Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Stop supporting Palestinian moral inversion (Vic Rosenthal)

Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

An elephant in the room is missing here:

The High Court of Justice on Tuesday rejected a petition that sought the demolition of the homes of the Jewish killers of East Jerusalem teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir in 2014.

In response to a petition filed by the victim's parents, the state told the court in September 2016 that homes of three murderers of Mohammed Abu Khdeir need not be demolished, as is common policy with homes of Palestinian terrorists.

The judges determined that house demolitions would be ineffective [as a deterrent – vr] in this case due to the time elapsed since the murder and delay in the family's petition. They stressed, however, that contrary to the state's position, the home demolition policy is valid for both Jewish and Arab assailants.

Abu Khdeir was murdered by Yosef Haim Ben-David and two underage accomplices in an act of revenge for the murder by Hamas terrorists of three Jewish teens, Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel, that June.

The Court (and the State, in a brief filed in June, 2016), are clear about the fact that the demolition of the homes of terrorists is not a punishment, but an action intended to deter similar acts of terrorism. The State argued that there were far more attacks by Arabs against Jews:

In the letter from the Defense Ministry’s legal adviser to the Abu Khdeir family’s lawyer Muhannad Jbara [in June 2016], the ministry argued that because cases of Jewish terror are so infrequent in relation to Arab attacks against Jews, there is no need to establish a deterrent for future Jewish attackers by demolishing the Abu Khdeir killers’ homes.

The Military Commander “should consider the deterrent effect against potential attackers that will be created by the demolition,” the letter said. “Given the scale of the phenomenon of seriously hostile crimes in the Jewish community, the need to implement this [deterrent] power does not arise.”

Lawyer Jbara argued back, citing the Dawabshe case, that there was a recent increase in attacks by Jews against Arabs, and that therefore there was a need for deterrence. But the court wasn’t convinced at the time, and neither was the Supreme Court on appeal.

Do you see the elephant? It is the fact that neither the infrequency of atrocious crimes committed by Jews against Arabs (or even attributed to Jews without proof, like the Dawabshe case) or the amount of time between the commission of a crime and the demolition of a terrorist’s house should be the most important consideration here. It is that crimes like the Khdeir case are different in a fundamental way from the murders of Shaar, Yifrach and Fraenkel – and even from “lone-wolf” terrorism in which no terrorist organization is directly involved, such as has been endemic in Israel recently.

By saying that the demolition policy could also be applied to Jewish terrorists in some cases, our own Supreme Court is implying that there is an equivalence between Arab terrorism and certain crimes committed by Jews against Arabs. Even the state’s argument that “the [smaller] scale of the phenomenon” of Jewish terrorism is the reason that it is not necessary to demolish perpetrator’s homes implies that the phenomena are similar in kind, although different in quantity. But this is wrong.

The difference, in a word, is that Arab terrorists are sent to do their evil deeds, either by organizations like Hamas, or by the Palestinian Arab culture itself as embodied by friends and relatives, media, schools, mosques and other institutions, including their PA and Hamas governing authorities.

Palestinian Arab terrorists are presented as heroic representatives of their people, role models and exemplars of piety and goodness. Jewish terrorists, on the other hand, are seen as deviants, rejected by most of their society and severely punished by its authorities. Arab media praises their terrorists while Jewish media condemns ours.

Arab terrorists and the families of “martyrs” are not only praised, they are paid for their work by their leadership. Here is a statement on the official Fatah Facebook page (July 2 2017) attributed to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in response to reports that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Abbas to stop paying them:

Even if I will have to leave my position, I will not compromise on the salary (rawatib) of a Martyr (Shahid) or a prisoner, as I am the president of the entire Palestinian people, including the prisoners, the Martyrs, the injured, the expelled, and the uprooted. -- [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas.

It is necessary to act against the broad social complex that stands behind Arab terrorists in order to deter future terrorism, and actions like home demolitions are only one element of this. But in the case of Jewish attackers, there is no such social complex, and both the larger society and the leadership condemn their crimes in the strongest possible way. Home demolition would therefore not be a useful response to crimes like the Abu Khdeir murder. Unfortunately, the reasons given to reject it in this case actually support the Palestinian contention that the crimes are similar.

Our government and courts do us no favor by promoting the idea that there is an equivalence between evil acts committed by criminally deviant members of the Jewish population, and systematic terrorism which is inspired, incited and paid for by the PA and Hamas – and which is applauded throughout Palestinian Arab society.

The view that there is such an equivalence is a form of moral inversion, like the false symmetry between Israel’s defensive actions and the aggression of terrorist militias and nations that wish to destroy us. Such inversions have been common in history where anti-Jewish elements have blamed the Jews for the pogroms and mass murders that they inflicted on us.

Moral inversion is one of the weapons of cognitive warfare employed by our enemies. Why do our own courts and officials help them use it?

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07/06 Links Pt1: PA TV: Murdering 22 children is heroic; Israeli-Indian statement ignores two-state solution

From Ian:

PMW: Murdering 22 children is heroic, says PA TV

Recently the PA has emphasized this message to Palestinians by glorifying the Ma'alot massacre - a terrorist attack in 1974 in which Palestinian terrorists took over a hundred Israeli children and their teachers hostage in a school. When Israeli forces tried to rescue them, the terrorists attacked the hostages with guns and grenades, murdering 22 of the children and 4 adults.
Palestinian Media Watch recently reported on the square in Jenin, which was named after Khaled Nazzal who planned the attack. Israel subsequently removed the monument, after which Abbas' Fatah Movement vowed to rebuild it.
In addition to the Khaled Nazzal Square and the monument in Jenin, the Jenin district has now further named a street after terrorist Nazzal in the town of Burqin:
Headline: "In response to the removal of the monument, [the] Jenin [district] names a street after Khaled Nazzal"
"The town of Burqin, which is located southwest of Jenin, yesterday, Wednesday [July 5, 2017], named one of the town's streets after Martyr (Shahid) Khaled Nazzal in response to the occupation authorities' decision to remove and destroy the Martyr Nazzal monument in Jenin." [Wattan, independent Palestinian news agency, July 6, 2017]
Official PA TV has also joined this campaign of praising the murders in Ma'alot. A TV narrator called it "an act of heroism" when she described how a Palestinian prisoner, whom Israel allegedly had brought in to persuade the terrorists to release the hostages, instead encouraged them to continue the attack and "do what they came for." According to PA TV, the act of dying while murdering 26 Israelis meant that the terrorists' "souls would float as Martyrs above the skies of Palestine."

Official PA TV glorifies Ma’alot massacre, praises terrorists who murdered 22 kids

Israeli-Indian statement ignores two-state solution

Thirty years after India became the first non-Muslim state to recognize the “State of Palestine,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed off on a joint statement on Wednesday that mentioned the Palestinian-Israel diplomatic process, but made no reference to a two state solution.
The 20th clause of a 21-clause document that was issued following the two leaders’ lengthy working meeting referred to the diplomatic process.
“The two Prime Ministers discussed the developments pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process,” the statement read.
“They underlined the need for the establishment of a just and durable peace in the region. They reaffirmed their support for an early negotiated solution between the sides based on mutual recognition and security arrangements.”
Not only will Modi not be visiting the Palestinian Authority during his 49-hour visit, but the first day and a half of the visit passed without him once publicly referring to the Palestinian issue.
One senior Indian official said it was not his country’s style to engage in “megaphone diplomacy,” or go to other countries and lecture them on what they need to do. He said this is because to a large degree, India does not like it when other countries come to India and lecture it about relations with Pakistan.

Palestinian Authority Feels Slighted by Indian PM Modi’s Decision Not to Meet With Abbas During Israel Visit

Palestinian leaders have expressed disappointment over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision not to visit Ramallah, the political center of the Palestinian Authority (PA), as he continues with his three-day trip to Israel — the first ever by a sitting Indian prime minister to the Jewish state.
“We expected him [Modi] to visit both Israel and Palestine,” Palestinian Deputy Foreign Minister Tasir Jaradat told the Qatari-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera. “To play an important role between the two sides and to be able to spread the message of peace, one should visit both.”
“The PA is talking in terms of surprise, rather than outright criticism, that Narendra Modi has decided not to make time for its president in the course of a three-day visit,” an Al Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem reported.
Modi last met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in May. Speaking after their encounter in New Delhi, Modi said India’s goal was ”to see the realization of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, coexisting peacefully with Israel.”
Part of Modi’s approach to enhanced relations with Israeli is based on what Indian analysts have called “de-linking” — engaging in bilateral cooperation with both Israel and the Palestinians and treating the two parties as separate entities.

Al Alam, Iran's state run Arabic media outlet, published an article today saying that the Saudi royal family is Jewish.

If you are interested in the stupid details, here's a Facebook page that describes the theory in English.

Iran, which strenuously pretends not to be antisemtiic, finds that the most effective way to insult its enemies is to call them Jewish.

Of course, the Al Saud family wants to do the same to those it is unhappy with as well. A Saudi prince named Badr Bin Saud, who is also a journalist, tweeted this picture of Turkish president Erdogan along with ISIS members last week.

The tweet said, "Erdogan is the new master in Qatar, he sent five thousand of his soldiers to train the ten thousand soldiers that are the entire Qatari army. He (i.e. Erdogan) is originally Georgian, a Khazar Jew. Not that there is anything wrong with that."

What more proof do you need that the Saudi family is Jewish than that they are quoting Seinfeld?

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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How many times have we heard that Palestinian children turn to violence because they feel hopeless or distraught because of the "occupation"? It is practically a truism in certain circles.

It is also a lie.

Last year, the "United Nations Country Team occupied Palestinian territory " published a 180-page document discussing the challenges UN agencies face in working in the territories.

(There are no fewer than 22 UN agencies that work in the territories, not including another agency that is meant to coordinate the activities of the 22. )

Most of the document, predictably, blames the "occupation" for every problem. But when you dig into it, there are some interesting findings that are never publicized. And buried on page 101 we find this out:

Children suffer a relatively high degree of violence from parents and teachers in the form of corporal punishment. Palestine has one of the highest incidences of reported violent punishment in the Arab region: in 2014, 91.5% of 10-14 year olds reported experiencing psychological aggression or physical punishment during the previous month. In Gaza, 94.5% of children reported having experienced such aggression and punishment.

The footnote says, "In comparison, 79% of children in Iraq (2011), 64% of children in Sudan (2014), 86% of children in Algeria (2012-2013), and 93% of children in Tunisia (2011-2012) had experienced similar violence."

Palestinian children live with constant violence by their parents and teachers, the two sets of people who are supposed to protect them.

This is why so many youths so easily decided to start stabbing Jews a couple of years ago. Violence is in their upbringing.

Of course, the UN agency tries to even blame Israel for that. When it talks about gender-based violence (GBV), the report says

Violence associated with the occupation contributes to GBV, especially against women.Women in Palestine are exposed to both political and settler violence and GBV against women increased largely after the last war on the Gaza Strip.Mobility restrictions, limited access to exiting support services and the escalating frustration related to the protracted humanitarian crises of the Israeli occupation is one of the drivers of GBV against women, specifically intimate partner violence and other forms of GBV.

