Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, March 01, 2018

03/01 Links Pt1: Prince William to visit Israel this summer, in first official trip by UK royal; A New Low for the U.N. Dictator Club

From Ian:

Prince William to visit Israel this summer, in first official trip by UK royal

Prince William will travel to Israel this summer, in the first-ever official visit by the British royal family to the Jewish state, his residence declared Thursday.

While royals have traveled to Israel in the past, no member of the British monarchy has ever come to country on an official tour.

The official visit will be the first in Israel’s almost 70-year existence, during which time nearly every other country in the world has been visited by a representative of the Crown.

“The Duke of Cambridge will visit Israel, Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the Summer,” Kensington Palace‏ announced on Twitter.

“The visit is at the request of Her Majesty’s Government and has been welcomed by the Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian authorities,” the statement added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the announcement of the upcoming trip by the second-in-line to the throne.

“This is a historic visit, the first of its kind, and he will be welcomed here with great affection,” Netanyahu added. “I have ordered the Foreign Ministry director-general to coordinate preparations for the visit to ensure its success.”

100 years after Balfour, Britain still shaping the region, say pair of authors

Since the release of the Balfour Declaration 100 years ago, Britain has repeatedly found itself in the middle of a Middle East tug-of-war between Arab and Israeli interests.

How this pull has shaped the relationship between Britain and Israel was the topic of discussion at a Times of Israel event with authors Azriel Bermant and Elliot Jager on Tuesday evening at Mishkenot Sha’ananim in Jerusalem.

The event was produced by the Sir Naim Dangoor Center for UK/Israel Relations and moderated by journalist Matthew Kalman.

The experts discussed the historical significance of British-Zionist relations based on research each conducted while writing their recently published books.

Author Elliot Jager’s book, “The Balfour Declaration: Sixty-Seven Words – 100 Years of Conflict,” is a look into the personalities and interests of the characters who brought about the short statement that legitimized the idea of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

Tel Aviv University lecturer Bermant’s book, “Margaret Thatcher and the Middle East,” reveals new findings on Margaret Thatcher’s relationship with Israel based on recently released British and Israeli documents.

Thatcher is often remembered for being the first British premier to visit Israel in 1986 and for her warm relations with the Jewish community. Bermant shared why a deeper look into Thatcher’s Middle East policy exposes a more complicated legacy.

From Interesting Engineering:

A team of Opthalmologists at Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials developed eye-drops that have been found to repair the corneas and improve short and long sightedness. The nanoparticle solution called as “nanodrops” was successfully used on pigs’ corneas.

Clinical trials on humans are expected to be carried out later this year, and if successful, this revolutionary invention could potentially eliminate the need for eyeglasses. According to Dr. David Smadja, leader of the research team, the eye-drops could revolutionize ophthalmological and optometry treatments of patients suffering from myopia, hyperopia and other refractory conditions.

The revolutionary breakthrough was revealed by Dr. Smadja on Wednesday at Shaare Zedek’s second biennial research day, which was held at Steinberg Auditorium in Jerusalem. He said that nanodrops could even be used to replace multifocal lenses and allow people to see object from different distances.

“This is a new concept for correcting refractory problems,” Smadja said. He, however, did not mention how often the drops will require being applied to replace eyeglasses completely.

According to the research abstract, the experiment led by Dr. Smadja and his colleagues involved analyzing refractive errors of pig eyes before and after instillation of nano drops filled with various concentration of synthetic nanoparticles. The results showed significant improvement in error correction for both myopic (near-sightedness) and hyperopic (far-sightedness) refractive error.

If the results in humans are successful, prospective patients will simply require a smartphone app to scan the eyes, measure their refraction, create a laser pattern and then “laser corneal stamping” of an optical pattern onto the corneal surface of their eyes.

The research from Smadja was one of the two chosen works by an impartial team of judges from 160 pieces of research carried out by Shaare Zedek physicians and nurses over the last two years. The hospital staff publishes around 330 articles every year in different medical and science journals through the Shaare Zedek Mada’it (Scientific), a research and development company established for hospital researchers.

