Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, February 25, 2013

Al Qaeda calls to expel all Jews from "Palestine"

Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula came out with a video statement saying that the expulsion of all Jews from Palestine should be considered "sharia law" - meaning it is compulsory under Islamic law.

There is really no difference between Al Qaeda and the other Muslim Brotherhood offshoots like Hamas, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Jihad. However, some of the MB descendants that gained some level of political power are a little more reluctant to make such bigoted statements out loud, since they want to make it appear that they only have a problem with "Zionists," not Jews. However, before the networked world we now live in, Muslims did not have any compunction about broadcasting their anti-semitism when they were certain that their words would not be reported worldwide.

Al Qaeda is not representing a fringe movement. In this case, they are representing what hundreds of millions of Muslims truly believe.

Internet down/Shushan Purim/Jaradat open thread

My hotel lost its Internet feed last night and it hasn't yet returned.

Blogging on an iPhone is a bit too painful to contemplate now, not to mention that it will be a busy day today since it is when Purim is celebrated here.

Last night in the Old City virtually everyone was in costume, which was cool.

Taking a cab home, the Arab driver was listening to an Arabic station where I could hear the newscaster talking about Arafat Jaradat. I see now that Israel allowed a Palestinian Arab pathologist to view the autopsy and even so he lied about the results saying he died from torture, opposite the Israeli coroner's claims. (Marks on the body were from resuscitation attempts.) I am still amazed that Israeli authorities expected honesty from a Palestinian official.

It was not a pleasant ride.

So here is an open thread...

Sunday Links

From Ian:

Who Really Cares About the Palestinians?

The answer lies in a simple but inconvenient truth — no one really cares about the Palestinians – unless Jews are involved.
This is not new; you can go back to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The popular misconception is that the Arab states invaded to help the Palestinians. Actually, they intended to carve up Palestine for themselves, not to create a Palestinian state.
From 1949 until 1967, Egypt could have given Gaza to the Palestinians for a state, just as the Jordanians could have created a Palestinian state in the West Bank. Neither did, but no one in the world cared because the Palestinians were not interested in a state and the occupiers were Arabs.

The irony is that the people who care the most for the Palestinians are probably American and Israeli Jews. In the United States, Jews are among the most vociferous supporters of the Palestinians. The Jewish establishment organizations are also pro-Palestinian, advocating a two-state solution that would give Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza the same freedoms Israelis enjoy, but are currently denied to them by their own leaders. In Israel, many Jews advocate for the Palestinians: Israelis represent them in the courts, join them in protests and speak out on their behalf in the press and the Knesset. The many Arab-Jewish coexistence projects are nearly always initiated by Israeli Jews.
With the slaughter in Syria, Palestinians can see who their real friends are, and most are not the ones they expect.

EU: designate Hezbollah a terrorist organisation now

From the beginning, Hezbollah has been involved in terrorist activities. What has changed in the last decades is that the organisation has stepped up its criminal and terrorist activities abroad. According to a newly released report by Dr. Matthew Levitt – head of the Stein Programme on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy – between May and July 2012, Hezbollah operatives, in close co-operation with the Qods Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s international arm, attempted more than 20 foreign terror operations.
Hezbollah remains confident that with the backing of Germany and France, the EU will not designate the group. Critically, it is this sense of complacency which would allow it to plan future attacks. Now is the time for action and the political leadership of the EU needs to take the lead and designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

BBC Watch: No BBC reporting on Hizballah in Cyprus

The story has been reported by media outlets around the world, including the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Australian and even the BBC’s paper of choice, the Guardian. The BBC, however, has to date not seen fit to report on the trial in Cyprus itself or on its wider significance as another example of the fact that Hizballah is operating within Europe, despite the fact that the subject of the terror organisation’s designation is currently on the EU agenda.

Marco Rubio: U.S. Shouldn’t Dictate Israeli Policy on Settlements

While on a Middle East tour that has fueled speculation that he will run for president in 2016, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio arrived in Israel on Wednesday, wading quickly into politically sensitive territory by saying Jerusalem was “of course the capital of Israel.”
Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida and a rising star in his party, made the comment during a meeting with President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, according to the Associated Press. The United States, like many other countries, has never recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, instead maintaining that the city’s status can only be determined through negotiations with the Palestinians.

'Israel monitors weapons transfers to Syrian rebels'
Rebel weapons could pose security threat if they end up in the wrong hands, Israeli intelligence officials tell US news agency.

