Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Three babies denied treatment died in the past 24 hours in Gaza. (But a Gaza cat did get treated in Israel.)

Yesterday I noted a Haaretz article about how Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority has essentially shut the door for Gaza medical patients to be treated in Israel.

Today, the Gaza Health Ministry announced the death of 9-month old Ibrahim Samir Tubail as a direct result of his not being able to travel to Israel for treatment.

He had a type of fibrosis.

Two other babies, both with heart problems, also died in the past 24 hours in Gaza after being denied permission to go to Israel for treatment by the PA.

According to Al Quds newspaper, 12 patients have died in Gaza this year from being denied permission to leave the sector. Six of them were children.

But a Ukrainian doctor who lives in Gaza, married to a Palestinian, managed to get her rare Persian long-haired cat to Israel for treatment who broke her jaw from a fall.

After she couldn't find any veterinarians in Gaza, Tatiana Zaqout contacted the Brigitte Bardot animal foundation who eventually connected her with Israeli pet experts who helped her arrange for the transfer of her cat, Sonia, to Israel.

Sonia's treatment is costing about $3000 and Zaqout is raising the money to pay.

Sonia is the daughter of "Bessie" and..."Vladimir Putin."

The babies dying in Gaza don't get as much consideration as a cat.

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The English language page of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has a short synopsis of his "Quds Day" speech last Friday.

In it, he reiterates his opposition to Israel, but unlike how the Western media usually portrays it, his speech was in purely religious, and not political, terms.

He stated, "Palestine is the first important issue of the Muslim world. According to the Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), when an enemy dominates Muslim lands, Jihad is the duty of all, in any form possible. Today, the fight against the Zionist regime is obligatory for the Muslim world. Why do some abandon this job?"

Arabs aren't impressed with Khamenei's religious ruling. In response to his tweet, one answered this way:

Your troops are in Syria killing Muslims. They are a short way from Israel. If you want to fight them use Google maps to show you the way.
— سنجرستاني (@Singari10) June 27, 2017

The full version of his speech should be posted soon.

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06/26 Links Pt2: Europe must stop funding demonization of Israel; We could all be Otto Warmbier

From Ian:

Cinnamon Stillwell and Michael Lumish: Professors Spin Antisemitic Conspiracies at Cal State-Fresno

California State University, Fresno (CSUF) is the last place that one would expect conspiracy theories about Jewish power to proliferate — because Jews make up less than one percent of Fresno’s population. But leave it to the academic world to provide fertile ground for this ugly trope.
It began last year, when CSUF sought to hire someone for an endowed professorship to be named after the late Columbia University professor Edward Said. When the hiring committee failed to appoint one of the final four applicants — all of Middle Eastern heritage — and CSUF canceled the search, an acrimonious battle ensued.
It didn’t take long for anti-Israel CSUF professors to push the antisemitic canard that Jewish faculty members and outside groups had interfered in the hiring process based on the job candidates’ ethnicity.
Joe Parks, the Equal Employment Opportunities representative on the search committee, told the Fresno Bee, “The search was canceled because when the finalists came to campus, the Jewish faculty complained.” Elsewhere, Parks singled out “the Jewish community” as being responsible for the school’s failure to hire one of the applicants.
In solidarity with Parks, Vida Samiian, the semi-retired director of CSUF’s Middle East Studies Program and dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, quit. “I have decided to resign in objection to the unethical and discriminatory cancellation of the Edward Said Professorship,” she wrote. “The administration carried out the vicious and discriminatory attacks launched by Israel advocacy groups against the search committee and the four finalists who were of Middle Eastern and Palestinian ethnicity [emphasis added].”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan Faces Criticism for Refusal to Back Hezbollah Terror Designation

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has come under fire for refusing to confirm that he would petition UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd to designate all of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
The question regarding the terror group’s status was raised last week by London Assembly member David Kurten (UKIP) in response to the presence of Hezbollah flags during an anti-Israel Al-Quds Day march in London.
“That will close the loophole to stop people marching through the streets of London with a flag with a gun on it,” Kurten said in support of the terror designation during a London Assembly meeting.
At the same meeting, Assembly member Andrew Boff (Conservative) accused Khan of not doing his job, saying the mayor seems to be “avoiding saying, ‘Yes I’ll [confirm the designation with the home secretary].’”
Rudd said she would explore the possibility of banning the annual Al-Quds Day march and designating all of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
In the past, the European Union has come under scrutiny for making a distinction between the so-called “military” and “political” wings of Hezbollah, only giving the “military” wing a terror designation.
The grassroots group North West Friends of Israel amassed 20,000 signatures on a petition advocating for the Hezbollah terror designation.