As we've seen before, people blame Israel even when Palestinian husbands beat their wives and men beat their sisters. And these UN agencies, convinced that they know that Israel is to blame for Palestinian men beating their wives, children and students, don' t bother to fix the problem - because they believe that "occupation" is the alpha and omega of all evils in the world.

And Palestinian kids are the ones who suffer because of the hate that so many NGOs have towards Israel, hate that blinds them to an attempt at a solution.

After all, why even consider that a society that venerates murderers and terrorists might encourage violence?

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Yesterday, Hanan Ashrawi launched a hilarious attack on US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for being too pro-Israel.

Her full statement is revealing on many levels. It shows that anyone who calls out the obvious anti-Israel bias in the UN is absolutely frightening to the PLO.

For example, here is how Ashrawi described Haley's statement about the recent UNESCO vote to sever any Jewish ties to the second-holiest place in Judaism:

[Haley's] most recent attack only days ago includes sending a letter to the UN Secretary General and the Director General of UNESCO asking the organization to withhold designation of religious sites in Hebron as Palestinian World Heritage Sites In Danger. The letter is consistent with her policy of 'distract and deflect', where she states 'many precious sites – from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Libya to Iraq to Syria – are under real and imminent threat of destruction today. They urgently demand UNESCO's full and immediate attention, which should not be wasted on this sort of symbolic action.’ This approach has been a consistent means of evasion to exclude and suppress any consideration of Palestinian grievances at the UN. By creating diversions and focusing on other issues, Miss Haley seems to believe that the UN should give Israel a free pass based on the logical fallacy that one injustice negates another.

Yes, Ashrawi is saying with a straight face that a UN that is singularly obsessed with attacking Israel and promoting a terror-supporting Palestinian state is actually being limited in its anti-Israel actions.

Putting the Palestinian issue in context is terrifying to Ashrawi and the PLO.

Through an obsessive and targeted campaign of intimidation and threats, Miss Haley's crusade does not miss an opportunity to put pressure on anyone that seeks to challenge Israeli impunity and persistent disregard for the imperative of civilized behavior. Her tone, language and approach echo those of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon and the priorities of Sheldon Adelson and his ilk, rather than official US policy.

After decades of being able to attack Israel with no opposition, the PLO has no idea how to handle someone who actually shows that the emperor has no clothes. So Ashrawi and the PLO go back to their old habits of insult - hoping that people still care about their perspectives.

And the amount of people in the world who care is diminishing quickly.

Ashrawi called Haley's opinions a "crusade." Three times she used that term, which is meant ti inflame Muslim passions more than to illuminate the truth.

But perhaps the funniest part of this diatribe is not just the PLO's panic, but Ashrawi's consistent referral to Haley as "Miss Haley." Five times Ashrawi refers to her with that title, rather than calling her "Ambassador Haley" as would be appropriate. In fact, she didn't refer to Haley as an ambassador once.

Haley is married, to Michael Haley, an officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard.

Ashrawi knows English quite well and she deliberately used language to insult Haley as a girl rather than one of the most important diplomats in the world. This reveals, above all, the immaturity of the PLO's own diplomatic corps - they might use the language of diplomacy when they must, but in reality they are filled with nothing but disrespect and hate towards anyone who doesn't follow their own agenda that they have been pushing for nearly fifty years at the UN and elsewhere.

The PLO gravy train is over, and Ashrawi is now reduced to temper tantrums for no longer being treated as a spoiled child.

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07/05 Links Pt2: Indian PM Modi affirms ‘kinship’ with Israel, where he feels ‘at home’; FIFA Supporting Terrorism?

From Ian:

Indian PM affirms ‘kinship’ with Israel, where he feels ‘at home’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on Wednesday morning of the “kinship” he feels with Israel, hailing the rapidly improving relations between the two countries, and especially the burgeoning trade ties.
Modi arrived Tuesday, making him the first-ever head of India’s government to visit the Jewish state.
“Israel is a real friend and I have really felt that feeling of kinship. I feel absolutely at home here,” Modi said during a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem. “Your Excellency, you yourself broke protocol and stepped onto the road [at the President’s Residence] to receive me, and this is a mark of respect to the entire Indian nation comprising 1.25 billion people,” he added.
“You have expressed your love and your sentiments for our country. For that, I would especially like to thank you and express my gratitude.”
Rivlin heartily welcomed the prime minister to his residence.
“We have a lot in common, we are doing a lot in common,” he said, praising Modi for understanding the need of fostering both government-to-government and business-to-government relations. “It’s really a pleasure to have as a guest one of the greatest leaders in the world today. Prime Minister, welcome,” Rivlin concluded.

Rivlin hails Modi as one of world's 'greatest leaders of democracy'

President Reuven Rivlin welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his official residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday, calling him “one of the greatest leaders of world democracies.”
Modi, in turn, noted Israel’s friendship. “Israel is a real friend,” he said. “I have really felt that feeling of kinship. I feel absolutely at home here.”
Commenting on “the warmth that has emanated from everyone that I have met here,” Modi included in his remarks Rivlin’s break from protocol when he came outside to welcome the prime minister.
According to protocol, a president ranks higher than a prime minister, but because Modi is considered to be such a special guest in Israel, Rivlin circumvented protocol and went outside to greet his Indian visitor, as the car carrying the prime minister drove into the presidential compound.
The two briskly traversed the red carpet and mounted a stage at the end of the main reception hall, where Modi signed the guest book. They then went into the president’s office for a 10-minute tête-à-tête before joining Modi’s waiting delegation and representatives of the media in a small reception hall.
Taking up their conversation from where they left off last November during Rivlin’s visit to India, Rivlin, in welcoming Modi, discussed commonalities between their two countries despite the differences in size and demography.
Rivlin told Modi that he could not forget his visit to India, where he had found a really strong nation with strong ideas and strong wishes.