“On the one hand, there is a great deal of pressure on the Western world to bolster arms to moderate – what we call ‘friendly’ – rebel groups so that they are on a level playing field with the groups that might be getting support from Islamist movements,” this official told McClatchy.
“On the other hand, once you send a weapon somewhere, you can’t control where it goes. The fear is that the same gun used to shoot a Syrian soldier will one day be used to shoot an Israeli soldier.”

Analysis: The Egyptian army is making a comeback
As the clash between the regime and the opposition shows no signs of abating, can the military remain indifferent to the country’s slow degradation?

Morsi will do all he can to achieve the complete takeover of the country before the new parliament can be convened in July. The opposition is up in arms threatening to boycott the elections if a new national unity government is not formed to ensure that they are free and fair, the large Coptic minority is outraged since polling will be held on their holy Easter week – and the country’s economy is still spiraling out of control.
What will the army do, if anything? On the one hand, the new constitution grants it powers beyond its wildest dreams. On the other hand, the army, for so long the symbol of Egypt’s greatness, cannot remain indifferent to the country’s slow degradation.

The silent Islamization of Egyptian society

A court in Cairo allows Islamist police officers to wear beards to Islamic way. Slogan praising Islam also appears on army tanks. The Muslim Brotherhood program to impose lessons on Islam and Koran, even in foreign schools.

4 Egyptian Students Arrested After Making ‘Harlem Shake’ YouTube Video ‘A Scandalous Act’

Egyptian media has reported on the incident, but few are posting the exact video.
It seems the Harlem Shake is actually quite popular in Egypt — a YouTube search shows at least 3 videos filmed in the post-revolution “Arab Spring” nation.

Iran: Jailed pastor describes ‘psychological abuse'
Prison authorities in Tehran ratchet up pressure on American-Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini to renounce Christianity.

Iran’s prison authorities have ratcheted up the pressure on American- Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini to renounce Christianity.
In a letter written by the 32- year-old Abedini – and released on Friday – he says the conditions in Tehran’s Evin Prison, are “so very difficult that my eyes get blurry, my body does not have the strength to walk, and my steps become very weak and shaky.”

Polish TV regulators receive anti-Semitic threats
Poland National Broadcasting Council members receive death threats after deciding not to renew ultra-Catholic TV station license.

Jan Dworak, the chairman of the council, and Krzysztof Luft, a senior board member, received a handwritten letter sent from a Warsaw post office stating: “If you continue to carry out the orders of the anti-Polish and anti-Catholic Jewish mafia of [Prime Minister Donald] Tusk and [President Bronislaw] Komorowski by not granting TV Trwam a license, the Freedom and Independence Court will issue a death sentence against you,” the Polish Press Agency reported.

Start-up’s ‘indoor GPS’ solves huge retail dilemma
WiseSec has installed its location solution in one of Europe’s largest indoor shopping malls

With smartphones everywhere, retailers have begun using location protocols on phones to recruit customers. It’s a great idea — unless your store is indoors, like in a mall, where location services don’t work. One Israeli company claims to have the answer, and a large shopping center in Moscow agrees — with the mall installing the “beacons” location system made by Israeli start-up WiseSec.
One of retailers’ greatest dreams for mobile is to recruit the location services on smartphones in the service of selling things to customers. Imagine, retailers say, if they could automatically send out coupons to customers who are walking or driving by their store, tempting them to come in for a special deal and, hopefully, recruiting new customers?

Defying Boycotts, Jagger, Stones, to Honor Israel’s 65th Birthday.

Despite a barrage of attacks from British, European and U.S. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) groups, the Rolling Stones will perform their planned concert in Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day, Monday, April 15.
“We’ve been slammed and smacked and twittered a lot by the anti-Israeli side,” said Mick Jagger, the band’s leader and most recognizable member since 1963. “All I can say is: anything worth doing is worth overdoing. So we decided to add a concert on Tuesday.”

Purim in Jerusalem 2013 (video)

Footage from the Mamilla Mall, today:

(h/t to Real Jerusalem Streets for telling me where to find kids in costume)

The leader of Salafi Nour Party in Egypt, Yousri Hammad, claims that there is a 'fifth column' backed by the media to drive a wedge between the Egyptian army and the presidency, and between Muslims and Christians and the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hammad said through his Facebook account that he perceives "a clear methodology the Jews managed to improve over the course of history, and the sole beneficiaries are the Jews who are seeking to overthrow Egypt in the cycle of domestic violence like Syria and Iraq and the nations surrounding Israel."