The abstract says:

A mean correction of 2,24 +/- 0.07D has been achieved for myopic refractive error testing, whereas a correction of 1,96+/-0.2D has been achieved for hyperopic refractive error. No statistically significant changes have been observed in the corneal central keratometry. Encapsulated hypereflective nanoparticules of 0.58nm diameter on average were observed throughout the first 60microns of the corneal thickness.

This sounds a lot better than laser eye surgery!

Apparently, the nanoparticles do not change the shape of the eye, but the refractive properties of the cornea. I found a 2016 video where Dr. Smajda discusses his research for a technical audience.

(h/t Yoel)

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Screenshot of Nasrallah speech, February 12, 2017, when he called Trump a fool

From the EU-funded Assessment of Media Legislation in Lebanon:

The Lebanese Penal Code punishes those who are found guilty of defamation crimes with fines and prison sentences that are highest (up to two years imprisonment) when the reputation of the Lebanese president or of the heads of other states are harmed (Articles 383 to 389 in the Penal Code, 17 to 23 in the Press Law). The informal title “the law of the kings and heads of state” given to libel provisions related to presidents and other world leaders dates back to the early 1960s. At the time, Arab heads of state who resented being criticised in the Lebanese press consistently pressured the Lebanese president to introduce amendments to the Press Law in order to shield them from criticism. Eventually, an amendment to the Press Law was introduced in 1965 by a special decree by President Helou.

Yes, if an ordinary Lebanese citizen criticizes Trump or Bibi, they can get up to two years of jail time!

And Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called Trump an "idiot" (or "foolish") last year soon after he took office:

“So what if Trump comes? What’s new?” he asked.
“We are not worried, but very optimistic because when an idiot resides in the White House, this is the beginning of the release for the oppressed in the world,” he said. The Arabic word he used can also be translated as "fool."

Hassan Nasrallah has violated Lebanese law and should be arrested and jailed.

Calling Shurat HaDin....

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Purim video with Rabbi Sacks and some British comedian

My headline may be funnier than this, but enjoy it anyway:

(h/t Yerushalimey)

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An oldie but goodie (Purim joke)

Some more Jewish humor for Purim:

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In the 1970's, a Russian school inspector is questioning the children. He points to one of the boys and says, "Who is your father?"
The boy replies, "The Soviet Union."
He then asks, "Who is your mother?"
"The communist party," came the reply.
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a Stankhanovite worker for the glory of the state and the party."
The inspector then points to one of the girls and asks, "Who is your father?"
The girl answers, "The Soviet Union."
"Who is your mother?"
"The communist party."
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"A heroine of the Soviet Union raising lots of children for the state and party."
The inspector looks round and sees a Jewish boy tucked away at the back trying to look inconspicuous. He points and says, "What's your name?"
The boy replies, "Mendel Abramovitch."
"Who is your father?"
"The Soviet Union."
"Who is your mother?"
"The communist party."
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
Mendel replies, "An orphan."

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02/28 Links Pt2: BDS: Free Speech Hypocrites; Farrakhan Rails Against Jews, Israel and the U.S. Government ; Twitter suspends anti-Semitism watchdog Canary Mission after campaign by anti-Israel activists

From Ian:

Free Speech Hypocrites

Supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel frequently complain about a “Palestinian exception” to free speech. Never mind that whole, albeit small, segments of the academy are openly committed to the view that Israel is America’s accomplice in crimes of imperialism. People who criticize Israel, they say are not allowed to speak—often they make this point at university-sponsored events, or during “Israeli Apartheid Week,” a yearly ritual on many American campuses.

The claim, to be sure, refutes itself. But it is nonetheless heartening that an article in InsideHigherEd, a mainstream higher education website with no dog in the hunt, recognized that it is pro-Israel speakers who are uncommonly subject to disruption by—you guessed it—“pro-Palestinian” activists. Just last Thursday, at the University of Virginia, a panel of Israeli military reservists was interrupted by a group “shouting anti-Israel slogans through a megaphone, preventing the speakers from being heard.” Rabbi Jake Rubin, executive director of UVA’s Brody Jewish Center, which sponsored the panel, invited the protesters to stay and ask questions, but the “protesting students refused to do so and continued to shout at the speakers, making it impossible for the event to proceed as planned,” until the police arrived.