Seth Frantzman: We could all be Otto Warmbier

Otto Warmbier’s tearful confession still haunts me. There is something awful in it. The crying out of a young man who knows he faces a ruined life based on accusations of a regrettable act that he cannot undo. Warmbier faced injustice after injustice in North Korea. A sham trial, a coerced confession, a life-destroying 15-year prison sentence of hard labor, sickness and then death. He was 22 years old.
His last few days were spent back in the US after he was released on “humanitarian” grounds by the very regime responsible for his incarceration and the illness that led to his death. His supposed crime? He was accused of trying to take a government sign as a souvenir. The North Korean government claimed this act undermined the foundations of the state.
He is not the first or last to receive an unspeakable punishment while being innocent of any real infraction. Men, women and children have been executed throughout history for minor infractions. Le Miserables is based on the story of a man sentenced to harsh labor for stealing bread. Nor is the North Korean regime unique in handing down these kinds of punishments in our time. In Thailand people are sentenced for insulting the monarch. In other places they are caned or beheaded, as happens in Saudi Arabia. Women are stoned to death or murdered by their families for looking at a man the wrong way or dressing “immodestly” in countries such as Pakistan.
Albinos are lynched in east Africa. Tourists are sentenced to death, accused of smuggling drugs, in countries like Indonesia.
In discussions about the murder of Warmbier, many excuses have been made and some writers have gone so far as to blame the victim. Time magazine callously titled their story “How Otto Warmbier Made It Out Of North Korea,” and pretended his treatment was due to “the latest grim chapter” in US-North Korea relations, as if bad relations between countries excuses the arrest and death of a young man.
Other hate-mongers claim Warmbier is an example of “white privilege” and his death was deserved because of his skin color. But the only privilege he asked for was not be sentenced to decades in prison and then killed by maltreatment over accusations of stealing a small sign. That’s not privilege, that’s a basic human right.

Antisemitic events June 2017

From an email I received from the World Zionist Organization:

UNITED STATES / 20-06-2017
In Samford someone used fecal matter to smear a swastika and the Star of David near the entrance of the Rich Forum Media Center. The theater is where filming of the “Jerry Spring Show,” “Maury Show,” and “Steve Wilkos Show” takes place.

UNITED STATES / 19-06-2017
Someone vandalized the sidewalk outside a popular Jewish deli in Naperville. The phrase "Free Gaza" was spray painted in black on the sidewalk near the front door at Schmaltz Deli and the restaurant owner released a statement saying that he is angry and surprised by the vandalism.

BRITAIN / 19-06-2017
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters marched through the streets of central London on Sunday on the annual “Al Quds (Jerusalem) Day” demonstration convened by the Islamic Human Rights Commission. At a rally outside the US Embassy following the march, one speaker blamed the tragic fire at west London’s Grenfell Tower public housing project on “Zionists.” Many of the marchers brandished signs calling for a boycott of the State of Israel. A number of flags of the Lebanese Islamist terror organization Hezbollah were also in evidence, including one at the front of the protest that was tied atop a Palestinian flag.

GERMANY / 16-06-2017
Tombstones of anti-Nazi resistance fighters and Jews were desecrated with the inscription of profanities. The desecration included a commemorative stele near the Gottschalk family’s gravesites. Joachim Gottschalk, during the Third Reich, refused to be separated from his Jewish wife and their son; following considerable oppression by the Nazis for this choice, the family member committed suicide.

