverting money for injured children to Hamas terrorists who fraudulently listed their own children as wounded; and
• Diverting unemployment benefits to Hamas terrorists.
Obviously, these are all only allegations until proven in court.
As mentioned, World Vision proclaimed its faith in its audit processes, but this would be far from the first time frauds of this sort have escaped the notice of internal, or even external, auditors. For example, in a recent example close to home, in February this year, the Victorian State Director of the Liberal Party, Damian Mantach, pled guilty to having embezzled approximately AU$1.5 million from the party. This was achieved by invoicing the party and MPs for work that was never done, or at inflated costs.
Prior to the discovery of the fraud, a financial comptroller from KPMG had been installed in the party to investigate over spending on campaigns, but had reported that no fraud had been discovered, following which, the embezzlement continued.

08/05 Links Pt2: Why the Jewish Left Encourages Hate; Phillips: The unused weapon of mass instruction

From Ian:

Chloe Valdary: Black Lives Matter’s Jewish Problem Is Also a Black Problem

On Aug. 1, the Black Lives Matter coalition (BLM) of groups and partners published a platform of objectives and demands ostensibly constructed to correct heavy-handed policing, educational negligence, and economic inadequacy in black communities.
That platform did no such thing.
Instead, organizers offered up a hodgepodge of half-baked ideas in the service of creating a new world order, one in which defunding police, releasing all political prisoners from jail, and redistributing of land are imperative.
Moreover, apparently believing that societal reforms in America’s inner cities are somehow related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, BLM included a section on Israel in its list of demands. With trite talking points, the group called for a divestment from the Jewish state as it is allegedly “complicit in the genocide against the Palestinian people.”
What this means is unpleasant to contemplate. An organization formed to confront systemic prejudice against black Americans—which predates the reestablishment of the state of Israel—is now intimating that such prejudice is caused by the Jewish state’s supposed genocidal tendencies (which, according to census reports, have led to a population increase among Palestinians).
Though I find no intrinsic value in “rebutting” crackpot conspiracy theories, it’s worth demonstrating how far removed BLM is from honoring the legacy of its ancestors by reminding readers just how pro-Zionist prominent leaders in the black community have been throughout history—and how Zionism helped shape black politics in America.

Why the Jewish Left Encourages Hate

The Jewish left has a problem. Their belief that Israel is the obstacle to peace with the Palestinians has transformed itself over the last generation from a coherent political position to an obsession that is disconnected from the reality of the conflict. Many are so frustrated with this failure that they are willing to even excuse anti-Semitic comments as long as they are directed at Jews they don’t like. That is the only way to understand Peter Beinart’s recent column in Haaretz, in which he not only sought to justify the disgusting statement of a congressman that compared West Bank settlers to “termites” and criticizing those mainstream and liberal Jewish groups that spoke out against him.
The incident stemmed from a forum held at the Democratic Convention last week by an anti-Zionist group called the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation at which Representative Hank Johnson spoke. The mere presence of a member of Congress at a forum hosted by a group that promotes the anti-Semitic creed of BDS that seeks to eliminate the Jewish state should have been enough to justify condemnation of Johnson by the entire Jewish community from left to right. But taking his cue from the vicious ideology of his hosts, Johnson went further than just endorsing the group’s positions. As the Washington Free Beacon reported, Johnson described Jews living in communities in the West Bank as “termites.” The insect analogy was, as our Daniella Greenbaum noted last week, straight out of the traditional playbook of classical anti-Semitic hate. The point was not merely to oppose the existence of settlements—a position that some Israelis hold–but to delegitimize the people that live there making them, in effect, fair game for the daily terrorist attacks to which they and other Israelis have been subjected.
The ADL and Jewish leaders like Rabbi David Wolpe responded with condemnation and Johnson eventually apologized for what he conceded was “an offensive analogy.” But Beinart is unhappy with Johnson’s critics because he thinks the “truth” about settlements should override any objections to his vile language. Beinart is convinced that settlements really are functioning like insects eating away at the fabric of Palestinian life and preventing peace. Moreover, he worries that American Jewish sensitivity to anti-Semitic language is serving to suppress condemnation of settlements and settlers. From his point of view, the only way to save Israel from itself is to unleash the kind of virulent attacks that will isolate the Jewish state and force it to withdraw from the West Bank and Jerusalem regardless of whether the Palestinians have demonstrated any desire to live in peace with them. If that means making common cause with those who want to destroy Israel and kill its Jews, so be it.

