Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, February 12, 2018

Excellent analysis of weekend events in Syria by J. E. Dyer

My favorite site for military analysis is the Liberty Unyielding blog by Commander (ret.) J. Dyer, and her article on the events in Israel and Syria on Saturday does not disappoint. Excerpts:

Iran’s probe with the drone is the latest in a growing series of probes and pushes in the region: probes against the postures of others, pushes against the status quo, pushes to establish new “realities on the ground.”

The region itself isn’t in balance anymore, and hasn’t been for some time. The last chance to certify balance without an extended shoving match first was right around the latter half of 2013, when the Obama administration failed to defend a publicly declared “red line” on Syria, and did nothing to thwart the rise of ISIS.

In default of a “hyperpower” (as France used to call the U.S.) enforcing stasis, the natural state of human affairs is probing and pushing. We forgot that after nearly 70 years of a Pax Americana. But since the Arab Spring – and with hints of it even before that – we’ve been reminded of it almost daily. Eventually it may sink in.

In the Middle East, Iran has been the chief prober and pusher, with ISIS, until last year, close behind. But additional probes have developed through first- and second-order effects, and they are ongoing almost literally everywhere, from Morocco to the Philippines.

Iran affects, and is affected by, the whole complex mix of these probes. The situation is especially unstable because the biggest factors for Iran are all changing at the same time. Internal stability is crumbling. The mullahs’ chief power projection project – the land bridge through Syria – has bogged down in recent weeks.

And the status quo in the larger region is in significant flux. Events that Western observers don’t even recognize as related are presenting Iran with the prospect of unmanageable changes to the strategic status quo.

Anything that thwarts the revolutionary regime in Iran can be held to have a salutary effect. But the more such effects there are, the more Iran will shift tactics and try to create problems where problems are advantageous to Iran.

...

In order to keep a cost-effective defense posture functional and realistic, Israel has to deter incursions like this one, not just keep responding to them. Hence the counter-strikes: first against the drone command vehicle, and then against the Syrian air defense force, to ensure that Syria pays a price – one that is useful to Israel and does relevant damage to Syria – for letting Syrian territory be used by Iran.
...

There is far, far more in great detail. Analysis that the media is ill-equipped to perform.

It is worthwhile to read the whole thing.

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Arabs suddenly interested in critical thinking - when it can be used against Israel's Biblical claims

UK-baed Al Araby has an article about a new book called "Incoherence of Biblical History: An Introduction to a different history of ancient Palestine" by Dr. Essam Sakhnini .

The book cherry-picks modern Biblcal scholarship and archaeological findings, and seems to fabricatge others, to come to the conclusion that the Bible has no factual basis, and especially that there were never any Jewish Temples in Jerusalem.

The author of the review stresses how scientific the book is, confusing footnotes with scholarship. But the point of the book is obviously not for knowledge but for propaganda - just as people will point to the work of Shlomo Sand or Ilan Pappe as being scholarly, when in fact they are just frameworks to put a scholarly coat of paint on a rusted-through toolshed of lies.

But I couldn't help wondering: since the Arab world is so interested in Biblical criticism, when are they going to put the Koran through the same critical analysis?

Especially since the Koran repeats a lot of the stories from Hebrew scripture to begin with!

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02/12 Links Pt1: Glick: Syria – The War Everyone Must Fight and No One Can Win; Iran’s stealth drone used against Israel #ThanksObama; Iran: Speaking Swedish, Acting North Korean

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The Iranian Drone

Israel’s position today is analogous to Hitler having positioned 150,000 missile batteries in, say, Ireland, all pointing at Britain; and then advancing into France and reaching the Normandy coast, all the while steadily embedding his forces in the Channel Islands.

Britain finally went to war when Hitler invaded Poland. Even in appeasement Britain, no-one suggested it should have waited until the Nazis reached the French coast before it decided to fight them. Had it do so, Britain along with Europe would now be a Nazi dictatorship. Yet people expect Israel to sit on its hands while genocidal fanatics intent on its destruction encircle it unimpeded.

Just as with Hitler’s intentions in the 1930s, the Iranian regime’s implacable intention to exterminate Israel has been ignored, downplayed or denied. Now the significance of the Iranian drone is being downplayed, mischaracterised or denied.

No civilised country wants war, and Israel will do everything it can to avoid an all-out conflict. But Iran is already at war with Israel – a war Iran has initiated. The question today is whether the strength and accuracy of Israel’s response to the drone will deter Iran from further aggression.

There will be a far greater chance of averting all-out war if Britain and Europe finally come to their senses and start holding Iran’s feet to the fire rather than seeking to sanitise, excuse and reward it at every opportunity.