BRITAIN / 15-06-2017
A Jewish couple were walking in Hackney and were subjected to vicious anti-Semitic abuse at the hands of a group of teenagers, two of whom approached them shouting abuse about Jews and swearing. At one point they grabbed the Jewish man’s hat and continued to shout abuse when he asked them to give it back.

UKRAINE / 14-06-2017
For the fourth time, vandals desecrated the grave of Sary, the eldest daughter of the Holy tzaddik, Rabbi Nachman of Brastslav. Vandals set fire to the house of burial in the town cemetery and the monument is completely broken.

BRITAIN / 12-06-2017
A 16-year-old Jewish boy was resting on a park bench when he was approached by two younger teenagers who grabbed at his bicycle and hat, which is of the kind traditionally worn by charedi Jews. When the Jewish boy asked them to stop, the two teenagers threatened to “beat” him. Members of the public came to the boy’s defense.

GERMANY / 7-06-2017
Tombstones at the Jewish cemetery outside of the German city of Gotha were desecrated with Antisemitic graffiti. About 18 swastikas were spray-painted on the tombstones throughout the cemetery.

UNITED STATES / 6-06-2017
Antisemitic signs were placed above a Portland highway on a pedestrian bridge. The signs were hung on both sides of the bridge and read, “Jews did 9-11”.

These are only the tip of the iceberg. Here are a selection of headlines from The New Antisemite blog that covers Europe:

Portugal: Israeli ambassador and Jewish leader physically threatened on campus - demonstrators shouted "Hamas! Hamas!"

Germany: BDS activists storm lecture by MK in Berlin Humbolt University

German neo-Nazi party builds alliance with Assad and Hezbollah

UK: Teenagers grab at Jewish boy's hat and bicycle, threatening to “beat” him

Germany: Two sculptures of Jewish sporting heroes destroyed in Frankfurt

UK: UKIP candidate Philip Rose tweeted David Icke’s conspiracy myth about “Rothschild Zionists”

Austria: Half of Muslim youth hold antisemitic views

UK: Pro-Israel group harassed by in Brighton by Holocaust denier

UK: Man at polling station arrested after threatening to kill Jewish voter

Romania: Large anti-Semitic tags found at historic Cluj synagogue

Spain: Police arrest Arab Hamas supporter accused of inciting violence against Jews

Netherlands: Muslim council politician calls Israeli school children future child murderers

Italy: Lawmaker speaks of 'Zionist influence in Italian media' and 'Zionism is synonymous with racism'

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06/26 Links Pt1: Why Abbas Cannot Stop Funding Terrorists; Palestinian rejectionism means no deal

From Ian:

Palestinians: Why Abbas Cannot Stop Funding Terrorists

This is their way of expressing their gratitude to those who have chosen to "sacrifice" their lives by trying to murder Jews. It is also their way of encouraging young people to join the war of terrorism against Israel. The financial aid sends a specific message: Palestinians who are prepared to die in the service of murdering Jews need not worry about the welfare of their families.
The more years a Fatah terrorist serves in Israeli prison, the higher the salary he or she receives. Some Fatah terrorists held in Israeli prison are said to receive monthly stipends of up to $4,000. Many of them are also rewarded with top jobs in both Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Why should any Palestinian go to university and search for a job when he can make a "decent living" murdering Jews?
Such a plan to dry up the funds that support terrorists and their families, is doomed from the start unless these leaders reverse their behavior and embark on a process of de-radicalizing their people.

PMW: When a Palestinian man hits his wife, is Israel responsible? PMW responds to UN report

During a recent UN Human Rights Council meeting, Israel was blamed for causing Palestinian men's violence against Palestinian women. It was claimed that there is a "clear linkage between the prolonged occupation and violence against women." However, Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Palestinian Authority TV teaches Palestinian men how to beat their wives according to Islam. At the UN session, UN Watch director Hillel Neuer responded to the claims by citing a PMW video, which exposes a Palestinian religious official describing on PA TV the conditions under which a man may hit his wife.
However the example that was cited at the UN is not a solitary example of justification of Palestinian male violence against women on official PA TV. The following is a PMW compilation of a repeating message on official PA TV, even by a female TV host, that a Palestinian man has a right to hit his wife under Islamic law, and describing the way he should do so.
The following are the instructions broadcast on PA TV:
How to hit your wife properly
The following are broadcasts from official Palestinian Authority TV explaining the conditions that a Palestinian man should follow when hitting his wife, according to Islamic law:

Arabs denounce Israeli Eid holiday greetings as "provoking feelings of Muslims"

Yesterday was the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr that follows Ramadan.