Melanie Phillips: The unused weapon of mass instruction

As a result of this summer’s jihadist terrorist attacks in France and Germany, public discussion has become yet more urgent about how to combat Islamist radicalization.
Over the years, many explanations for Islamic terrorism have been advanced to show that it has in fact nothing to do with Islam.
These have included poverty, social exclusion, Islamophobia and “grievances” over conflicts such as Bosnia, Kashmir, Iraq, Chechnya, Palestine and now Syria.
To the Western mind, these “grievances” have no common factor – even while the terrorists, along with other jihadis burning Christians alive in Africa or slaughtering civilians from London to Paris to Tunisia, scream “Allahu akhbar” as they commit atrocities in the name of Islamic holy war.
The rise of Islamic State, committed to establishing a Muslim caliphate, exposed the vacuity of such thinking. Why were tens of thousands of young Western Muslims signing up to an Islamic supremacist death cult? In scrabbling for an answer, Western politicians still determined to deny the reality of religious fanaticism were sure about one thing. Islamic State was “un-Islamic” or even “anti-Islamic.” Religion couldn’t be the cause of such depravity.
In the wake of this summer’s attacks, fresh explanations have been heard. If the terrorists appear to have acted alone (which usually turns out not to be the case) they are “lone wolves” and therefore not jihadi foot-soldiers. If they appear to have a psychiatric history, they are said to be mentally ill and therefore not jihadi foot-soldiers.

Hezbollah's Al Manar quotes Sheikh Ali Damoh who stressed in his Friday sermon that there is no justification to communicate or normalize relations or have peace with the "Zionist enemy."

Damoh said thar every Muslim Scholar, both Sunnis and Shiite, in the past and the present, have all stated the inadmissibility of peace with the Jews as long as Jews control an inch of Muslim countries. He quoted Muslim scholars from Palestine, Iraq , Al-Azhar in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Indian Muslim scholars.

He gave examples of historic fatwas against any agreement with Jews, starting with thr first conference of Palestine Muslim scholars in 1935 down to an advisory opinion of the chairman of the Central Association of Muslim Scholars in India, an Iraqi fatwa in 1937, an Egyptian fatwa prohibiting reconciliation with the Jews and the necessity of jihad in 1956, a fatwa of the Islamic International Conference of scholars in Pakistan in 1968, and an advisory opinion of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar in 1979, forbidding conceding any part of Palestine, signed by more than sixty Muslim scholars.

Apparently, no one told these Muslim scholars that the "occupation" from 1967 and the settlements" are sthe only problems, and if only Israel withdraw to its 1949 armistice lines, there would be peace. Perhaps we need to send Peace Now and J-Street and the EU and the UN to explain the issues to these guys. They clearly don't understand the real issue.

It must be that they are misinterpreting Islam.

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08/05 Links Pt1: Glick: Obama's legacy; The Next Generation of Killers; Obama Will Never Give up on Iran

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Obama's legacy

Last week’s statement demonstrates that shaping the US’s future policy toward Israel is a major component of the legacy he is building. And what is the shape he is giving to that policy through his actions? By openly employing anti-Jewish policy rationales, Obama shows that the legacy he intends to pass on to his successors is a US policy toward Israel based neither on US interests nor on American values. Rather, it is predicated on unabashed anti-Jewish discrimination.
In other words, Obama’s presidential legacy is the promotion of anti-Semitism as the guiding principle shaping and informing US Israel policy.
This is, to be sure, a stunning – indeed shocking – conclusion. It points to the depth of Obama’s hostility to Jewish national and civil rights. But as his administration’s statements make clear, the conclusion that anti-Semitism is the guiding principle of his policies is unavoidable.
Those running to succeed Obama should be urged to denounce his bigotry and renounce his legacy. By the same token, the Israeli pro-Palestinian Left and the American pro-Obama Left should be urged to distance themselves from him.
As long as they refuse to do so, as long as they continue to support Obama, they make clear that for them, anti-Jewish bigotry is no big deal. As far as they are concerned, Jewish rights should only be respected when doing so advances their political goals.
This means that Obama’s supporters can no longer claim to be liberals. Now that we understand that anti-Jewish bigotry, and the rejection of Jewish civil rights, is the rationale informing Obama’s policy toward the Jewish state, it is clear that it is no longer possible to be both a liberal and an Obama supporter.
This is his legacy. And this is their choice.