Netanyahu accepts Modi invite to India as leaders ink cooperation deals

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accepted an invitation from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to visit Delhi, as the two leaders signed a raft of agreements aimed at bolstering anti-terror and economic cooperation.
Modi is currently making the first-ever trip by an Indian prime minister to Israel, where he is being feted by Netanyahu for three days as Jerusalem touts its growing ties with the second-most populous country in the world.
At the end of a ceremony in Jerusalem to mark the signing of several bilateral agreements, Modi formally invited Netanyahu and his family. Netanyahu immediately responded: “I accept.”
According to the “India-Israel Joint Statement” that diplomats from both countries issued during the ceremony, Modi extended a “warm invitation” to Netanyahu to visit in India “at a mutually convenient time.”
The visit had already been in the works and Indian officials said last week the trip would likely take place toward the end of 2017.

We love it when truth triumphs. It's why we love Nikki Haley, who seems astonished that she is Israel's heroine for simply telling the truth.

Why should there be such a fuss for saying what is, asks Haley, again and again? But the fact is, a false and evil narrative regarding Israel has held sway for many years. It's frustrating to tell the truth and be called a liar. It feels like the sun shining is on us when Haley does her thing at the UN. It feels like cleansing sunlight. It makes our hearts swell. It makes us feel vindicated, even though we know we are right in our hearts.

Someone understands us! Someone knows the truth.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's office has, from time to time, issued videos of the prime minister telling the truth. Hard truths, that people don't want to hear. He has an impressive gravity in these videos. He's believable. It feels good to watch these videos and they always go viral.

There was his "The bad news and the good news" video about how minorities are treated in Israel. A clip like this draws views because we Jews have a yearning to show the world the basic goodness of Israel and Israeli society. This video helps fills that empty spot where pride wants to be and helps us soldier on.

Then there was Netanyahu's "Ever wonder what fake news is?" video. It ends with him crumpling the new (piece of lying, no good) Hamas document into a ball and pitching it into a wastebasket. Like his bomb diagram at the UN, it's a sight gag, but one that is eminently effective. Here, it seems almost daring, dashing, like he's saying, "Come at me, Bro!" to Hamas, the bad guys, simply by telling the truth!! That one had WAY more views than the bad news/good news clip.

Why is it then, that when it comes to our holiest site and freedom of religion, all bets are off and the truth is swept under the rug? How come we don't see a video about Jewish prayer rights emanating from the PM's office? What's UP with that??

It really should be so simple, so clear. The Israeli High Court has upheld the right to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount over the years. This although the court does allow the Israeli security forces leeway in preventing Jewish prayer if it will cause disorder (translation: Arabs will riot if Jews' lips move). That loophole has been exploited by security forces to prevent Jews from so much as making a blessing on a drink of water while touring the Mount. And in summer, it gets hot. If you're religious you can't take a drink without making a brocha, a blessing, which means, you can't go on the Mount.

Still, there has been some change for the better, alluded to by Jenni Heltay Menashe, a Temple Mount tour guide, in this recent interview. New people are in charge of security since Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and they seem to have a more relaxed and positive attitude about Jewish rights on the Mount. Perhaps that's why Tom Nisani and Sara Lurcat dared to very quietly get married on the Temple Mount last week.

As you can see in the above clips, there's neither white gown nor flowers. Just a slipping on of a ring on a finger and a few quietly mumbled words. Because even this is seen as "creating disorder" (translation: Arabs will riot and kill Jews).

But it makes no sense!!!

The point of the High Court's ruling was to grant freedom of religion, and not to make Jews skulk and whisper and pussyfoot around on their holiest site. The Temple Mount is ours, on our sovereign territory. If we do not dare to take ownership, it will be lost to us.

In placating the Waqf, the Muslim religious authority, we infantilize Muslims. We turn them into toddlers experiencing their terrible twos. We dare not do anything that could set them off. Thus, the toddlers rule their parents.

It is clear that Nisani and Lurcat respected the ruling of the High Court. The ceremony was modest and quiet. To a fault, in my humble opinion.

But guess what happens next: the police summon Nisani for questioning, to "clarify the event."

Nissani said no. He's not coming in to be questioned and if they want to arrest him, they know where to find him. He said, "I married my wife on the Temple Mount, which is not a violation of the law. I call upon all couples to ascend to the holiest place in the world to sanctify their marriages, as this is the most natural thing for a Jew to do."

Yosef Rabin, International Spokesman for "The Movement for Temple Renewal" issued the following response to this state of affairs, "We no longer live under British rule, when Jews were arrested by British Police for blowing the Shofar at the Western Wall. It is time for the police force of the Jewish State to cease acting like them and allow full religious rights for Jews on their holiest site, the Temple Mount."

Because the truth is, in a democracy, people have the right to pray or get married where they choose. They have full access to holy sites and the right to pray at these places, whether they are regular, ordinary people or even an MK like Yehudah Glick, whose right to ascend to the Temple Mount has been a monumental tug of war.

The truth is, Israel liberated the Temple Mount in 1967. It is ours. That is the truth.

Why do we not cherish this truth as we do so many others? The prime minister with his truth about how minorities are treated in Israel. His "Come at me, Bro" toss of a crumpled Hamas document into a wastebasket, Nikki Haley beaming sunlight at the UN. Why should our right to prayer on the Temple Mount be quelled and put down, hushed up and kept out of sight?

Why do we pretend to be a democracy with freedom of religion?

Why should Tom Nisani be called in for questioning by the police for exercising his rights as a citizen of Israel? Is this Soviet Russia?

