Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, February 15, 2018

02/15 Links Pt1: Why is the PA lying to its own children?; Iran Is Playing With Fire in Syria; The price of a bad deal just went up

From Ian:

PMW: Why is the PA lying to its own children?

During an interview on official PA TV in 2013, Mahmoud Abbas was asked about his family history and how they became refugees. In his spontaneous answer documented by Palestinian Media Watch, he did not say that Israel expelled the Arabs of Safed, but, just the opposite. He admitted that the Arab residents of Safed left of their own accord "in a disorderly way."

The reason Abbas cites for the Arab unprompted exodus is also significant. He admitted that the Arabs of Hebron and Safad committed massacres (pronunciation in Arabic: Madhbaha) against their Jewish neighbors in 1929. The Arabs of Safed, Abbas explained, "were afraid that the Jews would take revenge for the massacre [of Jews] in 1929."

However, a children's program recently broadcast on PA TV, taught that "Mahmoud Abbas' family was forced to leave," because the "occupation gangs," the euphemism for the new State of Israel, "ruled" the country and stole "from him, his family, and his friends all of their dreams, their homes, and their lands."

Interestingly, Mahmoud Abbas when speaking at the UN (Sept. 26, 2013) likewise falsified his history claiming to have been "thrown into exile:"

Excerpt from Abbas' speech at the UN, Sept. 26, 2013:
"I am personally one of the victims of the Nakba (i.e., 'the catastrophe,' Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel), among the hundreds of thousands of my people uprooted in 1948 from our beautiful world and thrown into exile." [Official PA news agency WAFA, English website, Sept. 26, 2013]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented numerous testimonies from Palestinian refugees, Arab officials, and the official PA media, explaining that the Arab exit from the new state of Israel was the result of demands of Arab leaders, the Jordanian army, the Arab Liberation Army, and Arab regimes, as well as fear of revenge, as in the case of Mahmoud Abbas.

Iran Is Playing With Fire in Syria

With the Syrian rebels on the run and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gaining momentum, Iran is seeking to rewrite the “rules of the game” governing Israel’s actions in Syria. Last weekend’s clashes on Israel’s northern border occurred within this context. An Iranian drone breached Israeli airspace, Israel retaliated by bombing multiple targets deep in Syrian territory, and Syria then shot down an Israeli fighter jet.

Before last Saturday, Israel had established an expectation that its strikes on Iranian-Hezbollah weapons convoys and production facilities in Syria would not be met with an effective military response; Syria and Hezbollah couldn’t afford war with Israel, nor did they have the capabilities to seriously retaliate. This state of affairs was obviously disruptive for Iranian designs in the region and a bitter pill for the Assad regime to swallow.

By launching a sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicle into Israeli airspace on Saturday, Iran set off a chain reaction, which led the Israeli Air Force to strike Iranian and Assad regime positions in Syria, including the Iranian command center from which the drone was being remotely piloted. This gave the Assad regime an opportunity to set a new precedent by firing on Israeli jets over Israeli territory, downing an Israeli F-16, and provoking further Israeli Air Force strikes on Syrian targets.

Because it was the first time in over three decades that an Israeli jet was brought down by enemy fire, the immediate response by some analysts was to declare that the conflict in the region had entered a “new strategic phase.” The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said, “The era of hit and run is over,” in reference to Israeli airstrikes on Syrian soil. Even the Israeli news site Walla made the foreboding prediction that this was a sign of ominous things to come along Israel’s northern front.

They are wrong. The loss of one Israeli jet should not be exaggerated; it is not a watershed moment that will alter the strategic balance in the Middle East. After all, the Syrians and Russians have lost numerous aircraft over the course of the civil war in Syria (including recently), and that has hardly ushered in an era in which they do not control the skies over their respective areas of influence.

Looking ahead: Longer term prospects for an Israel-Iran nuclear war

ABSTRACT: With Prime Minister Netanyahu just reaffirming that Israel will strike both Iranian and Syrian targets as needed - most recently, after an Iranian drone briefly entered Israeli airspace, and an IAF F-161 plane was shot down - Israeli defense planners must also plan assiduously for more catastrophic future engagements. At some more-or-less determinable point, even an outright use of nuclear weapons against or by Iran might not be out of the question. In this regard, Israel's ritually traditional and legally correct reaffirmation of its legitimate rights to reprisal could sometime need to be augmented,inter alia, by substantially more far-reaching acts of "anticipatory" self-defense.

"For By Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War." Proverbs, 24,6

For the moment, of course, an Israel-Iran nuclear war is logically out of the question, and thereby not meaningfully subject to any tangible calculations. After all, Iran is not yet an operational nuclear power, and there is literally no point in presuming any useful possibilities for systematic or genuinely scientific investigation. Nonetheless, in prospectively existential matters, prudence can (and should) take assorted innovative forms, and the July 14, 2015 Vienna Pact (JCPOA) concerning Iranian nuclear weapons will not constrain Tehran indefinitely.[1]

Inevitably, therefore, Jerusalem will have to plan accordingly, including at least residual preparations for a still-suitable but plausibly limited preemption option.

This assessment is pertinent because, at this already late date, launching any tactically comprehensive preemption against pertinent Iranian weapons and infrastructures is likely no longer achievable. In this connection, even back in 2003, when my own Project Daniel Group had offered a very early report on Iranian nuclearization to then-Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, Iranian targets were already more daunting than was Iraq's Osiraq reactor on June 7, 1981.[2]

It was Saturday morning. I woke up to the sound of the Red Alert siren app ringing, announcing in-coming missiles somewhere in Israel.