The Next Generation of Killers

At UNRWA summer camps, incitement is as normal as swimming and sports. The Times of Israel found that the staff teaches young Palestinians that “Jews are the wolf” and “with God’s help and our own strength we will wage war. And with education and jihad we will return to our homes!” A young camper told the creators of the documentary Camp Jihad that “the summer camp teaches us that we have to liberate Palestine.” A little girl eagerly asserted to filmmakers that she will “not forget my promise to take back my land.” Contributing to the culture of incitement and violence, the UNRWA and its camps have, since their inception, furthered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
No one is born a terrorist; they are taught to become one. Worse than most people can imagine, the summer camps of Gaza turn children into soldiers and violence into a way of life. Play and personal growth activities are replaced with military training, and while children elsewhere in the world are learning new skills and knowledge, the children of Gaza are learning to dedicate their lives to a violent ideology and, for some, perpetuating an armed struggle.
Searching to explain the “intifada of the knives” in 2015 and 2016, The Wall Street Journal editorial board suggested that “the taste for violence emerges from a deep-seated culture of hate, nurtured by Palestinian leaders over many years in mosques, schools, newspapers, TV channels, and social media.” Summer camps reinforce this culture; even children’s play has become an opportunity to further the Palestinian terror groups’ causes. Campers are given terrorists to serve as role models, military training as a substitute for games, and a pre-packaged, violent ideology that destroys their innocence. While it is only one component of the culture of terror in Gaza, the summer camps give children both the ideology and the technical expertise to act on it. And that’s no way to spend a summer.

Dr. As'ad Abdul Rahman is a Palestinian politician. He has been a Palestinian National Council member, member of the Palestinian Central Council and also a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, although he seems to have resigned from the PLO Central Council.

He is considered a respected analyst, a fixture on Arabic TV, being interviewed by the BBC and other media outlets.

Today in a UAE newspaper he describes "the roots of Israeli racism." He describes three reasons "Israelis" are racist, but one doesn't have to dig too deep to see that he really means Jews.

The first is that Jews believe that the Torah is the infallible word of God.

The second is that the Jews believe that the Talmud is more important than the Torah and it is filled with racism and instructions to treat non-Jews with disgust.

The third is that Ashkenazic Jews, deep down, know that they are really Khazars and not Jewish at all, so they need to cover up for this fact by acting brutally towards non-Jews.

This is once again the sort of everyday antisemitism published in Arab media and held by Palestinian leaders. And it is exactly the sort of story that the Western media won't touch because the meme of "moderate Palestinians" is too sacred to disturb.

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World Vision defense of Hamas member rings hollow

As has been reported, Israel arrested a senior member of the Christian charity World Vision on charges of diverting tens of millions of dollars meant to help Gaza civilians towards Hamas terrorists.

Israel has been careful so far not to blame World Vision itself, implying that the actions of Mohammad El Halabi were done without the knowledge of the organization.

But World Vision's statement about the incident reveals that it is not the most truthful organization:

World Vision subscribes to the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality and therefore rejects any involvement in any political, military or terrorist activities and maintains its independence as a humanitarian aid agency committed to serving the poor, especially children.

it rejects any involvement in political activities?

World Vision has published a pamphlet that describes campaigns that can only be described as political.

They claim that they are not political, but their advocacy only goes in one direction:

This is a political position.

Worse, they use the term "resistance" in their work, and they describe their partnership with undeniably political organizations like Breaking the Silence and ICAHD as "co-resistance":

Indeed, there are other reasons to blame World Vision besides its apparent shocking lack of oversight on how its donors' money is spent. But this statement alone, where they claim to be apolitical, is enough to prove that the organization is not telling the truth, today.

And once you know that they lie about their very goals, it is hard to believe them about anything.

By the way, Israel says that Halabi was recruited by Hamas in 2005. This means that he was working for the UNDP at the time.

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We've been mentioning how the Arab world seems sick of the Palestinian issue.

Now that fatigue, which had been confined to behind-the-scenes decisions on funding, is starting to spill over into popular media.