The answer to the question, however, depends on what Iran was intending when it dispatched its drone into Israel. From the information that has so far been made public, it is impossible to tell.

We must hope Israel itself knows the answer, and that it will do accordingly whatever it needs to do. Western nations may disapprove; but in the past when Jews faced extermination, these western nations chose to look the other way. And when today Israelis are murdered by Arab or Islamic fanatics these western nations still look the other away or, worse still, blame Israel for its own victimisation.

These nations may afford themselves the luxury of setting the value of Jewish lives at zero. But the State of Israel was founded on the principle “never again”; and if needs be it will also say, just as the defiant British soldier declared in the famous David Low cartoon in that darkest hour: “Very well, alone”.

Hoover Institution: The Limits Of The Indirect Approach

These developments represent a strategic setback for the United States and its allies. America had an opportunity to prevent this outcome during the previous six years. The Obama administration’s expressed policy at the time, however, was to respect Iran’s “equities” in Syria. This opportunity was squandered and the position of Syrian anti-Iranian forces is far weaker today. But the overriding US interest in Syria has not changed: disrupt this Iranian territorial link and degrade Hezbollah and the IRGC and their weapons capabilities in Syria and Lebanon. This is a priority that the United States still can, and should, pursue, even if it requires a more direct involvement today than it would have a few years ago.

The Iranian forces are vulnerable. They are overstretched and, in certain cases, they are operating in exposed terrain. The new military structures they are building are equally exposed. Israel has been exploiting these vulnerabilities to target military installations, bases, and weapons shipments, as well as senior IRGC and Hezbollah cadres. The Russian presence has not deterred the Israelis. The United States should reinforce this Israeli policy by adopting Israeli red lines as its own. And, using the considerable elements of US power in the region, it can expand this campaign against Iran’s and Hezbollah’s military infrastructure, arms shipments, logistical routes, and senior cadres. Local Syrian groups in eastern and southern Syria, and their sponsors, should also be empowered to take part in this endeavor.

Having the United States behind this policy strengthens Israel’s position vis-à-vis the Russians and provides it more room to maneuver, especially in the case of a conflagration with Hezbollah that expands to Lebanon. Throughout the Syrian war, the US position has held sacrosanct Lebanese stability, even as Lebanon was the launching pad for Hezbollah’s war effort in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and even as the group multiplied its stockpile of missiles aimed at Israel. Should the targeting of IRGC and Hezbollah assets lead to an escalation that encompasses Lebanon, the United States should offer full backing to Israel as it destroys Iran’s infrastructure in Lebanon and degrades its long arm on the Mediterranean. Lebanon’s stability, insofar as it means the stability of the Iranian order and forward missile base there, is not, in fact, a US interest.

The Trump administration’s anti-Iran posture and its recognition that Iran is an adversary, not a partner, is a much-needed corrective to the previous administration’s policy. The profound strategic challenges and geopolitical shifts which resulted from Obama’s policy of realignment with Iran severely complicate the task of pushing back against Tehran in the region and significantly narrow US options. The moment calls for strategic clarity and a set of policies that rise to the nature of the challenge. While there’s room for measures that work over the long term, the United States also needs other options to address immediate priorities.

Caroline Glick: Syria – The War Everyone Must Fight and No One Can Win

Netanyahu’s last meeting with Putin was on January 29. In media briefings before and after their meeting, Netanyahu said that he spoke to Putin about three issues. First, due to Israel’s success in blocking Iran from transferring precision-guided missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon through Syria, Iran is now building missile factories for Hezbollah inside of Lebanon. Netanyahu pledged to destroy those factories.

In his words, “Lebanon is becoming a factory for precision-guided missiles that threaten Israel. These missiles pose a grave threat to Israel, and we cannot accept this threat.”

Second, Netanyahu warned Putin that Israel will not accept Iranian military entrenchment in Syria through the construction of permanent bases, among other things. Netanyahu explained, “The question is: Does Iran entrench itself in Syria, or will this process be stopped. If it doesn’t stop by itself, we will stop it.”

Third, Netanyahu spoke to Putin about improving Obama’s nuclear deal with the Iranian regime.

Russia is both a resource and a threat to Israel. It is a resource because Russia is capable of constraining Iran and Hezbollah. Israel treated Russia as a resource Saturday, when in the wake of its violent confrontations with Iran, which included Israel’s Air Force’s first combat loss of an F-16 since the 1980s, Israel turned to the Russians with an urgent request for them to restrain the Iranians.

Russia is a threat to Israel because it is Iran’s coalition partner. Until Russia deployed its forces to Syria, it appeared that the regime and its Iranian overlords were losing the war, or at least unable to win it. After Russia began providing air support for their ground operations, the tide of the war reversed in their favor.