Here is the truth: Jews do not have freedom of religion in the Holy Land. Not because some Jews need an egalitarian prayer space at the Kotel. They already have that. But because no Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, no matter what the Israeli Supreme Court rules.

What is it that the Israeli leadership fears in granting this, our most basic right as Jews in the Holy Land?

The right to prayer on Har HaBayit, the holiest site in the world.

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Palestinians Cry 'Apartheid' Over Election Of Jew To Lead Israeli Labor (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Ramallah, July 5 - Following the election of a yet another Israeli Jew as the new chairman of the country's Labor Party, Palestinian leaders accused both the party and wider Israeli society of maintaining ethnic segregation aimed at denying Palestinians political and civil rights.

Saeb Erekat, a Fatah official loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has served as the chief negotiator with Israel, spoke to reporters Tuesday night at the presidential compound in Ramallah, and characterized the election of a Jew to lead Labor as South-Africa-style Apartheid.

"Labor, the largest party that bills itself as favoring a negotiated two-state solution, the party that glories in its role in the Oslo peace process, has never chosen anyone but a Jew to lead it," charged Erekat. "The racist ethos of the party, and the racism of the society it thus exposes, demonstrate where the fault lies in the failure of effort after effort to achieve a final-status agreement."

Erekat called for international pressure on Israel and its political parties. "It is clear that without drastic measures from the international community we will forever be subject to the Apartheid occupation," he pronounced. "Not a single Palestinian has ever been permitted to submit candidacy for Labor, let alone run for high political office in Israel on the party's ticket."

Labor officials acknowledged Erekat's argument. "It's more or less true," admitted former Labor legislator Dalia Itzik. "Labor has made large strides in the realm of political equality over the decades, including the selection of Golda Meir as chairwoman, who became prime minister in the 1970's, and I served as Acting President of the country for a time. But when it comes to eligibility to vote in the Labor primary, the rules of party exclude those who have not paid membership dues and registered their membership, a requirement that effectively excludes the Palestinians."

She noted that the discriminatory nature of the requirement affects other minority groups. "We don't allow any non-citizens to vote in our elections, and I mean national elections, not just party primaries," she continued. "If you're a Russian citizen, but not an Israeli citizen, you're out of luck when it comes voting here. The same goes for citizens of Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, and literally hundreds of other countries: if you don't hold Israel citizenship, we don't let you vote here. Of course we discriminate."

Itzik also noted that she, as a non-Palestinian, cannot vote in Palestinian elections, but that fact alone is misleading, as Palestinians cannot vote in Palestinian elections either, having last held them in 2006, and thus Palestinians do not discriminate in that fashion against non-citizens.

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07/05 Links Pt1: Pipes: End the false Israeli-Palestinian equality; Melanie Phillips: Trouble in purgatory

From Ian:

Daniel Pipes: End the false Israeli-Palestinian equality

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to visit Jerusalem but not Ramallah has prompted much comment.
The expectation of equal treatment goes back to the Oslo Accords' signing in September 1993, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, representing his government, shook hands with Yasser Arafat, the much-despised chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the White House lawn. No one found that strange or inappropriate then, but things look different nearly a quarter-century later.
As the elected head of a democratic and sovereign government, Rabin never should have consented to Arafat, the henchman of an unofficial, dictatorial, murderous organization, being given equal status with himself.
Rather, he should have stayed aloof. Appearing together created a dysfunctional illusion of equivalence that over subsequent decades has became assumed, ingrained and unquestioned. This false equivalence has became even more inaccurate with time, as Israel has gone from one success to another and the Palestinian Authority has brought on a reign of ever-deeper anarchy, dependency, and repression.
It's not just that Israel stands among the world leaders in science, technology, the humanities, the arts, military power and intelligence capabilities, not just that its economy is 25 times larger than the Palestinian one; Israel is a land where the rule of law applies to all (at one point until recently, a former president and a former prime minister were simultaneously sitting in prison) and individual rights are not just promised but delivered. Meanwhile, the head of the Palestinian Authority, presently in the 12th year of his four-year term, has been unable to prevent both creeping anarchy in the West Bank and a rogue group from taking over in Gaza, half of his putative domain.

Melanie Phillips: Trouble in purgatory

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Watch me here discussing with Avi Abelow of Israel Video Network antisemitism in the British Labour party – and also the extraordinary spectacle at the UN of Iran and Saudi Arabia accusing each other of terrorism.

MEMRI: Sheikh Prays To Allah For Slaughtering of Americans and Europeans!

In an address at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian cleric Sheikh Nadhal Siam, also known as "Abu Ibrahim," criticized the Saudi and Qatari regimes, which, he said, were "immersed in collaboration" with the Americans and the English, respectively. His prayers to Allah to "enable us to slaughter" the Americans, the Europeans and the "criminal and treacherous" Arab rulers were answered by cries of "Amen" from his audience. The video was posted on YouTube on June 18.

The Women of the Wall say on their website that they are the “new liberators” of the Western Wall. 50 years after the reunification of Jerusalem, not only is this statement offensive to the soldiers that fought and died, the millions of Jews around the world overjoyed by the victory and the non-Jews who stood in awe of the tiny State, calling themselves “liberators of the Wall” completely misses the point.

The Western Wall is not “occupied” by an enemy force (unless they consider their fellow Jews enemies). The Temple Mount on the other hand, the actual holy site, is occupied.

There is one man in Israel that is widely associated with the battle for religious freedom on the Temple Mount – Yehudah Glick. I wrote the following before he and Amir Ohana both became Ministers in Israel’s Parliament. These two vastly different men model in their actions what it truly means to fight for freedom.

Please read and consider - what kind of freedom fighters do you want to support?