From MEMRI:

During a July 24 interview on the Syrian opposition Orient News TV channel, host Dima Wannous asked her guest, Muhammad Masharqa, spokesman for the Free Palestinian-Syrian Assembly, why the Palestinian cause remained "the world's number one cause" over the years, even though the total number of Palestinians displaced equaled the number of people who fled Syria and Iraq in the past three months. Masharqa's response that the establishment of the state of Israel "was a colonialist enterprise with Western goals" did not satisfy Wannous, who said that unlike the Palestinians, the Syrians would not have forgiven Saddam his crimes against his own people merely for fighting their enemy. The Free Palestinian-Syrian Assembly, which was established in May in Gaziantep, Turkey, emphasizes Palestinian involvement in the Syrian revolution.

Dima Wannous: "Why has the (Palestinian cause) become the world's number one cause? I mean, the calamities of the other Arab nations over the years were no less tragic than the tragedy of the Palestinian people."

Muhammad Masharqa: "You can look at it from another perspective. The colonialist enterprise that brought about the state of Israel did not target only the Palestinian people but the entire Arab region. All the destruction in the Arab world can be traced back to the fact that there is an advanced post in the region for the colonialist powers, and it is called 'the state of Israel.'"

[...]

Dima Wannous: "In 1948, the years of the Nakba, the Palestinian people were driven out of their homes and their land. Approximately 750,000 people were displaced. You know the figures better than me. 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, only 150,000 of whom were expelled from Palestine. The others remained in their historical homeland, although in different places. If you take the total figure of 750,000, this is equal to the number of people who fled Syria and Iraq in the past three months. I repeat the question in another way, because you did not answer me the first time. Why is the Palestinian cause the world's number one cause?"

Muhammad Masharqa: "It is not the world's number one cause..."

Dima Wannous: "Well, after five years, many Syrians are asking why their cause has already been forgotten by most people. Moreover, the Palestinians are blaming the Syrians that their revolution is Islamic, and has failed to produce any free democratic ideology. They say that the Syrian revolution emerged from the mosques, and so on. How come yours is the world's number one cause? With all the great crimes perpetrated by the Israeli enemy - how many people were killed in the Palestinian 'Land Day?' You know better than me. Six people were killed. That's what I've read."

Muhammad Masharqa: "Look, it is important to seek answers in history. In what context was Israel established? Was the context Palestinian or did it pertain to the entire region? From this perspective... It constituted... It cooperated with the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and with other forms of colonization equipped with a myth. But it had clear political and economic goals right from the start. The centrality of the Palestinian cause stems from this. This is an objective thing. It is not because the Palestinians were good at propaganda."

Dima Wannous: "In other words, you've benefitted from the enemy being Jewish and Israeli..."

Muhammad Masharqa: "No, it was a colonist enterprise with Western goals."

[...]

Dima Wannous: "Saddam Hussein was idolized by the masses for firing 36 or 39 Scud missiles at Tel Aviv, while he was perpetrating crimes on a daily basis against his own people. The Palestinian greatly appreciated Saddam Hussein for this deed. If we want to talk about the Palestinians' approach to the liberation of the peoples, is it conceivable for them to support a murderer, an arch-killer, a dictator - all the foul terms apply to these leaders - just because he fired missiles at Tel Aviv? What about the (Iraqi) people?"

Muhammad Masharqa: "Consider this within the context of the historical culture of this nation, since the Prophet Muhammad and to this day. This culture still views the individual leader... All the people evoke the image of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, whom we consider to be just caliph..."

Dima Wannous: "You are talking about people in general, but I'm talking about the Palestinians."

Muhammad Masharqa: "The Palestinian culture did not land from another planet..."

Dima Wannous: "It's not, but on this issue, it is different, because the Syrians would not have fallen in love with Saddam - if he were still alive - if he had started fighting the Syrian regime..."

Muhammad Masharqa: "That's just the way Arab Islamic culture is. Since the days of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab... We talk about Saladin, the savior, the hero, the inspiring leader. This is the culture of Arabs. This is the Arab-Islamic culture."

[...]

Dima Wannous: "Most of the Palestinians today support Hassan Nasrallah, considering him to be an instrument of liberation, but today, Hassan Nasrallah is doing his 'liberation' in Aleppo, not Palestine."

Muhammad Masharqa: "Who has the statistics...?"

Dima Wannous: "It's not about statistics. We watch and read what's going on. Obviously, I can't go one by one and ask each Palestinian for his opinion."

Muhammad Masharqa: "In my view, this generalization is inaccurate. Like all the people on Earth, the Palestinians are divided on these issues."