He continued: "They are attempting to overthrow Egypt economically and forcing begging from abroad and the West...at worst it paid for the sale of their national institutions at the cheapest prices after the collapse of the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound."

Hammad said "What is required is detection of the fifth column which destroys and spreads hate between parts of Egyptian society... "

Releasing terrorists as a precondition on "peace talks"

Mahmoud Abbas told a delegation from the International Union of Socialist Youth yesterday that he insists that Israel release terrorists from prison - especially those serving the longest sentences - before agreeing to "peace talks."

This is in addition to his other preconditions, such as Israel accepting the 1949 armistice lines, to freeze all "settlement activities."

When releasing terrorists is considered a precondition to "peace," one must wonder what kind of peace it could be.

Purim Video #4; "Homies Noshin' Hamantashen"

Adult language and content. Don't click if you can't handle it. Funny, though.

Purim Video #3: Move Like Graggers

A PalArab dies in Israeli prison, and the Arabs go crazy (updated)

From Ma'an:

A Palestinian prisoner held in Israel's Megido Prison died on Saturday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

PA Minister of Detainees Issa Qaraqe identified the victim as Arafat Jaradat, 30, from the Hebron village of Sair.

Israeli media had earlier reported that Jaradat suffered a cardiac arrest and prison staff tried to revive him to no avail.

Qaraqe told Ma'an that he holds the Israeli government responsible for Jaradat's death and demanded an immediate inquiry into the circumstances behind his death.

Jaradat was arrested three months ago, Qaraqe added, and was not involved in ongoing hunger strike action by Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas allies are demanding - get this - an international inquiry into the circumstances of Jaradat's death.

A couple of years ago I showed that the likelihood of a young, healthy person dying in Israeli prisons is far less than that of a young, healthy American dying in any given year.

When people die in most of the world, it is a tragedy. When an Arab dies in circumstances that can be remotely twisted as Israel's fault, it is an international incident.

UPDATE: BBC's Jon Donnison tweets propaganda as fact:

And so it goes.

(h/t JS)

Saturday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Barry Rubin: Why the CIA Director is Wrong: Rethinking al-Qaida

Ironically, the United States has a counterterrorist policy but it does not have a national security strategy. It has a way of reducing anti-American terrorism—let or even help Islamists seize power—but does not realize that anti-American regimes are far more dangerous than a bunch of guys in caves.
If terrorism was ever merely a law enforcement issue that is certainly true today in terms of al-Qaida.
Instead, what the Obama Administration has done is like trying to reduce crime by turning over the cities to the Mafia and letting it make the laws and also run the police and court systems.

Rand Paul: Cut Foreign Aid From Countries Burning Our Flag VIDEO

"...what I would say is that I would start by cutting foreign aid from countries that are burning our flag and chanting 'death to America,' countries that don't really seem to be acting like our allies."

Senators Ask Obama to Withdraw Hagel Nomination

Fourteen U.S. senators asked President Barack Obama to withdraw his nomination of former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel, who continues to come under fire for his record on Israel and other areas of foreign policy, for Secretary of Defense.
In a letter dated Feb. 21, the senators—all Republican—said Hagel in his confirmation hearing “displayed a seeming ambivalence about whether containment or prevention is the best approach [to Iran’s nuclear program], which gives us great concern.”

Palestine – Backtracking Begins As Democracy Dies by David Singer

Dr Zogby seeks to blame Israel’s settlement policies for the lack of democratic reforms in the areas of the West Bank under full Arab administrative control.
It is time to end the blame game whilst perennially claiming victimhood status.
It is time to face up to the reality that only the fundamentals of a democratic state – free and fair elections, freedom of expression and the media – can lead to a negotiated end to this long running conflict.
The sooner elections are held to end the seven year drought since the last election was held – the sooner the hope of peace will become a flickering light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
Dr Zogby has done the Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza a grave disservice by dashing the hope of democracy ever coming to change their lives – as it changed the lives of Sharansky and the million Soviet Jews who eventually made it to Israel.

Israel grapples with terror threats to its tourists in nearby countries

Ahead of Passover vacation rush, security officials working with Greek, Cypriot, Bulgarian counterparts to counter possible Hezbollah plots

Terror victims’ monument vandalized
Inscription bearing Asher and Yonatan Palmer’s names found desecrated

Unknown vandals desecrated an obelisk commemorating Asher and Yonatan Palmer, who were murdered near Kiryat Arba in September 2011.

Arabs Riot, Clash with Security Forces
Thousands of PA Arabs continue to riot and clash with security forces following prayer services at mosques in Judea and Samaria.

