Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Insane Arab rumor: Netanyahu thanked Al Jazeera for screwing up the Arab world

This video was shown on El Balad TV earlier this month:

It shows a supposed letter from Binyamin Netanyahu to Al Jazeera, which says something like, "A special thanks to Al Jazeera for what you did on our behalf in the Arab world, and we are beholden to it for its acts of incitement against our enemies the State of Palestine and against the Egyptian army." (I know I'm missing some words I couldn't make out.)

I grabbed as much of it as I could from the screen:

Ya gotta love people who will believe literally anything as long as it fits into their bigotry.

Muslims desecrate Jewish holy spot with Koranic rituals!

The Al Aqsa Foundation published this video taken this morning, which illustrates - according to them - "Jewish settlers storming and desecrating the Al Aqsa Mosque."

It of course shows the opposite. It shows Muslim usurpers performing Koranic chants at Judaism's holiest spot, while a group of Jews respectfully tour the site.

But you won't find even Israeli headlines that mention the simple fact that Muslims are the thieves, even as Arab newspapers from Egypt to the Gulf have articles daily warning of "Jews storming the mosque" and "performing Talmudic rituals."

Invariably, the "storming" looks exactly like the scene above.

This article is warning about plans for Jews to visit their holiest site on Jerusalem Day tomorrow "to establish Talmudic rituals and dances in the Al-Aqsa Mosque" and the Al Aqsa Foundation is imploring Muslims to block Jews from entering.

05/27 Links Pt1: Daughters of Brussels shooting victims: 'They'll always be with us'

From Ian:

Daughters of Brussels shooting victims: 'They'll always be with us'

Shira and Ayelet Riva, daughters of the Israeli couple killed in the Brussels Jewish Museum shooting, write final letter to parents as their bodies land in Israel: 'We know that they'll always be in our hearts and souls.'
"We couldn't ask for better parents. Loving, caring and good-hearted, who most of all wanted the best for us," wrote Shira and Ayelet Riva in a letter in memory of their parents Emanuel and Miriam Riva, who were killed in the shooting at the Brussels Jewish Museum Saturday, just hours after their bodies arrived in Israel.
In the final letter to their parents, the daughters (16 and 15 years old) wrote that "they went abroad to celebrate their 18th anniversary. Before the trip they promised us we would do a lot of things together after they return, but they won't come back to us.

Tel Aviv couple to be laid to rest; Brussels shooter still at large

The bodies of Emanuel and Mira Riva, the Israeli couple killed in Saturday's shooting at the Brussels Jewish Museum, will be laid to rest at Tel Aviv’s Kiryat Shaul cemetery at 5 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, as investigators continue searching for the perpetrator still at large.
A lone gunman entered the museum with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and opened fire, killing the Rivas and one other, injuring a fourth person. The fourth victim died on Monday.

Belgium sends museum murder file to terrorism prosecutor

Deputy public prosecutor Ine Van Wymersch told a news conference that “the file is transferred to the federal” level, but she refused to say whether or not it was being reclassified as a terrorist act.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Saturday, Joel Rubinfeld, who heads Belgium’s league against anti-Semitism, told AFP it clearly “is a terrorist act” as a man had been seen driving up and entering the museum before opening fire inside and running off. He added that the act was the result of a “climate of hate.”

Brussels gunman was wearing video camera, sources say

Belgian media reported Monday morning that the gunman who killed four people in an attack Saturday at the Brussels Jewish Museum carried out the act while wearing a portable video camera on his chest.
If true, the behavior would be reminiscent of that of Mohammed Merah, who filmed himself killing four people at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, March 2012.
“Sources involved in the investigation” informed several news sites that while reviewing one of the museum’s security videos, it was observed that the suspect was bearing a GoPro brand camera that may have documented the event.

I still can't believe the Pope called Abbas a "man of peace"

Yes, the Pope really said to Mahmoud Abbas, "Mr President, you are known as a man of peace and a peacemaker."

Abbas is the person who bankrolled the Munich Olympic massacre.

This is the person who had bragged that he hasn't budged an inch in negotiations with Israel, and that the Palestinian Arab position hasn't changed since 1988.

This is the person who pretended to dismantle the terrorist groups who belong to the party he heads and never did.

This is the person whose party he leads says, today, that terror is acceptable.

This is the person who publicly celebrates murderers and calls them heroes.

How can anyone call Abbas a "man of peace?"

Unless, of course, you mean that he is willing to bend over backwards to make peace agreements - with terrorist organizations.