At any rate, Israel is in no position to persuade Russia to abandon Syria. Russia’s presence in the region limits Israel’s actions but also guarantees that Israel will continue to act, because its vital interests will continue to come under threat and intermittent attack.

In all, the situation in Syria is and will remain unstable and exceedingly violent for the foreseeable future. Syria is not only a local battlefield where various Syrian factions vie for control over separate areas of the country – although it remains such a local battlefield.

One of the more challenging aspects of dealing with BDS is the number of Jews (including Israelis) who seem to be highly involved on both sides of the issue. “Another Jew/Israeli for Divestment” read stickers worn by several BDSers who cram most major BDS events and votes, reflecting that many divestment groups not only include Jewish members, but also have Jewish and even Israeli leaders.

Now I have many activist buddies who are driven to distraction by the phenomena of Jewish involvement in organized attacks on Israel and its supporters. And put a few beers into them (or even some mild tea) and you’ll soon know the whole history of Jewish anti-Semitism (called “self-hatred”), court-Jews, turncoats and treachery that dates back to before Josephus threw his lot in with the Romans, and continues to this day with academic “Wandering Jews” like Norman Finkelstein.

While this history is interesting, I tend to take a more pragmatic approach to the presence of my fellow tribesmen in the ranks of both sides of the BDS debate. After all, historic precedent would be useful if it provided an opening to educate (or at least shame) Israel’s Jewish critics regarding the historic baggage they carry. But given the current company Jewish anti-Israel activists keep, I don’t anticipate historic context would have much resonance for them. And as for shaming, as everyone reading this knows, the BDSers (Jew and Gentile alike) have no shame.

In fact, Jewish and non-Jewish Israel-dislikers have far more in common with one another than they do with me (despite all of their speeches which begin “As a Jew…”). And what they share is the one element that permeates all aspects of the divestment debate: fantasy politics.

I’ve talked about fantasy vs. reality with regard to anti-Israel politics in the past, and while most divestment advocates share a common general fantasy (one where they are intrepid and virtuous heroes, fighting against an all-powerful enemy which represses them), flavors of that fantasy vary from group to group. At its most extreme, the jihadi Israel-hater is trying to re-create a fallen Islamic empire purely through acts of will and violence, just as Mussolini thought he could resurrect the Roman Empire via fearsome will coupled with pageantry and tanks.

Christian divestment activists (like those in the Presbyterian Church) do not go nearly to this extreme. But they still dwell in a fantasy world where they and only they are in possession of “the truth” in which they liken the Palestinians to Christ on the cross and thus see themselves as martyred saints who are always about to be thrown to the lions. The fact that this political myth-making has become its own form of superstitious faith (with Israel Apartheid Week taking the place of a dustier Easter they don’t really celebrate anymore) is lost on such people who lack, along with a sense of shame, any sense of irony.

For the Jewish member or leader of Students for Justice in Palestine (or whatever), the fantasy takes the form of being a truly enlightened, morally superiority being whose distance from or rejection of the burdens of Jewish life (whether religious obligations or a willingness to fight for the political rights of the Jewish people) are proof positive of this courageous identity. Like the Christian BDSer whose anti-Israel animus demonstrates his or her Christ-like nature, the Jewish divestnik’s fantasy-self is just the latest iteration of a Jewish identity built on chosen-ness. The irony that this anti-Israel Jewish identity shows more assurance in its own correctness than the self-image of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi is again lost on those who dwell in BDS fantasy-land.

And while Jews have excelled at anti-Israel organization just as they excel at so many things, let’s not lose site of the fact that there is a market for Jews of any level of intelligence and political skill within the “I Hate Israel” movement. Which is why any Jew willing to join such a movement “as a Jew” (regardless of whether or not they have had a single Jewish moment in their life up to that point) is welcome to sign up and wear a sticker or sign a petition specifically pointing out the one quality that supposedly gives their voice weight: their Jewishness.

Taking part in such activity also allows the fantasist to celebrate his or her courage while actually not taking a single risk. For taking on “The Jewish Establishment” is not like publishing a cartoon of Mohammed or (if you live in Gaza) criticizing the government – an act that carries real risk of actual harm. In fact, the most these “Jewish Critics of Israel” can expect from their activity is to be criticized by people like me. And as much as they try to present such criticism as a form of censorship or repression, they must forever inflate the alleged power and villainy of their critics, lest reality penetrate a single ray of light into the fantasy world in which they dwell.