Thousands of Palestinian Authority Arabs continued to riot and clash with security forces on Friday, following prayer services at mosques in Judea and Samaria as well as on the Temple Mount.
According to various reports, dozens of PA Arabs suffered injuries during the clashes. At the same time, one policeman was lightly wounded by a brick thrown at him by Arab rioters in Hevron.
On the Temple Mount, dozens of PA Arabs threw rocks and firecrackers at police forces stationed outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In response, dozens of soldiers entered the compound and dispersed the rioters with tear gas and stun grenades. The quiet in the area returned after one Arab was arrested and taken in for questioning.

Judea and Samaria Residents Reestablish Civilian Security Patrol

Following the recent deterioration of the security situation in Judea and Samaria, local residents have decided to take their security into their own hands, reestablishing the civilian based reconnaissance unit which was operative during the second Intifada. In recent months there has been a sharp upsurge in terrorist attacks against the residents of Judea and Samaria. The number of stone and fire-bomb attacks on the roads has increased dramatically. To contend with this reality the local security councils have decided to reestablish the civilian security patrols on the roads.

UN Watch: UN researcher reports UN session on Israel that never happened

The incident underscores the shoddy scholarship and disregard for facts that characterizes much of the anti-Israel propaganda produced by many of the researchers who write UN reports on Israel, including the Goldstone Report.
Will UNESCO and UNIFEM disclose which Palestinian matters have been handled by Perugini?
Is the kind of shoddy scholarship Bard College is trying to promote through its Palestinian summer school?

BBC selected ‘expert opinions’ and transparency

Of course Bennett-Jones provides no information for his readers as to Crooke’s real background (or even the name of his organization) and he certainly does not inform them that the entire raison d’etre of Crooke’s think tank is to turn that terrorist organization into something more palatable to Western minds.

Safer and greener: Israel’s high-tech highways
Asphalt that uses recycled tires makes roads easier to brake on and helps the environment, says Dimona Silica Industries

Leave it to Israel to infuse high technology into something as prosaic as asphalt. A Negev company has developed a road asphalt compound that uses old tires for strength and safety, and is friendly to the environment to boot.
The new compound, called RuBind, is already in use in Israel. Approved by the Israel Standards Institute last October, the compound was used to pave roads in the Beit She’an Valley that are particularly notorious for their accidents. Among the qualities of RuBind is its “rubberiness,” due to the bits and pieces of rubber mixed in with the asphalt, and as a result, cars have an easier time braking thanks to the higher friction that occurs when a car’s rubber tires meets the rubber on the road.

Terror Victim’s Purim Message: Despair is Just a Mask
Terror attack survivor Asael Shabo, who lost his mother and three siblings, has a message of hope for Purim.

Terror survivor Asael Shabo was there to give the group a first-hand account of overcoming disability. Shabo, who lost a leg in a terrorist attack over 10 years ago, has become a top athlete and is training for the 2016 Para-Olympics.
Asael’s mother and three of his siblings were murdered in the 2002 attack, in which a Palestinian Authority terrorist entered the family home and began shooting the children at close range.
He had a message of Purim hope for the young women from Maagalim. “Know that despair and difficulty are just a mask,” he told them. “If you believe, you can remove it and reveal your truth.”

Saturday Links Part 1

From Ian:

UK’s Chief Rabbi: New Anti-Semitism is Number One Threat (VIDEO)

As part of his farewell tour, the chief rabbi of the UK, Lord Jonathan Sacks, visited Israel recently. During his visit he gave a lecture at Tel Hai College, titled “The 21st Century Challenge for Jews and Israel,” that touched on anti-Semitism, the top challenge facing Jews, in his opinion. “Today we are living through a new anti-Semitism,” he said. He expounded by saying that Anti-Semitism is anti-Zionism; it’s epicenter is in the Middle East rather than Europe and it has gained an increasing amount of legitimization. He also pointed to the senselessness of the world’s imbalanced diplomatic assault on the Jewish state.

London Metropolitan University suspends researcher with car bomb conviction
A university researcher has been suspended after it emerged he has a conviction over a car bombing at the Israeli Embassy in London.

Botmeh, who was released from prison in 2008, was found guilty of involvement in two car bombs set off in July 1994, one of which went off outside the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens. Nobody was killed.
He and the woman were convicted on the basis they were part of a UK-based terrorist cell which planned to sabotage the Middle East peace process.