As Scott Jaschik, the author of the report and co-editor of InsideHigherEd, observed, this is hardly an isolated incident. He detailed seven instances of disruption, and he could have named many more. For example, he described a 2016 incident at UC-Irvine in which “protesters disrupted a screening of a film Beneath the Helmet, about the lives of five Israeli soldiers. The protest involved shouting that made it impossible for people to hear the film.” But he did not describe another incident at UC-Irvine in 2017, also featuring Israeli reservists, which earned the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine two years of probation.

Anti-normalization—in this case the attempt to render Zionism unspeakable—is the raison d’etre of the BDS movement, and shutting down speakers is one of its primary techniques. Before activists looked to shut down genuine white nationalists, like Richard Spencer, BDS was shouting down people like Bassam Eid, a Palestinian whose primary thought crime is denying that Israel is demonic. I guess there is a Palestinian exception to free speech after all.

Farrakhan Rails Against Jews, Israel and the U.S. Government in Wide-Ranging Saviours' Day Speech

On February 25th, Nation of Islam’s longtime leader Louis Farrakhan spoke at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. As in previous Saviours’ Day speeches, Farrakhan used the opportunity to rail against the Jews, Israel and the U.S. government.

Before Farrakhan’s keynote address, fellow Nation of Islam principals Ava Muhammad, Nuri Muhammad and Ishmael Muhammad shared remarks. In a short speech, Ava Muhammad warned the crowd that the end of days is imminent, and they should heed the words of Farrakhan:

“If we think we can act crazy. If we think we can be plagues in our own community. If we think we can make mockery of the servant. If we think we can run away from Minister Farrakhan because you’re afraid of white people. Or if you think you can be used as a mouthpiece of the slander of the Jewish controlled media think again. Because while Allah’s whipping their behind he will ask you, did you hear my reminder calling you?”

Nuri Muhammad made a financial appeal, and announced that a $5000 donation from longtime Farrakhan ally and music producer Russell Simmons. Ishmael Muhammad, meanwhile, alleged that the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan are “miracles,” since many have tried to stop them:

“If God was not with him and the Nation of Islam we could not have survived the constant and ever increasing assault of the United States government and those who say they are Jews, but are of the Synagogue of Satan.”

The difference between Farrakhan and some members of the alt-reich whose heinous bigotry has received a lot of attention this past year: Farrakhan has a much larger following and elected officials meet with him openly.
-fin-
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 28, 2018

There is a persistent unwillingness to acknowledge that two of the organizers of the @womensmarch are groupies of Louis Farrakhan, whose anti-Semitism and homophobia rivals Richard Spencer's. They're very open about it! pic.twitter.com/HDUwwUV2zw
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) February 27, 2018

One of the issues with remembering Amalek, one of the key commandments connected to the Purim holiday, is identifying who they are, today. How can you know absolutely that someone is part of the evil nation of Amalek? Because we're not only commanded to remember them, but to obliterate every trace of them.

A new video may not tell us all the answers, but it does give us a lot of food for thought by tying the recent history of the Holocaust and the Nazis, to the story of Purim, 24 centuries earlier, in Persia.

Of course, genocide is genocide, no matter when it is attempted. In Germany or Persia, modern day Iran. The irony is that the same actors are still trying to wipe out the Jews. In Iran, they say it straight out. In Germany, they're paying the big bucks to organizations dedicated to eliminating the Jewish State.

Same difference.

While it would be easy to just enjoy the festivities of Purim without worrying about its deeper meaning, it pays to keep in mind that the Jews, all of them, fasted for Esther's success in foiling Haman's evil plan. They worked hard to examine their character flaws and repent. The Jews pulled together as a nation to do this one thing together.

And apparently, the result of Jews pulling together to repent was so powerful that it had repercussions at the Nuremberg Trials, 24 centuries later. Which makes it a good day for drinking. (I'm a bourbon girl myself.)

Happy Purim!

(h/t Sarah Leah Silverman)

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Jesus Reopens Wounds Facepalming At Sepulcher Church Reaction To New Law (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

Check out their Facebook page.

Jerusalem, February 28 - The Prince of Peace was treated at a supernal medical facility this afternoon after aggravating his stigmata by slapping his forehead in consternation in response to religious leaders at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher closing the facility to protest impending legislation that would subject properties sold by the Church to taxes.