So my attitude towards the many Jews who flaunt their Jewishness solely for the purposes of attacking other Jews is the same as my attitude towards non-Jews who have turned lack of principle into virtue, ignorance into wisdom and cowardice into courage. To them I would say: the next time you decide you would rather live in fantasyland, could you please take up Dungeon’s and Dragons, rather than embrace a persona that asks me to be a prop in your fantasy and requires others (including Jews and Palestinians) to die in order to maintain your self-image?

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From Times of Israel:

Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in the Gaza Strip, announced on Sunday that it was suspending all surgeries, with the exception of emergency cases, due to a cleaners’ strike over unpaid salaries.

“It has been decided to postpone all scheduled surgeries, including those for patients with tumors,” the hospital said, noting that the decision excluded “life-saving cases.”

The strike, which began on Sunday, threatens patients’ and workers’ lives because of the dangerous accumulation of medical garbage in the hospital, the staff warned.

It was the second time in recent weeks that the hospital cleaners in the Gaza Strip went on strike.

Last month, the cleaners agreed to return to work after the Palestinian Authority government promised to pay them their salaries. However, the government has since paid salaries for only two months, prompting the cleaners to renew their strike.

Hamas officials have accused the PA government of failing to provide funds to the health system in the Gaza Strip despite a Hamas-Fatah “reconciliation” agreement signed in Cairo in 2017. According to the officials, many hospitals are suffering from a severe shortage in medicine and generator fuel as a result of the PA’s failure to carry out its duties.

More than 830 cleaners work in 13 hospitals and 73 other medical centers in different parts of the Gaza Strip. The cleaners are employed by 13 companies at a cost of NIS 943,000 ($267,000) per month.

To put this in context, the PLO budgets over $28 million a month to pay both prisoner salaries and and families of "martyrs."

They willingly pay 100 times the amount needed for keeping hospitals open - to terrorists.

The entire world is complicit with this.

Which is more important, UNRWA schools where they teach support for terror and destroying Israel, or hospitals? Obviously, UNRWA, because that's what gets the funding.

The World Bank looks at the PA budget every year and makes recommendations to help its economy - but doesn't say a word about the high percentage of the funds that go to pay terrorists and their families.

"Pro-Palestinian" NGOs? Don't be absurd - their money goes towards political initiatives to fight Israel, not to actually help Palestinians.

The hospital situation in Gaza shows, in no uncertain terms, what the priorities of the "State of Palestine" are - and they are not to help their own people.

Yet the world continues to fund these leaders who willingly sacrifice their own people.

(I have to wonder why the many NGOs in Gaza cannot find volunteers to clean up the hospitals. Chances are they'd be threatened.)

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Ahed Tamimi's father praises murderer of rabbi, yet media still considers family to be icons of non-violence

Bassem Tamimi is Ahed Tamimi's father. He has managed to build a worldwide campaign to make his daughter - the girl who slapped an Israeli soldier on video, and who praised suicide bombers - into a icon, just as he has previously managed to make himself and his family into symbols of "non-violent resistance" - and the media goes along with it.

Yet on his Facebook page, he wrote a tribute to Ahmed Nassar Jarrar, the Hamas terrorist who murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevach:

"Glory, mercy, and peace on your soul in Heaven" is what Tamimi said about the murderer.

He has over 5700 followers, yet none challenged him on his support for terrorism. Which shows that his supposedly non-violent acolytes really aren't.

(h/t @kweansmom, Petra)

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Why doesn't the PA return stolen Israeli cars to Israel?

Palestinian police destroyed 40 "illegal" vehicles in the town of Ram.

When they say "illegal" vehicles, they mean cars that were stolen from Israel. And the photo of one of the cars about the be destroyed shows an Israeli license plate:

The Palestinian Authority could arrange to return these cars to Israel. Almost certainly it costs more to destroy them and dispose of them than to transport them to a nearby checkpoint where Israeli companies could pick them up.

Instead the PA destroys them.

They gain nothing from destroying the cars.

But it seems that the idea of returning the cars to Israel is simply not considered. And knowing how Arabs in general adhere to a zero-sum game mentality, the reason is because anything that helps Israel must be bad for Palestinians in some way. Since returning the cars would make Israeli insurance companies and car owners happy, it is better to destroy them, because Israeli happiness means Palestinian misery, in this warped universe.

Now, think about how this twisted thought process applies to making peace between the two sides.

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An Egyptian writer, Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq contrasts how Israel marks February 1 with how Egypt does.

February 1 was the 15th anniversary of the death of Israeli fighter pilot Ilan Ramon aboard the space shuttle Columbia. It is also (close to) the anniversary of the Battle of the Camel, where Egyptian President Mubarak violently put down a demonstration, killing 11 protesters in 2011. And on February 1, 2012, there was a riot at the Port Said soccer stadium killing 74.