For the occasion, Binyamin Netanyahu gave his best wishes to the Muslim world.

Arab sites were not happy, claiming that this is not sincere, saying that he regularly massacres Palestinian Muslims so there is no way he could actually want to give holiday greetings to any Muslim anywhere.

IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee also offered his best wishes for Eid on his Facebook page, and included a video showing female IDF soldiers also wishing everyone an Eid Mubarak.

This was too much for some Muslims, who wrote that this video wishing a happy holiday to Muslims is "an attempt to provoke the feelings of Muslims in Palestine in particular and around the world in general."

Well, what else could it possibly be?

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Hamas is getting more and more nervous about its position in the Arab world, which is increasingly considering it a terror group like ISIS.

At an Eid al-Fitr speech in Gaza, Hamas deputy speaker Khalil al-Hiya said, "Do not confuse Islam with extremism, and resistance is not terrorism. [Resistance] is not violent and extreme, it is a legitimate right under all laws and regulations."

Meaning that a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv is wonderful, a suicide bomber in Aleppo is awful.

Why ISIS, which is trying to create an Islamist nation in Iraq and Syria through "resistance," is any different from Hamas which is trying to create an Islamist nation in Israel, is not quite elaborated on.

Instead, al-Hiya stressed that "extremism is exploited by our enemies to distort Islam" and it has nothing to do with "resistance and national liberation."

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Haaretz reports that over the past two months, the number of vouchers issued by the PA to allow Gazans to travel outside the sector for medical treatment has plummeted from over 2000 a month to a few dozen. Some 90% of the requests are being ignored.

People with cancer and heart disease who had been treated in Israel cannot resume their treatments. Children who have been traveling regularly to hospitals in Israel are stuck and their parents are frantic.

And, as I previously reported, the PA has stopped shipments of anesthetic to Gaza, meaning that most operations cannot be performed in Gaza itself.

Between this and the PA's refusal to pay for electricity and fuel for Gaza, we see a total disregard by Mahmoud Abbas for the lives and well-being of his people.

The only political leader in the region who shows as little regard for his own people is Syria's Bashar Assad.

Yet Gisha, the NGO that monitors travel and goods through Gaza crossings, has been silent about the Palestinian Authority's responsibility for the electricity crisis, the banning of medicines and anesthetic and the decision to not allow Gazans to leave for medical treatment. In fact, Gisha essentially exonerates the PA in its "fact sheet" about the electricity crisis:

Isn’t it the PA’s decision to cut supply? What does Israel have to do with it?

Even if the PA asks it to do so, Israel has its hand on the switch and would be complicit in and accountable for the certain devastation that would occur in the Strip as a result of further interruption in supply.

As always, if Israel cannot be blamed, then these things are just not of interest to the vast majority of the media nor to alleged "Palestinian activists" and "human rights organizations."

And Mahmoud Abbas cannot possibly be blamed for indirectly killing his own people, because the media has invested so much space into the idea that he is a man of peace and a moderate. It simply would make the journalists and analysts look bad if they would suddenly report that he is a despot who willingly lets his own people die and who collectively punishes millions for purely political reasons.

It means the news media have had him wrong for the past 15 years, and they are way too invested in the myth of moderate Abbas than the facts. Stories that support their anti-Israel bias are highlighted - and stories that contradict their pro-Palestinian bias are ignored or soft-pedaled.

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Abbas poster at al Aqsa ripped down and torn during Eid services

According to Palestine Times (Hamas) and other Palestinian media, Fatah placed a large banner showing Mahmoud Abbas and other Fatah officials somewhere on the Temple Mount for Sunday's Eid al Fitr services.

Angry Muslims ripped down the sign, saying that the Fatah leaders were traitors.