PMW: PA TV continues to honor terrorists in music videos

A new Palestinian Authority TV music video honors three terrorist prisoners serving a combined total of 40 life sentences. They are responsible for several terror attacks against Israeli civilians, including at least two suicide bombings that killed 35 and wounded 100.
The music video shows footage of the three arch terrorists while a song with the following words is heard:
"As long as it may last, the prison's doors will not stay shut [forever]... the clouds will disappear, and our honor will be restored."

Palestinians refuse to team up with Israel against soccer greats

Palestinian football officials on Friday said their players won’t team up with Israelis in a match against FC Barcelona that was designed to promote peace.
Palestinian Football Association president Jibril Rajoub met with Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and said “there are lots of obstacles.”
Rosell launched the initiative Thursday with Israeli President Shimon Peres. Barcelona FC is the most beloved foreign soccer club in Israel and in the Palestinian territories, Rosell told reporters, praising Peres as a man who “has done much for peace.”

Alicia Keys, Depeche Mode Urged to Cancel Concerts in Israel
The US singer, one of the most popular and successful of the last decade, is due to perform in Tel Aviv in July for the first time in her career.

On Wednesday she released a statement saying, “I’m excited to go to new places on this tour, among them Tel Aviv. I plan on bringing with me a show full of emotion and inspiration.”
Depeche Mode, one of the most successful rock groups in history, is also being called upon to cancel their show in Israel. The band is planning to launch it’s world tour there in May. The band last played in Israel in 2009.

Berlin Film Festival Prize Winner Denies Israel's Right to Exist
Danish-Palestinian film director provoked controversy after publicly questioning Israel's legitimacy and right to exist.

Danish-Palestinian film director Mahdi Fleifel, who was awarded the Berlin International Film Festival’s annual Peace Prize, provoked controversy after publicly questioning Israel's legitimacy and right to exist.

Spain arrests 3 suspected of spying for Iran
Interior ministry says men allegedly infiltrated local NGO to gain information on defectors

MADRID (AP) — The Interior Ministry says Spanish police have arrested three men on suspicion of spying on Iranian dissidents and reporting back to the ruling regime.
The suspects had allegedly infiltrated a Spanish NGO that helps asylum seekers and communicated to Iran’s secret services the identities of Iranians who fled the country for ideological reasons, a statement said.

Hundreds Hold Anti-Morsi Protest in Egypt's Port Said

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Port Said on Friday to demand justice for protesters killed by Egyptian police, as a strike in the Suez Canal city entered its sixth day.
Protesters chanted against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood, while slamming the interior ministry it accuses of having killed at least 40 people in clashes with police last month.

Morsi to the moon
President’s former April 6 allies want to send him to space as protest

An Egyptian opposition group is using a novel way to protest against President Mohammed Morsi: Sign him up for a chance to win a trip to space.
The April 6 Youth Movement said on its official Facebook page on Thursday that it had entered the Islamist leader’s name in the online contest because it wanted to be rid of him. It called on supporters to vote for the president so he’d have a chance to win the trip into space.

Neo-Nazi Had Hit List of Jewish Leaders in Detroit

Richard Schmidt the owner of a sporting goods store in Bowling Green, Ohio, was originally reported to have been arrested by the FBI for trafficking counterfeit goods. But the case has become more worrying and bizarre since it was revealed that the former felon, who spent 13 years in Ohio state prison for a homicide after being convicted of killing a man and wounding two others in a shooting during a traffic stop, had a small arsenal at his disposal and a hit-list of Jewish and African-American targets in the Motor City.

Hungarian Jews ask government not to honor Nazi ally
Request follows growing list of public tributes to Holocaust-era ruler Miklos Horthy

BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) — Hungary’s main Jewish organization urged the government and parliament to prevent the honoring of Miklos Horthy, the country’s Holocaust-era ruler.
Horthy had “direct responsibility for the killing and destruction of several hundred thousand Hungarian Jews,” the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, or Mazsihisz, said in a statement Wednesday.

Polish Jewish cemetery, Russian center vandalized
"Kalisz without Jews" spray-painted on Jewish cemetery in Kalisz, according to news site; Holocaust memorial in Russia smashed.

A Jewish cemetery in western Poland and a Holocaust memorial site in Russia were defaced in suspected anti-Semitic attacks.
In Kalisz, near Wroclaw, a Star of David on a gallows and the inscription "Kalisz without Jews" (Kalisz bez Żydów) were spray-painted on a Jewish cemetery and discovered on Feb. 20, according to naszemiasto.pl, a news site.