"I am overwhelmed when I compare what happened in Israel on February 1 to what happened in Egypt the same day," writes Tawfiq. Because Ilan Ramon symbolizes not only Israeli high tech and ambition, but also its respect for history and religion (as Ramon carried into space a Torah, a small painting done by a girl during the Holocaust, and "enough objects to open a Jewish Temple in space.") Rabbis debated how he could keep the Sabbath in space.

Egypt's February anniversaries, on the other hand, evoke disgust and a backwards society that reaches down instead of up.

Tawfiq says " Yes, Israel must be envied and admired, and this does not contradict the fact that it should be hated."

The best that Israel can hope for is to be admired and respected. But anyone who thinks that Israel can do anything to be loved or befriended by the Arabs have no clue.

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02/11 Links: Netanyahu: Israeli strikes dealt ‘serious blow’ to Iran, Syria; Media: It All Started When Israel Fired Back

From Ian:

IDF Blog: Air Force strikes Iranian targets in Syria

On Saturday, February 10, 2018, Iran launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from Syria, which violated Israeli sovereign airspace. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) dispatched an Apache attack helicopter to intercept the UAV and destroyed it. “The UAV was detected long before crossing Israeli territory” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Head of the International Branch.

In response, Israeli Air Force aircraft targeted the control vehicle from which the UAV was operated in the Syrian T-4 Airbase near Tadmor. During the attack, multiple surface-to-air missiles were launched at IAF aircraft and hit an F-16I fighter jet. The two pilots were forced to eject and parachuted to safety in Israeli territory.

In total, the IDF targeted 12 military objectives, including 3 aerial defense batteries and 4 Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria. “We carried out a wide-scale attack on the aerial defense system - radars, rockets, batteries, posts, and we performed a substantial strike, which as can be seen - they are trying to hide” says Brig. Gen. Amnon Ein Dar, Head of the Air Group in the IAF. According to Brig. Gen. Ein Dar, it is “the biggest and most significant attack the air force has carried out against Syrian air defenses since 1982.”

"What we've known for a long time is now clear to everyone: Iran wants to establish a front in Syria that is aimed at harming Israel. We are not looking to escalate the situation, but we have abilities that we are not afraid to use,” said Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick, Head of the Northern Command.

For a long time Iran and the Quds Force have been operating, with the backing of Syrian forces and the approval of the Syrian regime, from the Syrian T-4 Airbase near Tadmor. pic.twitter.com/U9H33vDF4O
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) February 10, 2018

Netanyahu: Israeli strikes dealt ‘serious blow’ to Iran, Syria

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said airstrikes targeting key Iranian military facilities in Syria over the weekend inflicted heavy damage on the Iranian and Syrian militaries, and vowed that Israel would act decisively to counter any further provocations.

“Yesterday we dealt a serious blow to the armies of Iran and Syria,” Netanyahu told ministers at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “We made it unequivocally clear to everyone that our rules of engagement have not changed in any way.”

“We will continue to strike back at any attempt to harm us,” Netanyahu said, according to a statement. “This has been our policy and will remain our policy.”

The wave of Israeli airstrikes came after the IDF intercepted an Iranian drone that had infiltrated its airspace and an Israeli F-16 was downed upon its return from Syria on Saturday. It was Israel’s most serious engagement in neighboring Syria since fighting there began in 2011 — and its most devastating air assault on the country in decades.

The IDF said it destroyed the drone’s Iranian launching site along with four additional Iranian positions and eight Syrian sites, including the Syrian military’s main command and control bunker.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria through a network of activists on the ground, said Sunday that at least six Syrian troops and allied militiamen were killed in the airstrikes. The six included Syrian troops as well as non-Syrian allied troops, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Iran's Aggression Against Israel

Followup on Palestinian terror supporter given asylum in the US: She should be expelled under US law

Last week I wrote about Emtiaz Zourob, a woman from Gaza who received asylum in the US based on some apparent threats to her life from armed groups in Gaza, and who was trying to get her family to join her.

Zourob had written a book with biographies of female Palestinian suicide bombers and other terrorists, clearly praising them.

It turns out that US law has grounds to remove her from the country and she should not have received a visa to begin with.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services page says:

Removal Proceedings
You will lose your permanent resident status if an immigration judge issues a final removal order against you.
INA sections 212 and 237 describe the grounds on which you may be ordered removed from the United States.

Section 212:

INA: ACT 212 - GENERAL CLASSES OF ALIENS INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS AND INELIGIBLE FOR ADMISSION; WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILLITY
(VII) endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse
or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization;

Saying that " She walked proudly and with confident steps as if she were walking toward the gates of Heavens, and within minutes she blew herself up near the Bit Sira military checkpoint, killing scores of Israelis and injuring others" is espousing terrorist activity.