Other Fatah figures on the posters included intelligence chief Majid Faraj and head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Authority Ahmad Assaf.

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The fake "Green Without Borders" NGO and Hezbollah

TOI reports:

The United Nations on Friday rejected Israeli claims the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has been erecting observation posts along the border under the cover of an environmental NGO.

Israel’s military intelligence chief on Thursday published photographs and film showing what he said were Hezbollah observation posts near the Israeli-Lebanese border set up purportedly on behalf an organization called “Green Without Borders.”

But the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that while “Green Without Borders” members have planted trees in the area, it “has not observed any unauthorized armed persons at the locations or found any basis to report a violation of resolution 1701.”

The IDF provided video of these observation posts.

I only found one website for "Green Without Borders," a Blogspot blog that hasn't been updated since 2015.

There are at least two articles in the blog detailing how the organization cooperated with Hezbollah on certain "green" initiatives.

At least according to the webpage, nothing has been happening lately.

Hezbollah websites also talk about cooperation with the NGO. And this site discusses the aims of Green Without Borders to partially be "resistance" to Israel.

Given the organization's obvious ties with Hezbollah and the fact that it hasn't been doing anything lately, it seems very likely that Hezbollah just resurrected the NGO for the purposes of surveillance of Israel under the noses of the UN.

Like everything else Hezbollah does.

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06/25 Links: Hamas is behind Gaza's suffering, not Israel; Time for UNIFL to fulfill its mandate

From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: 5 reasons why Nasrallah’s threat to use Iraq and Iran fighters against Israel is alarming

In a startling revelation on Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the next war with Israel could see thousands of Shi’ite militia fighters join forces with Hezbollah to fight Israel.
“This could open the way for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab and Islamic world to participate – from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said in a television speech.
This threat marks a major development and turning point in Hezbollah’s threats against Israel. The following are five reasons that Hezbollah’s latest statement has ramifications for Israel and the region.
1. The threat confirms what security experts and commentators have predicted.
2. Hezbollah’s threat builds on the model used in Syria.
3. Nasrallah wants to drag Israel into a regional war with multiple states and provoke Russia and the US.
4. Nasrallah is engaged in a war of words with Israel.
5. A silver lining? Will the US wake up to the Shi’ite militia threat in Iraq and will Nasrallah’s comments bring Israel closer to Saudi Arabia?

IDF strikes Syrian targets in response to second day of Golan spillover

Several projectiles fired from Syria landed in open territory in Israel's Golan Heights on Sunday afternoon, the IDF confirmed. No injuries were reported in the incident.
The military added that the errant projectiles were the result of internal fighting in Syria.
The IDF struck targets belonging to forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in response to the errant fire that hit northern Israel earlier in the day, the military confirmed on Sunday evening.
Among the targets struck were two canons and one truck loaded with ammunition.
The IDF has also instructed residents of the area as well as farmers working along the border not to remain in the area as long as the fire exchange continues.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force was notified by Israel about the hits it suffered from Syria.

Netanyahu warns Iran over Syria involvement after Golan exchange

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Sunday that Israel “views gravely” its attempts to set up a military presence in Syria and to arm Hezbollah with advanced weaponry via Syria and Lebanon.
His comments at the weekly cabinet meeting came a day after the IDF responded to mortar fire from Syria by attacking Syrian army targets across the border.
“Our policy is clear,” he said. “We will not accept any kind of 'drizzle, not of mortars, rockets, or spillover fire [from the Syrian Civil War]. We respond with force to every attack on our territory and against our citizens.”
Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Israel will act to prevent game-changing weapons from reaching Hezbollah through Syria, to prevent the establishment of a permanent Iranian military presence on its border, and to keep rockets from being fired from Syria into Israel.

Just a little hypocrisy from far-left "reporter" Mya Guarnieri Jaradat

Back in 2011, I wrote about Mya Guarnieri, a far-left writer for +972 and elsewhere. She was on the Gaza flotilla (as a "reporter" but really as a cheerleader) and she made a sarcastic remark about how innocuous the little old ladies on the ships to Gaza are, and I responded with a cartoon:

When I tweeted this to Guarnieri, she responded back with two tweets changing the subject:

Meaning, of course, that I have no right to say anything about Israel as I don't live there.