4 Israeli apps nominated for Global Mobile Awards
Israel’s Waze, MyCheck, uTest and recently sold Intucell are front-runners in the prestigious competition.

Waze, MyCheck, uTest and the recently sold Intucell are four Israeli startups nominated in the Global Mobile Awards competition, set to take place at next week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The mobile navigation and traffic community app Waze, which recently announced to have reached 36 million drivers in 2012, is nominated in the main category, Judges Choice – Best Overall Mobile App. Waze faces tough competition against the world’s most famous applications: Dropbox file hosting service, Flipboard technology news application, Sky Sports F1 software and Square electronic payment service.

Friday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Latma: Clash of the Jew hating Titans, and Bibi searches for the perfect costume

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Not created equal
Facts will never be allowed to interfere with popular prejudice – not so long as any refugee episode can be linked to some Jewish aspect or another.

There’s no end to the shameless perversion of truth. Soon after Israel’s independence, the young, embattled country was covered with tent cities full of refugees, many of them from Arab countries. In early 1950, legendary photographer Robert Capa captured the image of a tiny weeping girl in Haifa’s Sha’ar Ha’aliya transit camp.
In no time, the Arab propaganda machine hijacked the evocative image, falsely hyping it as that of a pint-sized Palestinian refugee crying her heart out. She became an instant poster child among self-professed humanitarians.
Nobody cared that she was, in fact, a Jewish refugee crying her heart out. The corrected caption put the picture out of mind. As we said – not all refugees are created equal.

Why does the world target Israel? by Kasim Hafeez
Op-ed: By singling out Israel, human rights activists abandon those who really suffer from apartheid

For me, a particular source of pain and anger is the situation of minorities and women in my parents' homeland. In Pakistan, not a week goes by without a story of rape, murder, humiliation and torture. In this Islamic country, terms such as Jesus Christ are banned in text messages and a young girl is shot for demanding basic education. Yet apart from the attempted murder of Malala Yusufzai, these stories rarely make it to the press. The brutally oppressed Christian minority suffers at the hands of an archaic blasphemy law, yet, apart from small-scale protests held by Pakistani Christian groups, there were no calls to boycott Pakistan and no flotillas were planned. I guess murdered Pakistani Christians maybe not a trendy enough cause. I wonder if a British newspaper would publish a cartoon of a Pakistani mullah murdering minorities to pave the way for a Sharia state. Our journalists love freedom and liberty, but the love their lives a little bit more.

Arab Group: Kotel is a Muslim Site, And Jews Don't Belong There
An Israeli Arab group says, Israel is “defiling the holiness" of the Kotel - as defined by Islam - by conducting Jewish prayers there.

An Israeli Arab group, “The Al-Aqsa Heritage Institute,” on Thursday issued a statement demanding that Israel halt its plans to bring more Jews to the Kotel (Western Wall) – which, the group claims, is holy not to Jews, but to Muslims.
In fact, the group says, Israel is “defiling the holiness of the site” by conducting Jewish prayers there.

CAMERA: In Washington Post, Palestinian Oxymorons Threaten Israeli Archaeology

The article’s lead paragraphs make clear that material in the exhibit was found at Herodium, built by Herod, a Roman-era king of Judea—that is, king of the Jews and their land. Yet it relays with a straight face, without contradictory context,
criticism from Palestinian Arabs that Israeli removal of artifacts from Herodium for display in Israel “violates international law and appropriates cultural property that should remain in the West Bank, which the Palestinians seek as part of a future state.”

BBC Watch: Yolande Knell parrots Palestinian political propaganda

Did the BBC Jerusalem Bureau’s Yolande Knell even bother to check the facts behind the Palestinian claims featured widely in both of her recent reports about the new exhibition of archaeological finds from Herodium at the Israel Museum? It seems not.

Richard Millett: Shlomo Sand at SOAS: Israel is “a shitty nation” and “the most racist society in the world”.

He was speaking in London at the SOAS launch of his new book The Invention of The Land of Israel. The much discredited thesis of his previous book The Invention of The Jewish People is that there was no expulsion of the Jews from the Holy Land; diaspora Jews, therefore, must have all descended from converts and so have no right to return to Israel.
The already much discredited thesis of The Invention of The Land of Israel is, simply, that the land of Israel holds no religious significance for Jews either.

Also: Shlomo Sand on BBC Radio Three

Israelis to protest outside Argentinian embassy
Immigrants, family members of AMIA bombing victims reject joint probe with Iran

Argentinians living in Israel have organized a rally to protest the agreement signed between Argentina and Iran on a joint investigation of the 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing.
The rally outside Argentina’s embassy in the central Israeli city of Herzliya Pituach is scheduled for Friday. It was organized via the Facebook group Kehila Latina en Israel.