Jesus Christ, 2023, was admitted to Mercy Hospital today for follow-up acre and observation, following what witnesses called a massive facepalm movement that the Son of God performed in reaction to the decision. Archangel Raphael told reporters the risk of infection remains present, but for now the Messiah is comfortable and in good spirits.

Christ bears holes in his hands from a crucifixion he underwent in his thirties, wounds that he withstood in the process of dying to save humanity from its sinfulness. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher marks the traditional site of his burial, a grave from which he emerged three days later. Long accustomed to being invoked in Christian teachings as an embodiment of forbearance, Jesus was seen on Wednesday to read headlines describing the decision by the various Sepulcher facility religious officials to shutter the place to pilgrims, and to hit his forehead with his hand so hard that the stigmata reopened. A bloodied Christ was seen being loaded into an ambulance by heavenly paramedics.

"The Son of God assures you all he is well and that his stay at Mercy Hospital is a mere precaution," declared a spokesangel. "He apologizes for the scare it may have given anyone, and appreciates everyone's concern."

The angel declined to disclose Christ's opinion on the church leadership's decision, but a supernal source speaking on condition of anonymity asserted Jesus remains upset at the stupidity and hypocrisy of the move. "It's a good thing there are no fig trees around right now," mused the source. "That glare could wither anything. The Lamb of God has been demanding clarification from various patriarchs, bishops, and just anyone, really, since early this afternoon, asking what makes them think closing the church is a good idea. He thinks it will backfire and alienate worshipers while accomplishing nothing and fomenting antisemitism, especially given the rhetoric they're using on the subject."

A second source shared unconfirmed rumors that the Son and Father held an urgent set of conversations to discuss the feasibility of having the Church of the Holy Sepulcher destroyed by rampaging heathens for at least the third time.

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02/28 Links Pt1: Ben Rhodes and the Democratic Guilt Complex on Russia and Iran; Ambassador Samantha Power Lied to My Face About Syria; When the 'agent of peace' cries for jihad

From Ian:

Ben Rhodes and the Democratic Guilt Complex on Russia and Iran

When you’re good at something, you should never do it for free. That’s perhaps why Barack Obama’s former deputy national security advisor, Ben Rhodes, is gearing up to politicize national security issues once again in a professional capacity.

On Tuesday, Rhodes revealed his intention to join former Obama administration officials, Hillary Clinton staffers, and a handful of career civil servants to form “National Security Action,” a 501(c)(4) that will not endorse candidates but will campaign against them. You can probably guess who this organization’s primary target will be. “We’re a temporary organization,” Rhodes told the Washington Post. “Our hope is to be out of business in three years.”

We’ll dispense with the fiction that the conduct of American affairs abroad should be exempt from the petty squabbling that typifies the political process at home. Politics does not and never has stopped at the water’s edge. When it comes to national security, the current administration deserves its share of criticism. The Trump administration spent its first year ceding the turf war in Syria to other competing great powers, and the conditions in the region have only worsened. Similarly, and as former Obama administration officials won’t let you forget, the Trump administration has not done nearly enough to deter Moscow from intervening in the American political process again. Even National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers recently confirmed that the Russian regime has not “paid a price that is sufficient to change their behavior.” What’s more, Rogers has not been directed by the president to “disrupt Russian cyber threats where they originate.”

These are all urgent national-security threats about which every American should be concerned, and polls suggest that they are. Unfortunately for those who take these and other national-security threats seriously, Rhodes and company are among the least credible advocates for their cause.

‘Ambassador Samantha Power Lied to My Face About Syria,’ by Kassem Eid

In A Problem From Hell, Samantha Power explains how the U.S. administration tried to cover up the genocide in Bosnia by instead labeling it a “civil war.” Yet she and President Obama escaped responsibility for the documented and proven war crimes committed in Syria under the Assad regime’s brutal campaign. If Ambassador Power was telling the truth, she should have resigned just as she chided diplomats at the State Department for not resigning during the genocide in Bosnia.