I responded back to her asking if she was just as upset at J-Street, JVP, SJP or any other non-Israeli organization that criticizes Israel from without. She didn't answer.

But I'm sure that hers is a principled stand.

So it is very interesting to read that Guarnieri, now married to a Palestinian Arab, has moved back to the US - and released an anti-Israel book (under a fringe left-wing Pluto Press, yet garnering a huge interview in Times of Israel).

I thought that we Americans don't have the right to opine on Israel from here, Mya.

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Rogel Alpher writes in Haaretz:

The 20th Maccabiah Games, which opens July 4, is a racist and ultranationalist event that violates the spirit of the Olympics. The Olympics are based on universal values of rising above differences of race and religion. But the condition for participation in the “Jewish Olympics” is racist. Only Jews take part in the Maccabiah.

This is funny because four years ago Haaretz itself has reported on Arab athletes in the Maccabiah Games since the very first tournament in 1932 when Egyptian boxers participated. The newspaper interviewed Husam Aruk, who was a gymnast in the previous three Maccabiahs:

“I have never felt the need to ask myself what I am. I have a long history with Jews, and I’ve been living and training with them from the day I chose the sport of gymnastics. All my friends are Jewish and they certainly know who I am.”
Aruk says that even though he did not encounter many Arab-Israeli athletes in the two Maccabiahs in which he competed (2005 and 2009), he was never made to feel like an outsider. Nor did he encounter offensive behavior on the part of rival athletes. The crowd always rooted for him even though he is “a non-Jew,” he says. “This is the first time I’ve even thought about this issue,” Aruk admits. His parents do not object to his participating in the Jewish Olympics and encourage him to carry on in his chosen path.

Some Arab athletes who participated wanted to keep a lower profile:

A Muslim athlete who competed in the past in the Maccabiah, and asked not to be named, theorized that the dearth of Arab-Israeli participants stems from, among other things, the objection of prominent figures in the Arab community to the “Jewish Zionist” concept of the Games. Despite repeated requests from Haaretz to Arab members of Knesset Ahmed Tibi and Hanin Zuabi for a comment on this matter, no response was ever received.
The MKs were not the only ones to keep mum. Many Arab-Israeli athletes declined being interviewed for this article, claiming that “nothing good for us is likely to come of it,” as one of them wrote in response to a request from Haaretz.

Yes, Arabs in Israel are reluctant to compete because of - Arab racism. A topic that Alpher wouldn't dare think to be worth exploring.

Now it is true that the Maccabiah Games is primarily for Jews worldwide, but it is up to individual countries' Maccabiah committees to decide who is eligible. So Argentina will allow non-Jews with Jewish spouses to participate, for example.

But does Alpher object to the Gay Games? To the Deaflympics or Paralympics or Special Olympics? To the Asian Games that exclude Israel? All of which have criteria that do not allow everyone to participate?

Alpher doesn't explore these questions. Instead, he says "The Maccabiah Games is a racist event that makes the 1936 Berlin Olympics seem liberal."

It is a waste of time to be offended by such stupidity. Alpher, like other Haaretz columnists, long ago stopped trying to make cogent arguments and instead now compete in their own games - to see how much they can outdo each other in insulting Israel.

Alpher tries very hard to be a gold medalist in the Haaretz Games, but he is always up against stiff competition from Gideon Levy and Amira Hass and others. I guess they get paid by how many howls of outrage they elicit as they try to one-up the other with more lies and insane accusations.

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On the eve of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture 2017, the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Ministry issued a report where they claim that over a million Palestinians have suffered torture by Israel.

Since they also falsely claim that over one million Palestinians have been imprisoned or arrested by Israel, that is an impressive 100% torture rate.

It's funny that not one of the demands of the hunger striking prisoners last month mentioned "please stop torturing us." Instead, they demanded kitchen privileges and more satellite TV channels.

Come to think of it, the lack of TV channels is probably exactly what they mean by "torture."