Zourob should not have received asylum, and should be deported, under US law.

(h/t Irene)

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Roger Waters gave a public interview for the Australia Palestine Advocate Network on Friday, where he insulted artists who play in Israel.

His insults went way beyond the political, though - he engaged in ad-hominem attacks on some major stars because he disagrees with them politically.

The form of these attacks indicate that Waters is sexist - and maybe worse.

Speaking about Elton John, he said, "Elton John went and played in Sun City about 500 times when everyone else in the world was anti-apartheid and said you can’t go and play in Sun City and he said ‘yeah I can, I’m the Queen Mum’or whatever he said."

Speaking about Steven Tyler, Waters said, " I ran into Steve Tyler in a sushi restaurant in LA and he leapt up to me. I thought, who is this, a little old lady? [laughter] He had his hair up and I thought ‘oh God there’s a little old lady who wants to talk to me’ and it was Steven Tyler."

Isn't it interesting that when Waters wants to denigrate people, he refers to them as women? (I suppose Thom Yorke should be thankful that Waters referred to him as a "a self-obsessed, narcissistic, drippy little prick."

Waters may have crossed the line into showing that he is a homophobe with his Elton John comments as well. After referring to him as "Queen Mum," which can also be interpreted as homophobic, Waters said, "You kind of go, well he is just dopey and also he obviously doesn’t give a fuck about anybody else except the lesbian gay whatever whatever community which he claims to care about. "

Waters is not only denigrating Elton John, but he is denigrating the LGBT community by referring to bisexuals, transsexuals and others as "whatever whatever."

Waters then realized that he might be gong a little too far by implying that Elton John's huge amount of work for the LGBT cause is not authentic by saying that he only "claims" to care about them, so he quickly corrected himself and said "and does seem to.... He will make videos protecting his one little area of people who might be having violence done to them but he seems blind to...We are all human, but some people are human in different ways."

Waters is casting doubts that gay bashing exists?

And those that are politically aligned with Waters who wrote the article mentioned here know this, because they changed his words from the interview to water down his seeming homophobia. The article removed the bolded words where Elton John "claims to care about" LGBT rights and that they "might be having violence done to them."

Note that the "progressive," pro-Palestinian audience laughs along at Water's sexist and worse comments.

Imagine if a member of the White House staff referred to Elton John as the "Queen Mum," if they cast doubt on his humanitarian works for LGBT people, or if they implied that there was no violence against people based on sexual preference. The firestorm from the Left would be immediate and scorching.

But Roger Waters is one of them, so they will look the other way.

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Mahmoud Abbas continued his long tradition of lying when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him in Ramallah on Saturday.

Abbas said, "We never have and never will reject negotiations," which is an clear and obvious lie.

Abbas then explained that his definition of "negotiations" is very narrow:

"We have been ready for [negotiations,] and the formation of a multilateral mechanism emanating from multiple states is the best way to sponsor these negotiations. It is in this context that we count on India's role as an international force of great stature and weight to contribute to a just and desirable peace in our region, which has an impact on global peace and security," Abbas continued.

Abbas is saying that, as long as the outcome of negotiations can be determined ahead of time by including lots of players who he perceives as anti-Israel and not including the US, then "negotiations" are fine.

Modi, diplomatically, wanted nothing to do with Abbas' doubletalk.

"We hope for peace and stability in Palestine, we believe a permanent solution is possible with dialogue. Only diplomacy and far-sightedness can set free from violence and baggage of the past. We know it is not easy but we need to keep trying as a lot is at stake," Modi said.

Abbas is saying that he is against dialogue with Israel and wants to use the international community to force Israel to give up everything while the Palestinians give up nothing. Modi pointedly used the word "dialogue," by definition direct negotiations with Israel, that Abbas rejects.

The media does not seem to have picked up on this nuance, but the difference between Abbas' insistence on his idea of "negotiations" and Modi's insistence on "dialogue" shows that Modi is not buying what Abbas is trying to sell.

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02/10 Links: IDF intercepts Iranian UAV; Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, IAF pilots eject F-16; Shapiro: Why Doesn't Terrorism Against Jews Count?

From Ian:

IDF Blog: IDF intercepts Iranian UAV

On February 10, 2018, an Apache helicopter successfully intercepted an Iranian UAV that was launched from Syria and infiltrated Israel. The aircraft was identified by the Aerial Defense Systems early on and was under surveillance until the interception. In response, IDF attacked the Iranian aircraft's launch components in Syrian territory.