Honestly, the only thing remotely peaceful about Abbas is that he no longer actively encourages direct terror attacks against women and children, even while he still praises those who do. To say that this makes him into a "peacemaker" is not only wrong, but an outrage.

Jewish jewelers in Djerba, Tunisia go on strike to protest attacks

Last week:

More reports of heightened anti-Semitism have emerged in the wake of the Brussels shooting attack - this time, in Tunisia.

Masked Muslims entered the main market in Djerba on Thursday, and stabbed Gabriel Ozen, 38, a Jewish jeweler and father of four.

Passerby stated that the assailants yelled, "the nation of Mohammed is coming back to take revenge" shortly before the attack.

Ozen fought the Muslim attacker, but was still stabbed in the chest, authorities said. He was rushed to intensive care in local hospital and is in serious, but stable, condition.

Some background:

Better-known for its sight-seeing and tourist culture, the island of Djerba also houses a majority of Tunisia's Jews. The Jews in Djerba are a hybrid variety, existing both separately and as a part of the rest of Djerban society. On the one hand, in their public lives, they interact daily with fellow Djerbans, Tunisians, and foreigners. On the other hand, Djerba's Jews are firmly tied to their religion and customs, and their private lives are set apart from the rest of Tunisian society.

Many of Djerba's Jews own jewelry shops downtown in the Houmet Souq. They do business with Muslim and Christian partners, and they sell their goods to buyers from all backgrounds. Plenty of them have non-Jewish friends, and the young adults with whom we spoke enjoy conventional activities, such as traveling and going out to night clubs. Moreover, outside the walls of the Hara Kebira - the main Jewish quarter of the island and where most of Djerba's Jews reside - many Jews prefer not to wear a kippah (the religious head covering), and instead make an effort to integrate into local society. Thus, outside of the Jewish quarter, it is difficult to distinguish them from other Djerbans.

Apparently, these attacks against the Jews have become a pattern, and the Jewish jewelers have gone on strike to protest:

Jewish gold dealers continue their strike in Djerba for the second consecutive day against the backdrop of attacks against a number of them, most recently when one was assaulted with knives in the market.

They are angry at what they described as unacceptable actions of a youth in the area who threatened them with murder, according to Mr. Nahum Mamo, who confirmed that there is no difference between a Muslim and a Jew in the Tunisian island of Djerba in the light of peaceful coexistence between the two sides.

Hamas newspaper says Jews are cowards

Felesteen, a Hamas newspaper, has an article that goes through the history of supposed Jewish cowardice from the time of Mohammed on.

According to the article, Jews always cower behind walls, whether it is behind fortifications in Mohammed's time or the ghettos in Europe or the Bar Lev Line or the security fence in the West Bank.

The article ends off with the famous Muslim legend from a hadith that in the future, rocks and trees will tell virtuous Muslims where the Jews are hiding so they can be properly slaughtered in a Halal manner. The Gharqad tree, however, is a Jewish tree and it will stay mum. So Jews plant "Gharqad" trees for protection.

Again, an Arab newspaper forgot the memo about always talking about how much you hate "Zionists," not Jews.

The scenes that the media doesn't show you on "Nakba Day"

Commenter "Joe in Australia" has found some "Nakba Day" video from last year, at the exact same site as the Beitunia incident.

In this video we see more of what the press does during these demonstrations: They stand right next to the people throwing Molotov cocktails. Cheers erupt when one of the firebombs hits a Jeep.

Presumably, this is the sort of stuff that was happening around the corner, in the blind spot of the famous CCTV video.

But just try to get the mainstream media to release this footage of them hanging around with their firebomb-throwing pals. No, they are looking for footage that appears to show Israeli police firing at people who are taking a break from the fighting.

You know CNN and AP and AFP have footage from this year that looks exactly like this - but they don't think it is newsworthy.

Just another example of how cameras can lie.

Keep in mind that essentially every cameraman in these situations is a Palestinian Arab stringer.

(All posts on this topic here.)