Where? I knew it wasn’t in Haifa (yet) because the municipal siren wasn’t screaming outside but elsewhere in Israel, people were running to their bomb shelters.

In the north or in the south?

Missiles in the south, would be Hamas showing off. Missiles in the north might be the indication that the war everyone knows is coming, the war where many Israelis are expected to die, entire Israeli towns might need to be evacuated, the war with Iran, has arrived.

The Red Alert app was warning of missiles in the north.

I sighed, lying in bed, hoping I wouldn’t hear the municipal siren go off, warning of missiles on Haifa. I didn’t feel well and the idea of having to get up and run to the bomb shelter (which because our house is old, is outside) was not appealing, to say the least.

When that war comes, missiles on Haifa will be a given. It’s not a question of “if,” it’s only a question of “when”.

Then there was an enormous BOOM.

What was that?! It wasn’t the sound of a missile slamming near-by. I’ve heard that sound before. It wasn’t the sonic boom of fighter jets overhead (I’m used to that sound). This was something else, something very, very wrong.

Sick with uncertainty, it was not long before I discovered that an IAF F16 had been shot down. What I had heard was the plane slamming into the ground some 18 kilometers from my home.

Oh my God.

I don’t think people who live outside Israel can understand the depth of horror… I have a hard time coherently articulating the meaning of this single event. The plane is precious, the pilots flying it even more so. It’s not about the cost of the plane or the enormous investment in the pilots themselves (although that is part of the equation). It’s about life – that of the pilots and the lives of all of the people they are tasked to defend.

The IAF rules the skies of the Middle East. Nothing on earth or in the heavens should be able to bring an IAF jet to the ground but the will of those who are flying it.

Can anyone who has not lived here understand? Ours are not Rambo-Hollywood fighters, faceless tough strangers sent to do a mission we don’t understand. Our soldiers are our children, our husbands and brothers, daughters and sisters. They are us and we love each and every one of them – including those we have never met, including those who would not be our company of choice in a normal situation.

IAF pilots have an added special position. Their training necessitates physical and mental capabilities few can attain. Throughout Israeli history the IAF has executed miraculous successes: saving Israel from annihilation during the Six Day war, flying to Entebbe, destroying the Iraqi nuclear reactor… time and time again the IAF has been there to rescue the nation.

It’s been almost four decades since an Israeli fighter jet has been downed by our enemies.

The entire country is following the medical condition of the injured pilots. We don’t know their names, there are no images of their faces or interviews with their families on the news (pilot identities are classified). It doesn’t matter. We don’t care less because we don’t know them and we will all breathe easier when we know they are ok.

Today Israel’s enemies grow bold. With enablers that are willing to look the other way (or actively assist) for financial gain (or pure Antisemitism) Iran is a breath away from a full-blown war that will affect much more than “just” Israel.

Since Saturday, there was an attempted lynch of two Israeli soldiers who accidently drove into Jenin. They miraculously escaped with their lives. The female soldier who was attacked, keeps crying and describing over and over to those who visit her in the hospital how the bloodthirsty mob deliberately attacked her, mostly her and not the male soldier she was with.

https://www.facebook.com/scoops.rotter.net/videos/1592345427481639/

Last night there was a car accident that killed two IDF soldiers. Car accidents happen all the time but when soldiers are involved, it is worse. If soldiers have to die it should be in defense of the country, not because of an accident. For a purpose, not by mistake.

So why am I writing this? Maybe because there are still people who think that Israel wants American help, American soldiers - we don’t, we just don’t want to be prevented from doing what needs to be done to protect ourselves. Maybe because even many of those who care about Israel don’t really understand the Israeli experience. Maybe my words can provide a little bit of insight. Maybe understanding us better can evoke a little more compassion.

Maybe.

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Jordan Times has an article of Pravda caliber in its fawning praise for the King, and the previous monarch as well. By Hasan Abu Nimah:

His Majesty King Abdullah II is in his 19th year of glorious reign; distinguished years that have witnessed exemplary leadership abilities, skillful political expertise, widely recognised wisdom and seasoned diplomatic prowess resulting in momentous accomplishments in the midst of the most troubling times and escalating crises.

Nineteen years ago this month, Jordan commemorated a most significant milestone in its history. On February 7, 1999, His Majesty King Hussein Bin Talal departed this world, leaving behind an eminent legacy and monumental achievements.

The late monarch ascended the throne at the young age of 17 following the abdication of his father King Talal in 1952. At that time, Jordan was a nascent country having only won its independence six years earlier. It was still recovering from the first Arab — Israeli war, in which the Jordanian army played a significant role in saving the West Bank and East Jerusalem from the same fate that befell 78 per cent of the historical land of Palestine that was seized by the Zionist occupiers in that disastrous war.

During his 47-year reign in a highly turbulent region that scarcely witnessed peace or stability, the protection of the country was safeguarded through King Hussein’s unique leadership; steering the ship in a perpetual storm to the shores of safety. It was nothing short of miraculous that Jordan managed to endure the heavy impact of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) and the influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees into Jordan; the Suez war; the toppling of the Hashemite regime in Iraq when Jordan and Iraq had just formed a unity between them; the rabid air war directed against Jordan from Arab countries which were inciting against stable traditional monarchies in favour of military coups; the 1967 war and the loss of the West Bank and Jerusalem with huge swathes of Egyptian and Syrian territories; the 1970 internal war in Jordan whereby a vicious conspiracy was targeting the regime; the Gulf war of 1980 between Iraq and Iran; and the second Gulf war following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991.