December 2014 -

When words are twisted meaning becomes warped. The straightforward and obvious suddenly takes on a new meaning, transforming in to something far from the original intent.

Changing words and definitions changes reality.

Once the term “freedom fighters” meant people who fight for freedom. Now, somehow this term has become synonymous with terrorists i.e. people using psychological and physical threat, violence and murder as means of scaring others in to agreeing to or allowing a political goal to be attained.

A noble idea, fighting for a noble cause – freedom, has been twisted in to something ugly and dark. Somehow this new meaning has become accepted as the norm. Somehow it is acceptable to whitewash murder and violence to achieve a goal by placing it under the flag of “fighting for freedom”.

What about the real freedom fighters? People who are using political, acceptable, non-violent ways to fight for freedom? If terrorists are “freedom fighters” what can we call those who are truly fighting for freedom?

Over and over we find these rare ones called a myriad of derogatory names: “annoying”, “provocateurs,” “fringe,” “extremists”… they are told to shut up, sit down and disappear.

They are often confused for the cause rather than the solution they truly are.

Instead of being upheld as role models for us all, the real freedom fighters are being belittled, pushed aside and sometimes even ostracized.

On October 29^th, Yehuda Glick was shot four times by a Muslim terrorist. It was no “ordinary” terror attack, this was an assassination attempt. Why?

Because Yehudah Glick has been actively promoting the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.

Huh?

Bizarrely, in Israel there is freedom of worship for all people – except Jews. Jews are not allowed to pray in the holiest location on earth for the Jewish people, the Temple Mount, in the heart of Jerusalem.

A little bit of history for those who are unaware of the background:

The Western Wall or Kotel is part of an external supporting wall of the ancient Jewish Temple. Now, where the Temple once stood is a golden domed mosque, The Dome of the Rock. The mosque covers the Foundation Rock which was once in Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple and, according to Jewish tradition, is the foundation upon which God created the world.

This is the source of the holiness of Jerusalem. This is why Jerusalem is considered by so many to be the heart of the world.

The Dome of the Rock is not the mosque Muslims place so much importance in, there is another mosque on the Temple Mount that they call “al Aqsa.” Muslims pray facing AWAY from the Dome of the Rock, facing Mecca, the holiest city in Islamic tradition.

The Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Dome of the Rock was built on top of the ruins in 691 CE. Building a religious site on top of someone else’s religious site is a way to exert dominance and announce that the location and everything connected with it has been conquered.

Today in Israel Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Jews may ascend the mount but are not allowed to pray. Jews are not allowed to come close or even see the Foundation Rock.

Why? It’s very simple – fear of Muslim violence.

Over the years Israeli governments have preserved this restriction with the idea that we shouldn’t “provoke” the Islamic world.

Yehudah Glick said that he thinks this is wrong. He said it repeatedly and publicly. He ascended the Temple Mount and prayed with Muslims there, in Arabic and Hebrew.

Glick’s attitude is: “The Temple Mount must be as (in) the words of (the prophet) Isaiah, ‘a house of prayer for all nations. It mustn’t be in the hands of violent people. It must not be left to one religion who are led by a fundamentalist, violent leadership. It must be a sensitive place – it must be a place that respects all of those who are calling in the name of the One and only God.”

For this a terrorist tried to murder him. 4 bullets grazed vital organs and somehow, miraculously, hit none. He should have died – four times over – and did not. A real miracle.

Now, over a month later, Yehudah is well on the way to recovery. His peaceful protesting of the lack of freedom of worship for Jews in the Jewish State has not ceased. In response, the Islamists have increased their death threats against him: “This time we will make sure the job is completed.” Some on the left have even implied that it is Yehudah’s provocation that is at fault, that he brought the attack on himself, that his actions gave rise to the wave of terror attacks we have recently experienced in Israel.

In a twisted world, the result becomes the cause. The victim becomes the abuser. Shut up, sit down, go away.

As if ignoring the source of the problem will solve it, as if telling the victim to “go along to get along” ever works…

No one is talking about the rights of Jews to be free in their own land, to worship in the place holiest to the Jewish people. No one is talking of the Islamic provocation of creating violence and bringing weapons in to the most holy place on earth. No one is talking about the soccer games and picnics Muslims hold on the Temple Mount. Or the political rallies they have held, calling for the destruction of Israel.

To be more accurate, there are a few who are talking about these things. They are called “extremists,” “religious looneys”, told to shut up and sit down. Yehudah Glick was shot because he spoke out against these offenses against Jews and Jewish freedom.

Despite the increased death threats the police have not assigned any specific security detail to protect Glick. As a result, concerned citizens decided they would not wait for the police to save Yehudah. A group of people, trained and licensed to carry arms, friends and strangers, volunteered to be his protection detail, travelling everywhere with him, to protect Yehudah’s life and freedom.

In an interview Amir Ohana, the leader of the group explained: “We know the death threats are very real. Yehudah has to go back and forth between his home and the hospital for treatments until he recovers completely. He should be safe and free to move in his own country shouldn’t he? I’m not religious. I’m gay and I don’t believe in God but if Yehudah wants to go pray on the Temple Mount I think he should be free to do so and I will be there, right by his side.”

That is a real freedom fighter! That should be the role model – a man who does not wait for police or government to “save” him, a man that decides to protect his fellow man because he believes in his right to life and right to freedom. Nothing more, nothing less.

Religious affiliation, sexual orientation and any other categories and definitions are not barriers when thinking is straightforward. Freedom to live, to worship, to speak one’s mind etc. are basic rights, due to everyone – even if they are Jewish.