Recession, xenophobia prompting Jews to ditch Hungary

Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria.
“I don’t want to cut my roots, but I see no good future for a child growing up in an increasingly xenophobic environment,” said Fanni, a lawyer, who along with others interviewed for this article asked that their full names not be published.
As many as 1,000 Hungarian Jews are believed to be leaving the country each year, spurring fears among Jewish leaders about the future of Central Europe's largest Jewish community -- some 80,000 to 100,000 people. Immigration to Israel has tripled in the past three years, to 170 in 2012. And many others have sought new lives in Berlin, London and Vienna, the Austrian capital just a two-hour train ride away.

Purim goodies to your home, courtesy of Samsung
Using a Facebook app, you can send out a free holiday candy basket sponsored by the Korean electronics giant. It’s for a good cause

In a combination marketing campaign and charity project, Samsung is sending 10,000 Purim baskets (mishloah manot) to anyone in Israel lucky enough to have a friend that signs them up for one on the Samsung Mobile Israel Facebook page. Each basket is full of Purim goodies (candies and the like), and will be delivered by the end of Shushan Purim (on Monday) to any address in Israel. Samsung is paying for the candy, and is paying two Israeli organizations, Variety Israel and the Enosh Fund, to assemble them.

Israel Daily Picture: A Purim Potpurri from Tiberias, Scotland, America..

The mirthful festival of Purim will be celebrated in the Jewish world on Sunday. Residents of Jerusalem celebrate "Shushan Purim" on Monday.
We present pictures we found in the Scottish Dundee University Medical Archives, including the mysterious picture of "Rabbi Aboulafia" blowing a shofar and holding what appears to be a Megillat Esther read on Purim.

Friday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Palestinians Plan Violence to Force the US to Extract Concessions from Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

The Palestinian Authority leadership is hoping that the anti-US protests will scare Obama and force him to exert even more pressure on Israel.
The Palestinian Authority's message to Obama: You must act quickly against Israel before things get out of hand.
It now remains to be seen whether Obama is aware of this attempt to put pressure on him, or whether he will continue to turn a blind eye to the Palestinian Authority's new-old tactic of initiating an escalation with the hope of extracting concessions from the US and Israel.

50,000 Tell Obama: Bring Pollard With You
Former president, MKs and Nobel Prize winners among 50,000 Israelis calling on Obama to free Jonathan Pollard.

More than 50,000 people have signed a letter calling on United States President Barack Obama to free Jonathan Pollard. An ongoing campaign to free Pollard has gone into high gear in light of Obama’s plan to visit Israel in March.
The petition to release Pollard opens with the line, “Honorable President Obama, come with Pollard!”
Among those who have signed so far are a former Israeli president, several former ministers and former and current Members of Knesset, as well as Nobel Prize winners.

The neighboring Kingdom of Mahmoud Abbas

Today, these basic tenets of democracy are sorely lacking in the Palestinian governing bodies. The PLO in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza vet and approve every appointment of every civil servant to every public position, from teachers in schools to judges in courts. Both of these organizations have been recognized in the past by the US government and other Western nations as terrorist organizations.
Palestinian human rights activists explained that Anas Awwad received a harsh sentence for his benign exercise of freedom of speech, primarily because he is known to support the Hamas movement. In a court in the “kingdom” of Mahmoud Abbas, where judges are appointed by the PLO, being a Hamas supporter is considered to be a crime. It would behoove those who claim to advance Palestinian human rights, including the right to statehood, to start by soul searching a bit closer to home.

UK court finds 3 guilty in ‘spectacular’ plot aimed at synagogue
Muslim extremists face life in prison for plan to carry out ‘another 9/11′; watchdog decries ‘disturbing example of would-be anti-Semitic terrorism’

LONDON — Three men were found guilty Thursday of planning a “spectacular bombing campaign” in the UK, including an attack on a synagogue.
Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, wanted to carry out “another 9/11” by using eight suicide bombers armed with guns and explosives-filled rucksacks to target “crowded places” in their native city of Birmingham, Woolwich Crown Court found.
The trio had not decided on a specific target, but in conversations secretly recorded by police, Naseer said that even if the group could not make a bomb, it could “get guns, yeah, from the black geezers, Africans, and charge in some like synagogue or charge in different places.”