King Hussein’s diplomacy was not only focused on Jordanian issues which would have been manageable. Jordan was immensely affected by all regional troubles being situated at the epicentre of each and every Middle Eastern crisis, and as such all issues landed on the King’s doorstep.

When King Abdullah ascended the throne on that historic day for Jordan, he immediately took up where his departing father left off, thus continuing the honourable legacy.

The transfer of authority, smooth and orderly as it was, even during a time of national mourning for the loss of a beloved grand national symbol and a caring father figure, was perfectly compatible with the line of succession.

At the age of 38 King Abdullah stepped in with unshakeable confidence, clear vision, unwavering resolve and boundless energy for tackling the tasks ahead in an era equally unstable and volatile as during the reign of his late father.

Besides the hilariously over the top prose, there are two interesting omissions in the brief history of King Hussein's reign.

One is that it described the violent Palestinian uprising in 1970 as a "vicious conspiracy" without mentioning that the main instigator was the PLO - and that Jordanian forces killed thousands of Palestinians during the Black September uprising.

And the other is that the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan isn't mentioned.

Jordan is too embarrassed to admit that it once considered Palestinians to be mortal enemies, and that it ever made peace with Israel.

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Some of those poor Palestinian "children" detained by Israeli police

From Hebrew Israel Hayom:

A military police officer thwarted two attacks within two months: Sergeant Ilan Nemirovsky uncovered yesterday (Tuesday) an explosive device that a Palestinian tried to bring into the court, after finding a similar device about two months ago.

A 17-year-old Palestinian arrived yesterday at the entrance to the courthouse in Salam and aroused the suspicion of the military police and Border Guard soldiers at the entrance, after he had passed several times at the metal detector post and was being asked to undress.

Sergeant Nemirovsky, a military policeman who served in the Salem court for about two years, said: "He came to this entrance and aroused my suspicion, especially in his dress, I checked him like I do for everyone and passed him through the magnometer. It continued to beep and showed me that the source of the beep was in the area of his pants, and I told him to take off his pants and he showed the device and put it on the table. It was an improvised explosive charge, and the court was immediately closed for entry and exit. A police sapper who was summoned to the scene finally neutralized the explosive charge, which contained explosives, including fragments of knives, to increase the damage.

As noted, Sergeant Nemirovsky is already practiced in such cases. About two months ago, a Palestinian youth , about 16 years old, also arrived at the courthouse and aroused his suspicion. "I felt that something was wrong and I checked him " I asked him to go through the magnometer a few times, and then I performed a skin removal procedure and discovered the cargo in his pants, "Nemirovsky said." We are always alert, know the job and do what we need. "

Also on Tuesday, three more Palestinians were caught trying to bring pipe bombs in the area.

Seven attempts by Palestinian youth to attack Israelis were thwarted in the past eight months. This is a photo of a pipe bomb discovered outside that same courthouse in October that was being planted by another "child" of 17:

These stories don't get published in English, because the terror attacks are stopped before they start. But these are "children" who are trying to smuggle pipe bombs on their bodies - no doubt built by Palestinian terror adults who are using the youths as willing human bombs.

The media makes it look like all Palestinian youths in custody are rock throwers (which is bad enough) or otherwise innocuous. No one wants to report that these "children" are also carrying bombs intended to kill and injure dozens. It doesn't fit with the conventional view of the conflict, so it is too difficult to mention.

(h/t Ahron Shapiro)

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02/14 Link P2: Mr. Ellison Goes to Dinner; Qatar-Backed Spy Operation on U.S. Jews Puts Al Jazeera in Congressional Crosshairs; Europe, stop giving lessons to Israel

From Ian:

Sohrab Amari: Mr. Ellison Goes to Dinner

The episode raises serious questions about Ellison’s judgment and his real ideological convictions.

Ellison has spent much of his political career running away from Farrakhan. His ties to the group almost derailed his first congressional run, in 2006. After it emerged that he had worked with the Nation of Islam for at least 18 months in the 1990s, Ellison wrote a letter to the Jewish community distancing himself from Farrakhan and denouncing his “anti-Semitic statements and actions.” Ellison reiterated his opposition to the group’s “anti-Semitism” and “homophobia” in 2016 when he contested the DNC leadership.

But revulsion at his former associates in the Nation of Islam didn’t stop Ellison from breaking bread with Farrakhan in 2013–bread that was provided by the Tehran regime. So which is the real Ellison: The one who drafts earnest letters of apology to Jewish groups? Or the one who, as recently as 2013, saw it fit to dine with Farrakhan under Iranian auspices?

The Ellison-Farrakhan-Rouhani shindig is also a reminder that progressive Democrats had no compunction about hobnobbing with representatives of an anti-American terror state–until recently, that is. Today, Ellison is among the party’s loudest tub-thumpers regarding claims of Trump-Russian “collusion.” Yet he met privately with the Iranian president two years after the Obama administration’s Justice Department uncovered a plot by the Tehran regime to assassinate the Saudi ambassador on U.S. soil.

Ellison does not appear to have done anything illegal in meeting with Rouhani. Nor does this revelation neutralize or invalidate concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election. But Republicans and conservatives can be forgiven for wondering if the Democrats’ newfound and highly selective hawkishness is a genuine effort to reckon with national-security realities or a ploy in a political game.