I am thankful for the real freedom fighters. I am thankful that Yehudah’s voice was not silenced by the bullets of the terrorist. I am thankful for those who have decided to protect Yehudah. These are the real freedom fighters: people who defend, not attack, people who simply do not accept being wronged.

Rosa Parks and others like her who did not accept the injustice of segregation are the freedom fighters, not the rioters of Ferguson.

Mahatma Gandhi led India to Independence by example – not by suicide bombs.

Freedom is a choice of those who refused to be caged, who refuse to be silenced. Israel is in danger and so is the rest of the world. It is up to each and every one of us to decide what definition of “freedom fighter” we find acceptable.

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Palestinians complain that prison sentence for man who burned a Jewish family is "unfair"

Arutz-7 reports:

The military court on Tuesday sentenced Muhammad Badwan, the terrorist who committed the attack in which Ayala Shapira was seriously injured on December 24, 2014, to 18 years in prison and fined him NIS 50,000 ($14,200).

During the attack, Badwan threw a Molotov cocktail that set fire to the vehicle in which Ayala Shapira and her father Avner, a commputer expert, were traveling. Ayala, who was then 11 years old and on her way home from an advanced mathematics class for gifted youngsters, suffered severe burns from the attack and was hospitalized for eight months.

She fought for her life for the first few weeks in isolation and intensive care and made a miraculous recovery. However, she is still required to wear a mask to prevent scarring from the skin grafts she has undergone, and she cannot be exposed to the sun. She has years of surgery and therapy ahead of her.

The court found Badwan guilty of the attempted murder of Ayala and her father.

Earlier this year, Ayala Shapira gave a speech to the European Parliament about what happened to her and how her attacker knew he will be paid by the Palestinian Authority if he gets caught and put into prison.

Arab media is spinning this a quite different way.

This story says that Badwan's sentence is "unfair" - that Badwan was a minor when he decided to "resist the occupation." It doesn't mention anything about the attack itself, but it appeals to Palestinians to help the family pay the "exorbitant" fine, which they have one year to pay.

Ramallah News mentions that Badwan did throw a Molotov cocktail at a "car full of settlers" and also calls the sentence "unjust".

It is especially ironic that the same people who bring up the Dawabsheh firebombing in every international forum as a prime example of Jewish terrorism energetically defend firebombings against Jews as justified "resistance."

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Gulf News has an exclusive!

The Israeli occupation authorities have stolen historic rocks — regarded as sacred by the Palestinians — from Al Aqsa Mosque of Al Haram Al Sharif in occupied East Jerusalem, Arab residents said.

Jerusalemites are now calling on international institutions to force Israel to return the rocks untouched.

Fakhri Abu Diyab, who heads the local committee in defence of occupied Jerusalem, said the Israelis have removed huge rocks from underground passageways of the Al Buraq Wall, Al Magharebah Bridge and Al Buraq Plaza, and shifted them to an unknown place.

Abu Diyab managed to take pictures of the aftermath of the incident, which caused traffic jams in the crowded area, and said a case would now be filed against the Israeli occupation authorities.

“History and universal heritage are at serious risk, and stealing these rocks from the holy shrine strictly violates all international agreements and conventions,” Abu Diyab told Gulf News.

He said the Israeli occupation authorities replaced the rocks with steel constructions but this still posed a serious danger to the structural integrity of Al Haram Al Sharif — Muslims’ third holiest place.

Abu Diyab said the Israelis were expected to modify the scripts on the rocks to establish a Talmudic narrative in a bid to demonstrate their historic connection to the area. The rocks would then be returned to their original places in the holy shrine.

In other words, Abu Diyab observed the normal everyday digs in the area - archaeological excavations that are under the strictest supervision of the Israel Antiquities Authority - and they moved rocks to get to their goal.

Everything else is from Abu Diyab's fevered imagination, which is enough to get him stories in not only the Gulf News but other Muslim media. And he gets paid to make up these stories as the head of a local committee to "defend Jerusalem," no doubt on the PA's payroll.

The idea that Jews are forging their history is a popular one among Arabs. Jordanians are particularly fond of that fantasy.

But isn't it precious when he invokes international conventions against desecrating holy places when thousands of priceless artifacts were destroyed when the Waqf removed tons of material from the Temple Mount, and the international community was silent?

(h/t LS)

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07/04 Links Pt2: UNESCO panel okays softened text blasting Israel over Jerusalem activity; WaPo Review Eviscerates Anti-Israel Writers

From Ian:

UNESCO panel okays softened text blasting Israel over Jerusalem activity

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Council on Tuesday evening passed a resolution denouncing Israeli activity in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Ten countries voted in favor of the text, which was significantly softer than previous resolutions. Only three member states — Jamaica, the Philippines and Burkina Faso — opposed the resolution, while eight abstained.
The Jordanian-sponsored resolution on the “Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls” called Israel “the occupying power,” and reaffirmed previous UN resolutions denying the country’s claims to East Jerusalem. Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem has never been recognized by the international community.
The body “regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavations, tunneling, works, projects and other illegal practices in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law,” the measure read.
However, Decision 41 COM 7A.36 stressed “the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions,” language not found in last year’s text. It also did not refer to the Temple Mount compound solely by its Muslim names, “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif,” as the 2016 resolution did, defining it only as “a Muslim holy site of worship.”
Despite the text lacking the bite of previous resolutions passed by the body, it was still met with angry denunciations by Israeli officials.