Guardian reports on UK terror plot ignore facts regarding potential Jewish targets

The document also outlined specific plans to attack the Stamford Hill and Golders Green neighborhoods in London, areas in which, the terror group chillingly noted, “tens of thousands of Jews” are “crammed in a small area.”
It’s curious, to say the least, that the Guardian reporter covering the terror plot, by self-radicalized Brits intent on causing mass casualties in the UK, evidently didn’t find it of interest to note that one particular often-targeted religious community was again singled out by the Jihadists for murder.

Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UK Forced to Flee Essex University

Roth-Snir was speaking at Essex University when 40 students disrupted the meeting, university officials split students into two groups, according to who was and wasn’t supportive of Mr Roth-Snir’s presence, and allowed the lecture to continue in a small side room.
However, security officials ultimately decided the protestors posed a great enough risk that Mr. Roth-Snir was evacuated.

Israeli-British student had earlier run-in with boycotting MP
Following George Galloway debate walkout, officials say Israeli engagement on British campuses will continue despite a series of recent pro-Palestinian disruptions, protests

Aslan-Levy, a dual national who was born and educated in London and who would have been 16 at the time, says he challenged the MP on a previous statement that there should be no engagement with anyone connected to the state of Israel.
Galloway, he said, denied he had ever said such a thing, calling him a “L.I.A.R. – liar.”

Hizbullah Terror Group Scanning EU for Israeli, Jewish Targets

Hizbullah terror operatives are in Europe scanning for area for Jewish targets, according to a source quoted by The New York Times. Israel has for months tried unsuccessfully to persuade the European Union to add Hizbullah to its official list of terrorist organizations.

Experts decry EU ‘delays’ on Hezbollah sanctions
Israeli analysts believe European reluctance to label Hezbollah a terrorist group stem from fear of antagonizing organization.

Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University, told the Post that “the leaders of the European Union claim to promote moral foreign policies, but the cynical excuses used to avoid designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization are anything but moral. For years, the EU turned a blind eye to Hezbollah’s role in rocket and mass terror attacks – every one a war crime – and allowed this organization to raise funds and operate freely.”
Steinberg, who runs the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor watchdog group, added, “After the Burgas attack, and then the official Bulgarian report with the evidence of Hezbollah’s role, EU leaders still ignored the evidence and the need to take a principled position.

President Peres: “The Time Has Come for Every Country in the World” to Add Hezbollah to its Terror List

“On our border, in Lebanon, Nasrallah [Hezbollah's leader], wrapped in a cloak of religiosity, is pushing Lebanon into a bloody war. It is time to call Hezbollah what it really is – a murderous terror organization. The United States of America and other countries have already included Hezbollah in its list of terrorist organizations. Now, after it has been proved that Hezbollah was behind the terror attack in Bulgaria, on European soil, and murdered innocent civilians, and as reports increase of its involvement, along with Iran, in attacks in Cyprus and Nigeria, the time has come for every country in the world, and especially the European Union, to add Hezbollah to its list of terror organizations,” he said.

'Gazans seek elections as Hamas support declines'
AWRAD poll shows support for Hamas declined since December; 68% support negotiations if Israel halts settlement construction.

Support for Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza has declined by four percentage points to 18 percent since December, according to a poll published Thursday.
The poll, conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), said that while support for Hamas was down, support for Fatah was back to its July 2012 level (42%), an increase from 37% in December.
According to the survey, 95% of Gazans support holding legislative and presidential elections immediately, as do 82% of West Bank respondents.

Gaza man self-immolates in government office
A man set himself on fire at a government office in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, wounding himself and four others, witnesses and medics said.

Nazi Thugs Attack Soccer Fans in Lyon Pub
Fans of the English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur were the target of an anti-Semitic attack in France Wednesday night ahead of the club’s Thursday match in the country.

A gang of thugs chanting Nazi slogans descended upon the Smoking Dog pub in Lyon in what police believe was an incident “of an anti-Semitic” nature and was “well-coordinated.”

Barcelona to play in Israel for peace
Top Spanish soccer club will fly over in July, face Israeli-Palestinian squad

Barcelona FC, one of the most prestigious soccer teams in the world, will play a game in Israel against a team made up of Israeli and Palestinian players, President Shimon Peres and Barcelona’s president, Sandro Rosell, announced Thursday evening.
Peres praised the power of sports to teach people values. The planned game will be “a great celebration and a message for peace to us and our neighbors,” he said at a press conference in Ramat Gan. Children want to be like the Barcelona players, and this project can convey a “good and important message.”