Qatar-Backed Spy Operation on U.S. Jews Puts Al Jazeera in Congressional Crosshairs

A months-long spy operation funded by Qatar's Al Jazeera news network targeting American Jews and pro-Israel groups is fueling a new congressional effort to force the Middle Eastern news outlet to register as a foreign agent under U.S. laws, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.

Al Jazeera, the Qatari government's state-sponsored news organization, recently conducted a months-long spy operation on a slew of American pro-Israel officials and organizations as part of what Al Jazeera says is an upcoming documentary on supposed Jewish influence in the U.S. government.

The spy effort has prompted Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.) to begin circulating a letter to his colleagues urging support for an effort to force Al Jazeera to register as a state-backed foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon.

The effort is being fueled by Al Jazeera's effort to secretly record American Jews and Israel supporters, according to sources who familiar with the letter.

As part of the upcoming documentary, a mole paid for by Al Jazeera infiltrated these organizations and recorded pro-Israel advocates discussing efforts to combat anti-Semitism and boycotts of Israel.

Ahead of Al Jazeera running this production, it has sent several letters to subjects who were secretly recorded asking them to respond to a range of allegations that the Qatari outlet claims confirm that American Jews are working to influence the American government and block global efforts to boycott Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS.

27 years since the Gulf War - why didn't Israel respond?

The release recently by the IDF and Defense Ministry archives of interviews with me and the late Lt.-Gen. Dan Shomron, who was defense minister and chief of staff at the time of the Gulf War, has rekindled the debate about whether Israel should have responded to the Iraqi missile attacks during the Gulf War. Thirty-nine Scud missiles were launched from western Iraq against Israeli targets during the five-and-a-half weeks of the war. Only six landed in populated areas, causing considerable property damage and the loss of a single life.

Throughout the war US president George H. W. Bush did his utmost to keep Israel from responding. US deputy secretary of state Larry Eagleburger and undersecretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz arrived in Israel four days before the aerial bombing of Iraq began, on a mission to convince us not to launch a preemptive attack and to stay out of the war. They assured us that the US armed forces would within days eliminate the danger of Scud attacks against Israel, while Israeli participation might well lead to a break-up of the coalition and ensuing difficulties. Should the US not be successful in eliminating the Scud threat to Israel, they said, the US would acquiesce to an Israeli response.

As it turned out, all American attempts to hit the Scud launchers failed, and throughout the war Scuds kept falling on Israel. Raytheon Patriot anti-aircraft missiles sent to Israel by the US, despite a number of attempts, failed to intercept a single Scud. Nevertheless, Bush in almost daily calls to prime minister Yitzhak Shamir urged him to keep Israel out of the war despite Iraqi “provocations.”

Israeli participation could lead to a break-up of the coalition, he insisted.

New Media Editor Sarah Tuttle-Singer, of the Times of Israel introduced her newest blog, Why I want the security guy at the train station to search me, on the Times of Israel bloggers’ Facebook page with these words, “There are two things I care about when it comes to Israel: Security and equality. And this is why I say with no hesitation: Search Muhammed. And search me. Search everyone.”

The fallacy of these words hit me with immediate clarity. I knew what her blog said without reading it. She was going to say that everyone has to be checked by security guards, both Jew and Arab, in order to protect democracy—that equality means checking everyone, irrespective of whether or not they might be guilty.

But that isn’t equality. Equality is about holding everyone to the same societal standards. If Moshe is a bad boy, he goes to jail. If Mohammed is a bad boy he goes to jail. Because everyone is supposed to be good and obey the law. And when they don’t, there are repercussions.

Because that is how the security apparatus protects our liberties. They have intel. They use it to protect everyone. The intel is what it is. It’s what Moshe or Mohammed make it. And should Moshe’s or Mohammed’s relatives tend to be rowdy, they then become “the usual suspects” and anyone who looks, sounds, or acts like them is identified and scrutinized.

That’s how we protect equality. By making sure that everyone has the right to safety and security. And by setting standards of appropriate behavior. And making sure there are consequences to bad behavior.

And if Moshe or Mohammed don’t want their families scrutinized, they need to behave. Period.

But let’s say one relative doesn’t go along with the rowdy bunch. He’s a good guy. Is it fair that he be profiled, scrutinized, his liberties temporarily curtailed?

Absolutely. Because these standards protect him, too. Which is why, by no stretch of the imagination can it be called collective punishment to more carefully scrutinize Arabs going through Israeli security points. Because 99% of terror attacks in Israel are carried out by Arabs.

Enforcing the law and being tough on criminals or those at risk of becoming criminals, is how we protect our civil liberties and our security. For everyone. Equally. If a terrorist blows up a train, Arabs get hurt, too. The entire point of security is to prevent everyone from getting hurt, both Arab and Jew.

That is real equality, while checking everyone would be a mere performance, a show of equality, not the real thing.

I monitored the comments on the TOI bloggers’ Facebook page. No one was saying what I was thinking. The next day I read the blog, and the comments below. No one had written what I was thinking (as of this writing). So I ventured to say it myself, on the Facebook TOI bloggers’ page:

Equality, yes. Hold peoples to the same standards. Jews are, by and large, not carrying out terror attacks against people in malls and train stations. You can tell by looking at them if they are the rare exception. Which is how the intelligence community managed to infiltrate the youth group of Rabin's assassin (and incite the killer to murder): they knew this was a rare extremist group because of the way they looked, spoke, acted [Tuttle-Singer had referenced Yigal Amir in an earlier comment on the thread, “The only person to assassinate an Israeli PM was a Jewish Israeli.”]