Wannous makes an important point that is all but ignored in the West: most of the victims of the so-called "naqba" were not refugees because they stayed in "Palestine," so they would have been considered "displaced persons" in today's language.

Syria has millions of those.

(h/t Yoel)

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ICRC to close office in Jerusalem after Palestinians attack

Every once in a while, Palestinian protesters attack the offices of the ICRC in Jerusalem, mostly to complain about not seeing their terrorist relatives in prison often enough.

A few weeks ago the Red Cross announced that it would cut the sponsored visits in half, causing great anger.

Apparently, a protest turned violent on Wednesday evening, although I cannot find any news stories about it. Nevertheless, the ICRC announced that they will suspend operations in their Jerusalem location as a result of the protesters breaking into their offices, and will not work until the safety of their employees is assured, starting on Sunday.

Relatives of terrorists turning violent? What a surprise.

No one reporting it? What a surprise again.

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08/04 Links Pt2: Clinton And Trump Must Honour Bush-Congress Commitments; Arabs Must Turn a New Page with Israel

From Ian:

David Singer: Israel – Clinton And Trump Must Honour Bush-Congress Commitments

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have yet to signal their readiness to honour the commitments made by President Bush in his letter dated 14 April 2004 to Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Bush’s letter – overwhelmingly endorsed by the House of Representatives 407:9 on 23 June 2004 and the Senate 95:3 the next day – supported Israel’s proposed unilateral disengagement from Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank.
Bush further reassured Israel that in final status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority America would support Israel:

not returning to the 1949 armistice lines

demanding recognition as the Jewish state

refusing Palestinian Arab refugees being resettled in Israel

Bush’s assurances were absolutely crucial to Israel resuming negotiations with the Palestinian Authority – Israel’s then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telling world leaders gathered with Bush at Annapolis on 27 November 2007:
“The negotiations will be based on previous agreements between us, UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, the Roadmap and the April 14th 2004 letter of President Bush to the Prime Minister of Israel.”

Fred Maroun: Arabs Must Turn a New Page with Israel

We must look at Israel not as foreign presence, which it is not, but as a unique and remarkable component of the Middle East that enriches the region.
The creation of such a Palestinian state under today's conditions is likely to result in a Hamas-dominated state that is violently hostile towards Israel. The Palestinian Authority must be transitioned into a peaceful and stable entity before it can be expected to run a state.
Binyamin Netanyahu recently suggested an approach to make the peace initiative work, but Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi rejected it out of hand. This is not how harmonious relationships between nations are built.
"We must all rise above all forms of fanaticism, self-deception and obsolete theories of superiority." — Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat, 1977.

UK's Labour Whitewashes Its Anti-Semitism

The Chakrabarti Report was a missed opportunity, the importance of which extends far beyond the parlous state of the Labour Party or the wider British Left. Across Europe, Islamist assassins and vandals are targeting Jewish schools, businesses, museums, synagogues, cemeteries, and kosher food establishments. It has become a cliché that a wave of anti-Semitism is washing over Europe.
Some on the Left have taken notice. Four days after the murder of four Jewish hostages during the siege of the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris, France’s Socialist Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, described “the intolerable rise in acts of anti-Semitism in France” as a “symptom of a crisis of democracy [and] the French Republic.” But such urgent and necessary diagnoses from the political Left have been notable for their scarcity.
For the most part, the Left has remained stubbornly indifferent, retreating into denial and moral cowardice or, worse, advancing boldly into outright complicity. In the name of anti-racism, anxieties about Muslim immigration and intolerance are routinely denounced as xenophobic bigotry. In the name of Palestinian solidarity, responsibility for lethal anti-Semitism is routinely laid at the feet of an Israeli government held to be insufficiently dedicated to the pursuit of peace. And in the radical Leftist circles in which Jeremy Corbyn moves, Islamists are routinely embraced by politicians and human rights activists who insist on mistaking a politics of hatred and supremacism for a principled opposition to Western Imperialism and Israeli policy in disputed territory.
The Chakrabarti Report is a paradigmatic example of this political and moral failure. As I have argued in a previous essay for The Tower, hostility to Israel and Zionism has roots in Left-wing ideologies and axioms that stretch back decades, and it is this history that ought to have been the focus of Chakrabarti’s inquiry. But its evasions and obfuscations are a product of those ideologies and axioms, a symptom of the very problem it purports to explore. It was, in short, an inquiry that was always intended to go precisely nowhere.