UN Ambassador Haley Slams Upcoming UNESCO Hebron Vote as ‘Wasted Symbolic Action,’ Urges Focus on ‘Precious Sites Under Real Threat of Destruction’

The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has strongly criticized the Palestinian campaign for the Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Old City in the West Bank town of Hebron to be recognized as “Endangered World Heritage Sites” by UNESCO, the UN’s global cultural agency.
The Palestinian proposal is scheduled to be put to a vote on Friday, during the 41st meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee which began last Sunday in the Polish city of Krakow.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova – a copy of which was seen by The Algemeiner – Haley stated the Tomb of Patriarchs, which is “sacred to three faiths, is under no immediate threat.” To designate it as an “endangered” site, Haley said, risks “undermining the seriousness such an assessment by UNESCO should have.”
“Many precious sites – from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Libya to Iraq to Syria – are under real and imminent threat of destruction today,” Haley said.”They urgently demand UNESCO’s full and immediate attention, which should not be wasted on this sort of symbolic action.”
A key holy site for the Jewish faith under Israeli control since 1967, the Tomb of the Patriarchs – known as the Machpelah Cave in Hebrew – houses the tombs of Abraham and his wife Sarah, their son Isaac, and their grandson Jacob and his wife Leah.

UNESCO’s Cave of the Patriarchs measure is latest ‘narrative warfare’ against Israel

An upcoming vote by the United Nations cultural body UNESCO on whether to declare Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs as an endangered Palestinian heritage site is the latest example of “narrative warfare” against Israel and Jews, legal experts say.
As part of an ongoing Palestinian-engineered diplomatic campaign, an “emergency resolution” UNESCO presented to its World Heritage Committee claims Israel is causing “irreversible negative effect on the integrity, authenticity and/or the distinctive character of the property,” which the resolution refers to not as the Cave of the Patriarchs, but as the Ibrahimi Mosque. The Hebron site is where the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah are believed to be buried.
The vote is tentatively scheduled to take place during UNESCO’s July 2-12 summit in Krakow, Poland.
“Anyone who comes to the Cave of the Patriarchs can see that the building is well-maintained, and open for members of all faiths to pray,” said Yishai Fleisher, international spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, who noted that the site’s largest room is reserved almost exclusively for use as a mosque by local Arabs.
Further, Fleisher explained that like the Western Wall, “the Cave of the Patriarchs monument was built by a Jewish king”—King Herod, more than 2,000 years ago.
“Suggesting first, that the site of the burial of the Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs is a Palestinian heritage site, and then suggesting that the site is in danger, is a fraudulent interpretation of history. It is a classic case of the narrative warfare the Palestinians are waging on the Jewish people,” Fleisher, a trained lawyer, told JNS.org.

Holocaust survivors urge Polish FM: Stop UNESCO Hebron vote

A group of 12 Holocaust survivors, who were born in Poland and now live in Israel, have sent an urgent letter to the Polish foreign minister, asking him to call on his government to thwart the UNESCO resolution seeking to declare Hebron's Old City as a Palestinian World Heritage Site.
Poland will host the 41st gathering of the World Heritage Committee in Kraków this week. During the gathering, the committee is expected to vote on the Palestinian draft resolution that would recognize the Cave of the Patriarchs—where the Biblical fathers and mothers of the Jewish nation are buried according to tradition—as a Muslim site.
A similar UNESCO resolution passed in 2015 recognizing Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem as a Muslim site under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority, while ignoring Jewish claims to the site. That resolution was followed by protests and strong condemnations from the State of Israel and the Jewish community worldwide.
Shurat HaDin, a legal NGO accompanying the survivors in their plea to Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, described the move at the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a "pitiful resolution that creates a Palestinian narrative that is a complete lie."
Shurat HaDin founder Nitsana Darshan-Leitner went on to say, "If this decision passes, it would be another desecration of the memory of the millions of Jews murdered on Polish soil, and I expect the government of Poland to prevent the vote."

It's more dangerous to be a Jew in France or Denmark than in Russia

The Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo released a fascinating study of antisemitism in Europe over the time period 2005-2015. The Eye on the World blog has a nice summary.

Most of the news is bad. Here is a depressing chart:

But amid the bad news, you can read this section:

Russia clearly stands out with a very low number of registered incidents of antisemitic violence in proportion to its large Jewish population (approximately 190,000). Only 33 incidents were found for the period 2005–2015. We must assume that a number of incidents have occurred without being reported in the media and thus not registered in the SOVA Center’s database, but according to Aleksandr Verkhovsky, head of the SOVA Center, the level of antisemitism-related violence in Russia is clearly far lower than in Western European countries.26 It is also notable that no reports could be found of Russian Jews feeling forced to conceal their identity in public. On the contrary, being Jewish has evidently become “fashionable” among Moscow youth.

For those of us above a certain age who remember the persecution that Jews suffered in the Soviet Union, this is nothing short of astonishing. Antisemitism is now far worse in Western European countries than it is in Russia, and there is no fear of walking around with a kippah.

In one generation, a nation has nearly purged itself from overt antisemitism, while the "enlightened" liberal states has seen it skyrocket.

A lot (but not all) of this has to do with Muslim immigration to these nations, of course. But that just pushes off the issue - Muslim antisemitism is tolerated in Western European nations more than other forms of hate are.

(h/t Ronald)

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Symantec categorizes numerous pro-Israel blogs as "hate"

Sky-UK got back to someone who complained about my site being categorized as a hate site, and the ysaid that this categorization comes from Symantec.

I found a page where you can see how they categorize websites, and sure enough, they place me under "hate":

I'm not the only pro-Israel site that is miscategorized as a hate site.

Israellycool, Israel Matzav and Abu Yehuda all get the same category:

Symantec's definition of a hate site is "Sites that promote hostility against particular individual or group on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, and origin."

There is definitely a campaign to impugn pro-Israel sites and stop people from reading them.

Symantec must review its categorization policies and stop assuming that reports of hate are accurate without performing their own impartial review. Otherwise the haters get the ability to censor.

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