So why should manpower and money be wasted to check every single Jew, when the Jews are by and large, a peaceful people? Equality under the law means holding people to the same standard. A people with a large proportion of terrorists must unfortunately be scrutinized with care, also for the sake of those among them who are innocent and might be harmed by the actions of those among them who are violent.

I too, always thank security guards for checking me, as I know this is for my own safety. But I am also grateful when they use their common sense, look me over, know I'm a granny with arthritis, without a violent bone in my body, and wave me through without further ado.

I am tempted to blog about this, so I hope you will answer me, Sarah Tuttle-Singer. It is not equality to check every single person, when you know which people are the ones [who] may or may not endanger society. Equality is holding peoples to the same standards.

Jews, in general, don't deserve to be treated with suspicion. Certainly not Feige Rochel, for example, whose sector has never perpetrated a terror attack at a bus station, AFAIK. That would just be holding up people to make a show of equality, when the real equality is to hold her sector to the same standard: are Haredim perpetrating terror attacks?

Equality doesn't mean an inconvenient show. It means societal standards of behavioral norms.

Sarah did, in fact, respond to me, as follows:

Varda, for the sake of our Jewish and democratic state we should demand equality. It's essential or we wither.

I'm willing to be inconvenienced and we can and should find budget for more guards if necessary. The prime minister's ice cream budget ought to cover some of the costs.

Search everyone.

Feige Rochel and Varda Epstein and Sarah Tuttle singer and Igal Amir and

Yosef Chaim Ben David and ruvi rivkin and that random barista and Omar al-abed and

Muhammad salim and george dabit and the woman who works in the clothing store on Hebron road and EVERYONE should be subject to same rules

And treatment.

And the guilty should go to jail.

As I didn’t feel this answered my question, I tried narrowing things down further, as follows:

There's an issue with this idea: it means focusing on everyone, which dilutes/diverts the focus away from probable troublemakers.

It harms everyone by making the security apparatus LESS effective.

It's not about the inconvenience or money. It's about the fact that this is not real equality, but a show of equality. The real equality is holding people to the same standard, which deters actual terrorists.

I really hoped that Sarah would see my point and speak to it. But she didn’t deign to respond. She’d doubled down, reiterated her talking points, and closed shop.

Which is a pity. Because I want security and equality every bit as much as she. I want both Moshe and Mohammed to be safe. I want the terror and the fear to end.

And that requires true equality, equality under the law, and not some silly superficial spectacle masquerading as the same.

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J Street Warns Continued Existence Of Israel Will Cause Antisemitism (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Washington, February 14 - The director of a lobbying group that bills itself as "pro-Israel, pro-peace" urged the Jewish State to consider dissolving itself to prevent outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence and rhetoric that are obviously sparked by Jewish sovereignty in the ancient Jewish homeland.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive Director of J Street, told reporters and supporters of the organization today that Israel's ongoing existence invites antisemitism,a phenomenon he described as "marginal" before Israeli statehood in 1948.

"Israel continuing to pursue policies, such as existing, that antagonize antisemites is just asking for trouble," asserted Ben-Ami, whose clout in Washington has diminished significantly since the election of President Trump and of a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. "If there's anything we Jews should have learned in our extended exile, it's that keeping our heads down is a proven strategy for survival, at least some of the time."

"Consider the origins of antisemitism," he continued. "It wasn't such a widespread phenomenon until ancient Jews decided to assert their sovereignty against Rome. I don't have to tell you what happened as a result: the destruction of the Holy Temple, thousands of years of displacement, Christian persecution, and maybe even Muslim persecution, but we're not going to discuss that at length because the Muslim don't like when we suggest they have been anything but tolerant hosts, and they can get violent. Please don't hurt me. I'm one of the good Jews who appreciates dhimmi status. Look, I even brought my fig leaf!"

Analysts consider the right-wing Israeli government's likelihood of adopting Mr. Ben-Ami's proposal low. "Netanyahu has never been one to do the wise thing and just lay low until antisemitic rages blow over," observed political commentator Rashid Khalidi. "He represents a radical fringe of Jews who have the temerity to suggest that Jews are a nation deserving of sovereignty and control of their own security. As you can see, that sentiment is hardly shared by the vast majority of people in the world, let alone in the immediate regional neighborhood where Jews have asserted themselves in such a rude and disrespectful manner."

"It's only a matter of time till someone decides they've had enough of this Zionist uppitiness," he added. "You wait and see, I guarantee some upset Muslim will do something rash and uncontrollable, and it will all be Netanyahu's fault. Mark my words. You can't just upend 1400 years of Islamic tradition with such notions."

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02/14 Link P1: Saeb Erekat Looks for Excuses Not to Negotiate with Israel; PM rejects police bribery report as 'biased, full of holes'; Gaza Needs to Look in the Mirror for Its Problems

From Ian:

Saeb Erekat Looks for Excuses Not to Negotiate with Israel

In an op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times, the longtime PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat declared the U.S. ineligible to broker talks between Israel and the Palestinians given, among other sins, its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Noting Erekat’s two-decade history of prevarication—including his absurd and libelous claims of a “massacre” in Jenin in 2002—Elliott Abrams explains why Erekat cannot be taken seriously. The column, writes Abrams, is in fact about something else entirely:

Erekat returns in the Times to the usual, and sad, Palestinian victimhood trope, criticizing President Trump for failing to recognize “the painful compromises the Palestinians have made for peace, including recognizing Israel and trying to build a state on just 22 percent of the land in the historic Palestine of 1948.” It is striking to call those “compromises”: the first requires Palestinians to do no more than recognize reality, and the second to make their best efforts on behalf of their people. Trying to build a state that can live in peace and engage in economic and social development would not normally be called a huge sacrifice.