Later, also in response to the Iranian UAV that was launched at Israeli territory and was intercepted by the IDF, Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted 12 targets in Syria, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran's military establishment in Syria.

During the attack, multiple anti-aircraft missiles were fired at IAF aircraft. The two pilots of an F-16 jet ejected from the aircraft as per procedure, one of whom was seriously injured and taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

“The Syrians and the Iranians, from our point of view, are playing with fire. The Syrians are playing with fire when they allow the Iranians to attack Israel from their soil. We are willing, prepared, and capable to exact a heavy price on anyone that attacks us. However, we are not looking to escalate the situation,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Head of the International Media Desk.

The IDF sees the Iranian attack and the Syrian response as severe violations of Israeli sovereignty. The IDF will continue to act against any attempt to infiltrate Israeli airspace and will act with determination to prevent any breach of Israeli sovereignty.

Iranian UAV Intercepted by an Israeli Helicopter

Israel strikes Iranian targets in Syria, IAF pilots eject F-16

In a major flare up on Israel’s northern border, Israel carried out a large-scale attack against Syrian air defenses and Iranian targets in the war-torn country after an Israeli F-16 crashed during operations to strike Iranian targets in Syria early Saturday morning.

The operation, which was carried out by eight Israeli jets struck 12 targets in Syria, including thee Syrian SA5 and SA17 air defense batteries and four Iranian targets.

According to Syrian media reports, Israel struck the Abu Al-Thaaleb airbase near the town of Kiswah, which is home to Syria’s 1st armored division and part of the Islamic Republic’s buildup in Syria.

The Israeli attack was met with anti-aircraft fire, triggering air raid sirens in the Golan Heights and upper Galilee, warning residents of potential rocket strikes. According to IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis, several missiles hit open areas in northern Israel.

“Iran and Syria are playing with fire,” he said. "The results of our strikes are not yet fully known to them (Iran), and they may be surprised when they discover what we targeted."

Early on Saturday morning, an Iranian drone, which was launched from a Syrian base in the Homs desert, was identified approaching Israeli airspace by the IDF around 4 a.m., setting off alarms across Golan Heights and the Jordan Valley. The drone entered Israel via Jordanian airspace and flew for a minute and a half before it was intercepted by an Israeli Air Force Apache helicopter near the town of Beit She’an.

“We waited for it to cross into our territory,” said IAF chief of air staff Brigadier General Tomer Bar who stressed that it was important for Israel “to get our hands on the drone that was operated by the Iranians.”

“It was the most extensive attack against Syrian anti-aircraft batteries carried out by the IAF since 1982,” Brig.-Gen. Bar stated, stressing that, nonetheless, “we consider this to be a fully successful operation. Israel’s air superiority was not affected today.”

Sirens, clashes in north after IDF shoots down infiltrating Iranian drone

Tensions have been rising along the northern border recently, as Israel has warned repeatedly against Iranian efforts to set up weapons production facilities in Lebanon and establish a presence near the Israeli border with Syria.

According to unconfirmed reports, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes on the Syrian armed forces and their allies since the civil war broke out there in 2011.

The prime minister and senior defense officials have said that the country takes action in Syria when a “red line” is crossed, generally meaning in retaliation to deliberate or accidental attacks on Israel from southern Syria or when advanced weapons are being transferred to the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

There have, however, been reports of additional Israeli actions that do not appear to have been in response to a violated “red line,” including in attacks against suspected chemical weapons facilities.

Early Wednesday morning, according to Syrian reports, Israeli aircraft bombed a military scientific research facility outside Damascus, which is suspected of both developing chemical weapons for Assad and assisting Iran and Hezbollah in improving their missile technology.

Netanyahu has said that if Iran continues to try and entrench itself in Syria, Israel will “stop it.”

Egypt closes Rafah again, many stranded

From Asharq Al Awsat:

Egypt on Friday closed its border with the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said, after Cairo launched a major operation against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula.
The head of Hamas, the Islamist group which runs Gaza, was however permitted to travel to Cairo for talks before the border was closed a day earlier than planned.
Friday was supposed to be the final of a three-day border opening for humanitarian cases from Gaza, the first time the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had been open in 2018.
"The Rafah border was closed today due to the security situation in Sinai, we were informed by the Egyptian authorities," said Saleh al-Zaq, head of the civil affairs committee which controls the borders.

Scores of Palestinians who managed to get into Egypt are stranded in Egyptian Rafah, as Egypt is not allowing them to travel anywhere.

This was the first time Egypt opened the crossing in a month. The supposed PA/Hamas reconciliation was supposed to result in an ease of travel between Gaza and Egypt, but it never happened.