(By the way, the article I linked to in Ma'an is identical to ones in other media, meaning that these Palestinian "independent media" are simply publishing press releases without the slightest bit of checking. In this case the original press release must have been a PDF or something because the text is corrupted - in exactly the same way in all of the media!)

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Matti Friedman's delicious takedown of Chabon and Waldman

Matti Friedman in the Washington Post has a blistering takedown of the recent book about how awful Israel is by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman called " “Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation."

Last year, the American novelists Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman and Dave Eggers led a group of writers to “bear witness” to the crisis in Iraq, confronting the fate of that country during and since the American occupation — the hundreds of thousands of dead, the vanished minorities, the chaos spreading across the region. The resulting anthology adds up to a piercing, introspective look at what it means to be American in the 21st century.

I’m kidding! Reporting on Iraq is bothersome, and so is introspection. Instead, they came to “bear witness” to the crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, where thousands of reporters, nongovernmental organization staffers, activists and diplomats hover around a conflict with a death toll last year that was about a third of the homicide number in Baltimore. It’s the kind of Mideast conflagration where writers can sally forth in an air-conditioned bus, safely observe the natives for a few hours and make it back to a nice hotel for drinks.

The resulting anthology, “Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation,” includes essays by American and international authors such as Eggers, Mario Vargas Llosa, Colum McCann and Colm Toibin — an impressive list — with a few locals thrown in. The visitors were shown around by anti-occupation activists and wrote up their experiences. Edited by Chabon and Waldman, the 26 essays here constitute a chorus of condemnation of Israel.

...
Chabon and Waldman tell us on the very first page of a visit to Israel in 1992, which they remember vividly as a time of optimism, when the “Oslo accords were fresh and untested.” But their memory must be playing tricks, because the Oslo accords happened in the fall of 1993. ...

The essays vary in tone and quality, but experienced journalists covering the Israel/Palestine story will recognize the usual impressions of reporters fresh from the airport. Cute Palestinian kids touched my hair! Beautiful tea glasses! I saw a gun! I lost my luggage, and that seems symbolic! Arabs do hip-hop! The soldiers are so young and rude! The writers interview the same people who are always interviewed in the West Bank, thinking it’s all new, and believe what they’re told. Chabon, for example, waxes sarcastic that in the West Bank you can spend months in administrative detention if you forget your ID card at home. But that isn’t true.

.... The hosts’ choreography becomes evident the more you read, because the writers keep going back to the same street in Hebron, the same village near the same settlement, the same checkpoint activist. They avoid Palestinian extremists and average Israelis, so it looks like all Palestinians are reasonable and all Israelis aren’t.

I know space in these projects is limited, especially with all the love that needs to fit, but the Syrian catastrophe unfolding a 90-minute drive from the West Bank could have used a few more words — half a million people are dead, and millions of others have been displaced. Does this affect the thinking of the Israelis and Palestinians next door? Are Israeli decisions influenced by the bloody outcomes of power vacuums in Sinai, Iraq and Libya? What will replace the occupation? In Gaza, it was Hamas — will it be Hamas in the West Bank? If Israel’s police leave East Jerusalem, could the city become Aleppo? These are some of the big questions of 2017.

But the writers here aren’t addressing them, which raises another question: What is this book about?

What it’s really about is the writers. Most of the essays aren’t journalism but a kind of selfie in which the author poses in front of the symbolic moral issue of the time: Here I am at an Israeli checkpoint! Here I am with a shepherd! That’s why the very first page of the book finds Chabon and Waldman talking not about the occupation, but about Chabon and Waldman. After a while I felt trapped in a wordy kind of Kardashian Instagram feed, without the self-awareness.

Whatever this anthology set out to be, “Kingdom of Olives and Ash” is an unintentional group portrait of a certain set of intellectuals. Would they like a curated trip to a foreign country? Sign them up! Do they think a few days is enough to pass judgment on the participants in a century-old conflict? They do! These people are taken somewhere, and they go. Someone points, and they look. They can be trusted not to ask who’s pointing, who’s with them on the bus or who’s paying for the gas.

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