Erekat’s message in the Times is that peace efforts must now be multinational, with the United States joined as equal partners by the European Union, Russia, India, Japan, South Africa, and China. PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will soon address the UN Security Council on this point. Good luck with that. There is zero chance that such a group could be formed or could possibly do anything to promote a peace agreement. This is not a serious proposal for moving toward peace but a fantasy designed to forestall any real pressure on the PLO for compromises it does not wish to make. . . .

Erekat concludes by writing that “we are planning to move toward national elections in which all Palestinians, including our diaspora, can take part, with the goals of better representation, more support for our refugees, and strengthening our people’s steadfastness under occupation.” But Abbas has refused to hold elections in the area he controls, the West Bank, since 2006, despite repeated promises to do so. Note that his “national elections” will include the diaspora. This suggests that the “national elections” will not be Palestinian Authority presidential and parliamentary elections that could threaten Abbas’s hold on power. . . .

Palestinians: Abbas's Lies and Falling Mask

For the past two decades, the anti-Israel rhetoric of Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership has radicalized many Palestinians, to a point where they are no longer willing to accept any form of compromise or peace with Israel.

By accusing the Trump administration of hostility to the Palestinians, the Palestinian leadership has delegitimized the US to a degree where many Palestinians now feel that Americans are legitimate targets for violence and terror attacks.

How, exactly, do these condemnations conform with Abbas's other claims that he seeks to resume peace talks with Israel? The mask on Abbas's face has fallen once again. That mask has, in fact, been falling for many years. Perhaps one day the world will even see that.

Gaza Needs to Look in the Mirror for Its Problems

Gaza is broke. As Monday’s front-page New York Times feature explained at length, the conflict between the Gaza Strip’s Hamas overlords and the Fatah party that runs the West Bank has resulted in a cash crunch that has left many of the area’s two million people without money. Along with Gaza’s inadequate infrastructure, the resulting poverty from this crisis contributes to a general picture of despair for many Palestinians.

Of course, the notion that everyone in Gaza is starving is an exaggeration. As journalist Tom Gross points out, Gaza’s thriving malls continue to operate, as does its water park, restaurants, and hotels — inconvenient facts that are missing from the Times story and most of the coverage of the current crisis.

But even if we concede that the talk of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is probably exaggerated, there’s no question that most of the people there are poor and have little hope of improving their plight.

This means, as it almost always does, that Israel will be blamed for this awful situation. Since most of the world believes that Israel is still “occupying” Gaza, and is therefore responsible for the coastal territory’s problems, it is only natural that the worse things get there, the more opprobrium will be directed at the Jewish state in international forums and the press.

This is wrong — but not just because Israel hasn’t occupied Gaza since 2005.

From Iran's Mehr News:

Parliament Speaker Special Aide in International Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said here on late Tuesday that the moves by some Arab states aimed at normalization of relations with Israeli regime can jeopardize bilateral ties tremendously.

Given the above issue, thawing ties of some Arab countries with the Zionist regime will incur irreparable damage to the Islamic World in the current situation, he reiterated.

Amir-Abdollahian made the above remark in his meeting with two heads of political parties in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

He pointed to the longstanding positive relationship between Iran and Republic of Azerbaijan and said, “the relations between Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of Azerbaijan are influenced by the longstanding and age-old historical ties of the two countries. The two nations share many commonalities in various fields.”

Even though Amir-Abdollahian only mentioned Arab states, there is a reason he made this point in Azerbaijan: because Israeli ties to the majority Muslim country are quite good.

Israel established relations with Azebaijan over 25 years ago, and was one of the first countries to recognize it. Wikileaks has released a memo where Azeri president Ilham Aliyev compared his country's relationship with Israel to an iceberg: "Nine-tenths of it is below the surface."

Iran normally attacks any Muslim nation that has ties with Israel, but in this case Iran is acting differently - because it is frightened that the Muslim nation would choose Israel over Iran if it had to make a choice. So the Iranian diplomat said nice things about relations between the two, while giving a warning at the same time.

Iran's actions show that it is very, very afraid of Israeli diplomatic gains, which are occurring not only in reaction to Iran's aggression towards Sunni Arab states but quite independently of it.

Iran knows that it is losing ground diplomatically. But it still cannot resist offering a stick along with a carrot to Azerbaijan.

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Why can't Gazans (or Gaza NGOs) volunteer to clean their hospitals?

Today is the fourth day of the strike by hospital cleaning staff in Gaza who have not been paid their salaries by the Palestinian authority.

There is no solution on the horizon.

Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, warned this morning of major health setbacks in cancer patients and those with blood diseases because of the lack of hygiene in hospitals.

"The suspension of cleaning companies poses a direct threat to the health of patients and public health in 13 hospitals, 51 primary care centers and 22 other facilities in the Ministry of Health through 13 companies," he said.

Photos of the hospitals with overflowing trash are being published in the Palestinian media.

One can certainly sympathize with the janitorial staff who isn't getting paid because of Hamas/Palestinian Authority infighting and pissing contests (a context that is missing in most of the stories about the issue.)

But there is still medical staff in these hospitals. Why don't they pitch in to empty trash cans outside?

We are constantly told about the high unemployment rate in Gaza. Why aren't the hundreds of thousands of idle able-bodied Gazans volunteering to help keep hospitals open by doing the (non-dangerous) cleaning tasks?