Of course, Western media isn't interested. When Palestinian suffering cannot be blamed on Israel, its news value approaches zero.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

02/09 Links Pt2: Keith Ellison, Louis Farrakhan and Iran; NYTs Accuses Jews of Stealing Folkdances From Palestinian Arabs; Shall we deny that the Poles are deniers?

From Ian:

Keith Ellison, Louis Farrakhan and Iran

When Rep. Keith Ellison ran for Democratic National Committee chairman, he faced questions about past associations with the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in December 2016, Mr. Ellison angrily accused his critics of a “smear campaign” for “talking about something that happened in 1995,” when Mr. Ellison was 32. It turns out Mr. Ellison—who lost his bid but is now the DNC’s deputy chairman—wasn’t telling the full story.

In 2006, during his first run for Congress from Minnesota, Mr. Ellison conceded he had worked with the Nation of Islam for 18 months before the October 1995 Million Man March. In a letter, he assured Jewish groups: “I reject and condemn the anti-Semitic statements and actions of the Nation of Islam [and] Louis Farrakhan. ”

A decade later, during the DNC leadership contest, he accused Mr. Farrakhan and his organization of sowing “hatred and division, including, anti-Semitism, homophobia and a chauvinistic model of manhood. I disavowed them long ago, condemned their views, and apologized.”

In September 2013, however, Messrs. Ellison and Farrakhan dined together. The occasion was a visit by Iran’s newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to the United Nations. Mr. Rouhani invited Muslim leaders from around the U.S. to dinner after addressing the U.N. General Assembly. Contemporaneous news reports placed Mr. Farrakhan at the dinner. Unreported by mainstream outlets was the presence of Mr. Ellison, along with Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Andre Carson of Indiana. (All three are Democrats; Messrs. Ellison and Carson are Muslim.)

The Nation of Islam website documents the event, noting that Mr. Rouhani “hosted the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, Muslim leaders from different Islamic communities and members of the U.S. Congress at a private meeting . . . at the One UN Hotel in Manhattan Sept. 24, 2013 across the street from the UN headquarters.” The Final Call, a Nation of Islam publication, added that “ Keith Ellison of Minnesota . . . participated in the dialogue” after dinner and includes photos of Messrs. Farrakhan and Ellison at the tables. The Michigan-based Islamic House of Wisdom also reported on the meeting, with additional photos. (h/t MtTB)

Democratic Rep. Danny Davis Calls Louis Farrakhan ‘An Outstanding Human Being.’ Farrakhan Says Jews Are ‘Satanic’ And Did 9/11.

Given that Obama repeatedly denounced Farrakhan in the years since and is no longer president, the photo’s release did not cause much of a stir. But unlike Obama, many of the other politicians in that meeting with Farrakhan are still in office, and have not denounced the man the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “an anti-Semite who routinely accuses Jews of manipulating the U.S. government and controlling the levers of world power.” And on Monday, one of Farrakhan’s congressional friends opted to vocally defend him.

“I personally know [Farrakhan], I’ve been to his home, done meetings, participated in events with him,” Democratic Rep. Danny Davis told The Daily Caller’s Peter Hasson. “I don’t regard Louis Farrakhan as an aberration or anything, I regard him as an outstanding human being who commands a following of individuals who are learned and articulate and he plays a big role in the lives of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people.”

In actuality, Farrakhan is a racist and homophobic cult leader who blames Jews for everything from the slave trade to 9/11. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League have exhaustively documented Farrakhan’s viciously anti-Semitic outbursts. Here is Congressman Davis’s “outstanding human being” in his own words:

“You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell.” (Saviours’ Day Speech, Chicago, 2/25/96)

“Did you know that Jesus had a real problem with the Jewish community? They had power, the rabbis of that day, over the Roman authorities just as they have power today over our government.” (Remarks at Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, 12/1/13)

Black Caucus Members Refuse To Denounce Hate Group Leader Louis Farrakhan

Twenty-one members of the Congressional Black Caucus facing questions about their ties to Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan have all refused to condemn the hate group leader.

The CBC, it was recently revealed, held a secret meeting with Farrakhan in 2005 but hid it from the public to avoid controversy. Twenty-one members of the caucus today were part of the caucus at the time of the secret Farrakhan meeting. All 21 declined to denounce Farrakhan when asked by The Daily Caller.

The Nation of Islam is so extreme that even the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes it as a hate group, citing the group’s “theology of innate black superiority over whites and the deeply racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay rhetoric of its leaders.”

Farrakhan has praised Hitler, claimed Jews are “Satantic” and said that white people “deserve to die,” among other racist and anti-Semitic statements.

The 21 CBC members, all Democrats, include high-profile Trump critics like Maxine Waters and Al Green, who have long demanded the president’s impeachment.