The Assad regime taught us in schools that there was no Holocaust and hid the truth of the crematoriums and the concentration camps where millions of Jews were brutally killed. But the Obama administration also refused to act on—or reveal—direct eyewitness testimony it received of the crematorium in Saydnaya Prison in Syria, where an estimated 100,000 people were brutally killed and then burned to ashes to hide the truth. I’d begged the U.S. administration during my meetings at the State Department back in 2014 to investigate the Saydnaya Prison and Qasioun mountain because my fellow activists in those areas had repeatedly told me since 2012 how they smelled the awful stench of burning flesh. But all I got were empty promises. If a bunch of Syrian activists knew about the crematorium, there’s no doubt in my mind that Obama knew about it from intelligence reports. I strongly suspect he made sure those reports weren’t made public to avoid having to take action against Assad. It was the Trump administration that finally showed the world this reality last year and publicized the truth that Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes, and President Obama tried to hide.

Ms. Power and Mr. Rhodes have been going around the country as activists for the truth, decrying “fake news” and dishonesty, which they say is creating an alternative reality. At the same time, it was these two who during the Obama administration created an alternate universe to hide the genocide in Syria. Rhodes is experienced in creative writing, and he used his skills after he was appointed to be deputy national security adviser by President Obama to write an alternative universe to hide the truth of the Syrian genocide and the Iran deal. It should boggle the mind how these two, who were so instrumental in pushing disinformation to mislead the American people, could in any way be activists for the truth.

In the summer of 2014, a defector from the Assad regime codenamed “Caesar” came to Washington, D.C., after he managed to escape from Syria with thousands of photographs of Syrians who were systematically tortured to death by the Assad regime. Caesar’s collection of photographs was yet another indisputable proof of the ongoing genocide in Syria. Caesar met with Ambassador Power, who shed a tear when Caesar described the horrors he had witnessed during his career as an Assad regime military photographer. Caesar also gave Ms. Power a handwritten note to deliver to President Obama, but he never received any response. I also requested a meeting with President Obama as a survivor of the war crimes in Syria on multiple occasions, through the White House, the State Department, and Ambassador Power, but all of my requests were also denied. Neither Ambassador Power nor President Obama wanted to acknowledge the truth.

Ambassador Power, Ben Rhodes, and President Obama owe an apology to the Syrian and the American people for covering up the evidence of war crimes and genocide in Syria and twisting facts to serve their political agenda and public image.

Trump, and only Trump, stands between us and them

We got lucky. But luck does not last forever. Neither will Trump. Our luck runs out unless we come up with someone who can fill his shoes – and it is not too early to realize this.

Yes we pray for the fullness of his time in office, but Congress can still go either way, and if it goes the wrong way, things could get difficult, even for Trump.

Without him…let’s face it…there is nothing but void. The Democrats? Not a chance. That party is pro-BDS and anti-Israel, and the worst is yet to come under Tom Perez, Ellison and Corey Booker -- if ever they get their hands on the Senate, the House and/or the White House. There is no Trump there; not even a Truman.

Farrakhan --- him you will find.

Even among Republicans there is no Trump outside of Trump. No GOP leader – though far preferable to any Democrat – comes to mind as his successor.

None over the horizon or from the list of GOP candidates he defeated would have come out so forcefully, fearlessly and courageously on Israel’s side.

On Jerusalem, Trump stood up against the world and the world rallied round to him…or is beginning to…since there is no choice…since there is only one United States and only one President Donald Trump. For now, that’s good. It’s terrific. There’s been nothing like him in the recent past.

It’s the future we need to worry about, a day when Trump will be gone with no friend in sight for America or for Israel.

Dear Voters – California has put us on notice.

It isn't just Arab leaders who are leaning to Israel - the people are, too.

A tweet by Avi Mayer:

Al Jazeera's Faisal al-Kasim, one of the most influential TV personalities in the Arab world, asked his five million followers, in Arabic, who they'd support if war broke out between Israel and Iran and its militias in Syria.

56% said Israel.

The times, they are a-changin'... pic.twitter.com/tre5DjxIgf
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) February 25, 2018

Over 23,000 of al-Kasim's followers voted in this poll.

Obviously, it is not a scientific poll, and there would be bias towards al-Kasim's own opinions if they are pro-Israel (I have no idea if they are.) But it is still astonishing that Arabs prefer Israel over their fellow Muslims by such a margin..