Why aren't the many NGOs in Gaza organizing teams to pick up, clean and dispose of the garbage?

Why can't the many Gaza women who posed for media cameras during the last war go to the hospitals and clean them up?

Palestinians constantly talk about how important dignity is to them. Is cleaning a hospital, allowing patients to be treated, too undignified for them?

This story isn't only about a labor dispute, nor is it only about a political dispute that puts people's lives at risk. It is also a story about how an entire culture has sprouted up where people are taught only to complain about what they claim to deserve - but that they aren't willing to lift a finger to help themselves.

(h/t Zvi)

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Palestinian diplomat tells students at UN that throwing stones is fantastic (audio)

From YNet:

A Palestinian diplomat speaking to students at the United Nations headquarters in New York told them the Palestinians were proud to be throwing stones at Israeli forces and will continue teaching their children to do so.

In a recording obtained by Ynet, Abdallah Abushawesh, who serves as a senior adviser to the UN's Development Group and as a member of the Palestinian UN mission, is heard saying in broken English, "We are very clever and very expert at throwing the stones. We are very proud to do that. We will not stop to learn our kids (to do that)."

To the sound of sniggering from his listeners, Abushawesh went on to say that every Palestinian caught throwing stones by Israel gets sent to jail. "We are very proud that we are stone throwers. I'm one of them. Now I became a little bit older, but I stay resistant in the name of my kids," he continued.

The Palestinian diplomat later told the students about his own past as a stone-thrower during the first intifada. "I was in high school. I never missed an opportunity to throw stones. This is our life. We develop our resistance every day. We're proud of it," he said.

Abushawesh was speaking to a group of international relations students from McGill University who were at the UN for a tour and a series of meetings as part of their program.

14 Israelis have been killed, and countless injured, by Palestinian stone throwers, including:

Yehuda Shoham, a 5-month-old baby, was killed when a rock hurled by stone-throwing Palestinians crashed through the window of the car he was riding in, crushing his skull (2001)
Asher (25) and Yonatan Palmer (1) were killed when the car Asher was driving was attacked by stone-throwing Palestinians, causing it to crash killing him along with his infant son.(2011)
Tthe Biton's family car was attacked, near neighboring village of Kif el-Hares, with stones which caused it to get out of control and collide with a truck. Adele Biton was critically injured along with her mother and 3 sisters who were moderately injured, and died two years later.(2013)

The news isn't that Palestinians encourage stone throwing. That has been obvious for years.

The news is that a Palestinian diplomat, at the UN, is proudly telling college students that he supports teaching Palestinian children to use deadly force against Jews - and it isn't making world headlines.

The news media, by treating Palestinian bloodlust as something that is expected and not newsworthy, is complicit in encouraging the continued murders of Israelis.

And what the hell is wrong with the McGill students who laughed when this animal bragged about using deadly force against Jews? That should be front page news in Canadian newspapers as well.

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02/13 Links Pt2: Collier: Will someone please protect the Jewish students?; ADL Rips Ellison For Farrakhan Meeting; It’s Time to Tell the Truth About UNRWA

From Ian:

David Collier: KCL – will someone please protect the Jewish students?

Demonstrators as victims

It is also interesting to record how the demonstrators twist the events. They had chosen to come onto a campus to disrupt an event. The campus security tried, and partially failed to contain the protest. One demonstrator was not permitted inside because he held a megaphone. An instrument clearly designed (outside a door of an event) to disrupt. This became the tweet of the night:

So as Jewish students are huddled in a room, struggling to hear what their invited speaker against a background of vocal hate, the demonstrators portray themselves as the victims. In the footage, the security man explicitly references the megaphone (see under his arm). The person tweeting this is Ayo Olatunji, who is part of the UCL student union, and was part of the UCL protest and disruption in late 2016. More of a concern was this tweet by Ayo:

He claims he was denied, not because of his behaviour, his intent, or the need to uphold free speech, but because he is black. I saw this weaponisation of racism at Cambridge with Malia Bouattia, and recently being used at Warwick by Nicola Pratt. A truly divisive strategy. There is of course nothing about his colour mentioned in the footage.

The protestors have complained to the university. They are in ‘outrage’. Why? Just as I described their dissatisfaction at events at UCL two week ago:
‘They are disappointed that they are not allowing them to do what they want to do. To permit their demonstration, to deny the other, to allow them entry to the building, to let them disrupt the event, to deny the speaker the platform in the first place. They want to be armed with a security force to impose their demands. A fascist mentality. ‘

What of the Jewish students?

This is all intimidation. And it works. The university is not capable of fighting a war for the Jewish students, because this is not a battle of students. Palestine Solidarity Campaign advertise it, Friends of Al Aqsa live stream it, off-campus ringleaders turn up to assist in the organisation.

How many of those Jewish students who may have been intimidated by yesterday’s events, will not attend another meeting of its type? Will supporters of those Jewish students now look over their shoulder and say to themselves ‘it is not worth it’? How many of those who organised the event, will not organise another? Will invited speakers not want to come?

Intimidation works because it works through intimidation, not debate. Non-democratic forces are undermining our academic spaces. Values of equality, democracy, free speech are all under threat. When you have Jewish students forced to leave a room surrounded by haters screaming ‘shame’, alongside posts on Facebook calling these students ‘cockroaches’, then you have to accept you are in dangerous territory.