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There is an amazing page at the US Consulate General in Jerusalem site:

American Corner Gaza

The American Corner in Gaza is located in Al-Azhar University in Gaza City, Gaza. The American Corner in Gaza was launched in May 2006.

Purpose of the American Corner

The goal of the American Corner is to share the story of the United States with friends, maintain an open dialogue on issues of mutual concern, and build bridges of understanding. Through the American Corner in Gaza, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem and the Palestinian people are able to share information, experiences, and events. The Consulate and American Corner-Gaza’s very active director work closely together to develop a range of cultural, academic, and capacity-building programs to host at the American Corner. Since its opening in May 2006, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem has provided a wide collection of American books, movies, and posters, as well as IT equipment, to the American Corner in Gaza.

Programs

In 2008 American Corner Gaza held 21 events. These events included DVCs on a wide variety of topics, including non-violent approaches to conflict resolution, the Civil Rights Movement, Arab-American activism, the 2008 Elections, and a discussion and jam session with the American Jazz legend Branford Marsalis. The American Corner in Gaza also offered English Language classes for non-English majors and a video-based, conversational English language and American culture class for English majors, Poetry readings, Movie-screenings, Presentations and discussions led by alumni of US programs, and a series of in-house lectures on American literature, as well as a Ramadan Iftar and a Jeopardy-style U.S election game.

Somehow, after hearing American poetry and jazz and learning about non-violent approaches to conflict resolutions, Gaza still descended into the hellhole it is now where violence is considered the best way to solve any issue.

What were the goals of this American Corner? What exactly was it meant to do?

And the Jerusalem consulate does very similar programs throughout the West Bank. What does it accomplish? Who gets converted to American style thinking? Where is even one "success" story?

It is more than a little bizarre.

(h/t Irene)

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Asharq al Awsat that French diplomats have leaked parts of the peace plan that Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt supposedly are drafting for the White House.

According to the leaks, Washington intends to present its plan within the framework of an international conference held in one of the Arab capitals, most likely in Egypt, with Israel attending.

The plan supposedly says that Washington and other countries can recognize the state of Palestine and do not exclude East Jerusalem as its capital if Jerusalem is under some sort of "international jurisdiction."

The plan is supposed to provide for Palestinians in Arab countries to be naturalized citizens and be compensated, but there would be no "right of return."

There would be a sovereign, demilitarized Palestinian state, but not on the 1967 lines. The Jordan Valley would remain under Israeli control. Some settlements would be dismantled.

The plan did not say anything about larger settlements far from the Green Line.

In return, the PA will have additional security and administrative powers in Areas A and B, and Washington plans to raise $40 billion "not to buy Palestinian acceptance but to help build state and Palestinian institutions."

Border security in the Gaza Strip will be assigned to the Egyptian side, according to the leaked plan.

This plan is largely in line with Israeli demands for peace, and seems unlikely to get any traction unless the US convinces Arab governments and the EU to support it, which seems unlikely since it violates a number of Palestinian red lines and EU positions.

The news story says that an Arab ministerial delegation which recently visited Brussels and met with its European counterparts has been briefed on this information. The Arab ministerial delegation included the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the PA, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League, as we reported previously.

It is possible that the leak was engineered to elicit Palestinian anger and to quash it ahead of any conference.

Something like this, if true, would be a long shot under any circumstances, and it would require incredible diplomatic finesse that seems unlikely to come from this administration.

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An IDF joke for Purim

Just saw this on a Hebrew website:
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Two officers lost their personal weapons one day.

After searching and not finding them, they decide to judge each other.

They arrange a room with a flag to serve as a courtroom, and start the trial.
.
The first officer who serves as a judge asks the other, "Do you plead guilty?"

"I do," replies the "defendant."

"If so," says the judge, "I will give you a severe rebuke on your personal file."

They change roles and the officer who is tried becomes a judge.

The second officer "judge" asks, "Do you plead guilty?"

"I do" replies the other officer.

"If so," the judge says, "I am sentencing you to three years' imprisonment."

"How can that be?" asks the defendant. "After all, you got only a rebuke."

The judge answers, "Yes, but this is the second time it has happened in your unit ..."
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While it is funny, the joke's very existence proves the morality of the IDF, where it is expected that losing a weapon would bring one to court, and where multiple offenses per unit are considered serious.

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02/27 Links Pt2: How the Left Became its Own Worst Enemy; Joe Rogan and Douglas Murray; Honoring Yoni Netanyahu; Guardian 'Sat on Charity Sex Abuse Scandal Stories'

From Ian:

How the Left Became its Own Worst Enemy – Part I

One subtle shift has been the emergence of political correctness, a form of Cultural Marxism (the theory that culture more than politics drives inequality between races and classes in Western societies). Political correctness started as a reasonable exercise to protect vulnerable members of society -- blacks, women, Jews, gays, the disabled -- from offensive speech and action but ended as a modern totalitarianism that blocks free speech and open debate on just about everything.

Today's youth, particularly on university campuses, have adopted ways of thinking and behaving that contradict all the ideas that were the fundamentals of classic liberalism. There are many examples, but the one that stands out above the rest is support for radical Islam and hard-line Muslims.

The most famous instance in the UK was Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's embrace of members of the terror outfits Hamas and Hezbollah, which he described as his "friends". It took him until the summer of 2016 to say that he regretted his engagement with the terrorists.

In several European countries, including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of Italy, governments have banned fully or in part the wearing of the Islamic veil; above all, the niqab and burqa, the full-face forms. One might have thought that Western feminists would be in the vanguard of such movements, as it could not be clearer that Islamic law oppresses women far more than ever happened in the West. A British Muslim physician, Qanta Ahmed, and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown have openly and repeatedly called for the abolition of all forms of veiling. Muslim women reformers across entire the Islamic world have called for an end to veils of all kinds.[1] In Iran this year, young women have been demonstrating on the streets without their compulsory hijabs, and at least 29 have been arrested as the regime clamps down again.

Joe Rogan Experience #1084 - Douglas Murray (NSFW)

Caroline Glick: What America Can Learn from Israeli Gun Laws

When mass shootings take plan in the U.S., commentators routinely raise Israel as a case study to prove that guns in the hands of citizens save lives.

Israel, with its long and painful history of contending with terrorism, is rich with examples that prove this contention. In recent years, armed citizens have stopped dozens of terrorists. In some cases, those citizens acted when cowardly police officers shrank from danger.

For instance, on March 6, 2008, a terrorist disguised as a delivery man entered the Merkaz Harav seminary in Jerusalem with an assault rifle hidden in a television box. He opened fire on students studying in the library.

Two beat cops arrived on the scene but failed to enter the building to stop the killing.

In the event, a seminary student armed with a handgun, and an off duty infantry officer who lived in the neighborhood, heard the shots and ran to the seminary. The student, a young rabbi, was armed with a handgun; the officer was carrying his assault rifle. Both men ignored the police officers who told them not to go inside. They entered the building and killed the terrorist, ending the massacre. By the time they arrived, eight students, including five high school students, had been killed, while eight more were wounded.

The most recent Palestinian terror campaign, which lasted more or less from October 2015 through April 2016, showed the need for an armed citizenry. In two major attacks in Tel Aviv, the terrorists, armed with rifles were able to kill at will for several minutes because none of the civilians at the sites of the attacks were armed.

In contrast, terror attacks in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, which took place during the same period, were repeatedly stopped at their outset by armed civilians who ran to the scene within moments.

In response to the public outcry, Public Security Minister Glad Erdan slightly loosened restrictions on eligibility for gun licenses and encouraged citizens with gun licenses to carry their weapons wherever they go.

Erdan’s move to loosen restrictions on eligibility for gun permits shone a light on an aspect of Israeli life of which foreigners are largely unaware.

While the Palestinian Authority is saying that it does not want anyone to cooperate with Israelis (except for anti-Israel activities,) the IDF's COGAT continues to offer services for Palestinian Arabs:

Last week, 22 Palestinian medical experts underwent 5 days of advanced training under the supervision of the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Israel. The Palestinian medical experts acquired experience in the field of patient care, explanations regarding hyperbaric medicine and received lectures by senior physicians. This project was a joint initiative of the Training Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Health Coordinator in the Civil Administration, Dalia Bassa.

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