#Jews run the gauntlet from @jeremycorbyn @PSCupdates #JewHaters @KingsCollegeLon tonight. What’s changed from #1938 #Vienna? @SamGyimah @COLRICHARDKEMP @GuidoFawkes pic.twitter.com/934YYjYwPZ
— Jewish HR Watch (@jhrwatch) February 12, 2018

Our statement about the event we hosted tonight featuring former #Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Dan Meridor. We must continue to protect free #speech on campus & defeat #intolerance.

READ: https://t.co/ntT2Gfjxr9 pic.twitter.com/aPwgarxSg3
— Pinsker Centre (@PinskerCentre) February 12, 2018

BESA: Mahmoud Abbas’s Speech: Who Was the Real Audience?

Mahmoud Abbas’s blatantly skewed account of the nature of Zionism and the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should bring Israel’s policymakers and opinion shapers to enunciate anew the story they tell their own people and the world at large.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the January 14 meeting of the PLO’s Central Council lasted two hours. Apart from the phrase “May your house be destroyed,” which became the headline for the speech, Abbas’s “historical” survey of the chronicle of Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has drawn most of the Israeli criticism. According to Prime Minister Netanyahu, the survey underscored the root of the conflict: “The Palestinians’ rejection of the existence of a Jewish state in any borders.”

For the Palestinians, too, particularly the younger among them, much of the speech must have sounded like a tiresome history lesson. Yet political speeches of this kind often have more than one audience in mind. In this case, Israeli society with its various factions and leaders, along with the international community, was the main audience. Appealing to fashionable legal and moral fads, particularly in Western Europe, Abbas again set forth the supposedly problematic aspects of Zionism. His “historical survey” undoubtedly fails the minimum test of facts, but it is uncritically accepted in many circles. This poses a real challenge to Israeli policymakers and opinion shapers.

By every historical account, the Zionist revolution – the incredible ingathering of the exiles and the establishment of the flourishing and highly successful state of Israel – is a unique and unprecedented phenomenon. Those who insist on viewing it as yet another immigration wave among the 20th century global population movements fail to grasp the real nature of this revolution. In this respect, Abbas touched the key issue that, in his eyes, made the Palestinians the main victim of Zionism: if the Jews yearn for a safe haven, and the international community wants to provide them with one, why does it have to be in Palestine, at the Palestinians’ expense? (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Gazans say they want to march en masse to Israel

Palestine Today reports that there are articles and social media posts encouraging a new kind of "resistance" - a massive march of Gazans towards Israel.

The movement is called "The Great Return March" and it has a Facebook page. The goal is to get "millions" of Gazans to march towards Israel.

After all, they say, Israel does not know how to defend itself against thousands of humans.

One advocate of the march, Akram Atallah, says, "Israel has prepared itself for all wars, but not the possibility of confronting a flood of human beings."

The implication is that Israel would never kill Gaza civilians who don't pose a threat to life. But they won't say that part out loud.

Also, they forget that Palestinians have tried this before. In 2011, protesters from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Gaza and the West Bank tried to simultaneously enter Israel on "Nakba Day." A few hundred from Gaza were deterred when Israel fired some rounds towards them; one was reportedly killed. The Lebanese, Egyptian and Jordanian armies actively stopped the marchers from their borders.

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Every week, Rami Hamdallah, the "prime minister" of the Palestinian Authority, a person who has no real power, has a cabinet meeting where pronouncements are made and nothing is actually done.

The statements do show how much the Palestinian Authority likes to fool itself, and its own people.

This week the statements included:

The Israeli government will pass a law to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, annexing settlement blocs and retaining the Jordan Valley. The Judaization and uprooting confirms the insistence of the Israeli government to renounce all agreements between the parties, a clear expression of its unwillingness to peace or any intention to reach a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Israel has tried to negotiate, the Palestinians refuse. Israel has shown willingness to compromise, Palestinians haven't. But the lies continue.

Taking such a step would not only be the end of the two-state solution, but the end of any hope for peace and would have repercussions for the entire region.

I am still astounded that these regular threats - couched in terms of warnings - aren't recognized as such by the West.

And let me remind you of how seriously the Palestinians take the "two state solution" that they insist they want.

The Council saluted our people to continue expressing their rejection of the unjust American decision and condemned the serious Israeli escalation of the occupation against our defenseless people, which led in recent days to the martyrdom of a number of Palestinian citizens and the occurrence of dozens of injuries, in addition to the wide circle of raids and incursions.

The "salute" includes the two Palestinians who stabbed two rabbis to death, which is what prompted the raids and arrests. The Palestinian leadership tacitly supports such murders.

The Council condemned the draft racist law submitted by the Minister of the Israeli war, "Avigdor Lieberman," deducting the allocations of prisoners and families of the martyrs, from the funds of the Palestinian clearing.

Yes, they are defending paying terrorists and their families - and saying that anyone who disagrees is a "racist."

The Council also condemned the Israeli intention to allow humanitarian aid to be provided by the international institutions to the Gaza Strip while continuing its unjust siege for the eleventh year in a row. Life, it bears full responsibility for the suffering of our people in the Gaza Strip.

Unreal - the PA, which only allowed Israel to restore electricity to Gaza when threatened by Israel, which withholds funds for hospitals and medicines and fuel for Gaza, is complaining when Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza - and blames Israel for the situation there, a situation that the PA has been actively exacerbating for the past year!

If only there was a truly free Palestinian media. If only there were journalists on the ground there who had the guts to report on the truth (outside a few Israelis.) If only there was a real opposition movement that truly wanted peace.

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