05/26 Links Pt2: Kotel Rabbi Tells Pope 'We Have Returned Home'; 88% of Jerusalemites are Happy

From Ian:

Closing a circle

Israel is often portrayed as a pariah state, an entity whose control over contested territory has turned it into an outcast. But that is a far cry from Israel's real standing on the world stage. In 1964, three years before the Six-Day War, when Jerusalem was still divided and Judea and Samaria were still under Jordanian rule, Israel's image was much worse than it is today. Pope Paul VI's visit and the way he conducted himself during his pilgrimage attest to that.
Pope Francis' visit to Mount Herzl was a tribute to the visionary who foresaw the establishment of the Jewish state. His predecessor refused to make the same gesture. Herzl has won; his vision is being realized. Yes, Israel still faces a delegitimization campaign, some seven decades after its founding (this effort is embraced by some inside Israel, as well,) but its overall standing on the world stage is on the rise. Not for nothing do world leaders keep coming. One almost feels as if there is a constant airlift to Israel. The greatest performers hold concerts here, too. Israel has also enjoyed a boost in its economic ties worldwide. This is the triumph of Zionism. The pope's visit to Mount Herzl attests to that.

Kotel Rabbi Tells Pope: 'We Have Returned Home'

Rabbi Rabinowitz noted that the Roman Emperor Titus stole the treasures of the Second Temple, roughly 2,000 years ago; the Arch of Titus in Rome, erected shortly after his death in 81 CE, clearly depicts Roman soldiers bringing to Rome the golden candelabrum and other Temple artifacts.
"It's true, the menorah (candelabrum) and tools of the Temple Titus succeeded in taking; but the light of faith, and the hope to return to the land of our fathers, he did not succeed in extinguishing," remarked the rabbi. "We have traveled a long road home."

Touré Tells Holocaust Survivors Check Your Privilege

MSNBC's Touré believes that having as many as 7 million of your ancestors gassed, burned, and tortured to death simply for the crime of being Jewish is nothing compared to slavery and Jim Crow, because Jews, in the end, had "white privilege," and therefore, could prosper economically.
On Twitter, Touré said the following in response to a Jew exclaiming, in as many words, that if their family could still prosper after the holocaust, then American blacks should be able to do the same after slavery and Jim Crow:
Twitchy has the scathing twitter replies (h/t MtTB)

Documentary about workers at Sodastream

From Stateless Media:

This interesting film follows Abdallah Hany Abu Zayad, a Palestinian Arab who works at the Sodastream factory in the Mishor Adumim industrial park.

It also shows Russian Jews who work at the factory. One, Valery, who works with Abdullah directly, says that "on the outside, they seem to treat me well enough; as for what's in their soul, I have no way of knowing that, now do I?"

The film says that soon after Abdallah started working there, he was personally visited by PA officials who told him he was betraying his country and should quit. He answered that he would be happy to if they could provide a job with the same salary, three times the average salary in the West Bank.

It shows the Arab workers eating what appears to be a company-provided lunch, saying that the chicken is OK that day; sometimes it is very good. It also shows Abdallah praying at the factory.

At the end, Abdallah says that Sodastream chose him to be interviewed by this film crew because they knew he wouldn't say anything bad about them, but at the same time he insists he isn't afraid to say anything negative.

The film ends with a very disturbing poem that Abdallah wrote and proudly reads aloud, describing how women admire him sitting on his throne, but one day "I'll raise my armies in preparation for war....the monster in me awakens, ready to torture and slaughter" - as it shows him working closely with his Jewish colleague.

Did the Pope call for Jews to be able to worship on the Temple Mount?

The official text of the speech Pope Francis gave in front of Israeli president Shimon Peres began:

I am grateful to you, Mr President, for your kind and sage words of greeting and your warm welcome. I am happy to be able to meet you once again, this time in Jerusalem, the city which preserves the Holy Places dear to the three great religions which worship the God who called Abraham. The Holy Places are not monuments or museums for tourists, but places where communities of believers daily express their faith and culture, and carry out their works of charity. Precisely for this reason, their sacred character must be perpetually maintained and protection given not only to the legacy of the past but also to all those who visit these sites today and to those who will visit them in the future. May Jerusalem be truly the City of Peace! May her identity and her sacred character, her universal religious and cultural significance shine forth as a treasure for all mankind! How good it is when pilgrims and residents enjoy free access to the Holy Places and can freely take part in religious celebrations.

This sure sounds like Francis is solidly on the side of Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.

On the other side of the coin, the Al Aqsa Foundation is warning that Jews are planning to do exactly what the Pope is encouraging: going to their holiest spot to pray and celebrate Jerusalem Day, or, in their words, "ceremonial dances and rituals of Talmud at the Al-Aqsa Mosque" to "desecrate the Al Aqsa Mosque."

The official Wafa news agency mentioned this part of the Pope's speech, although probably for different reasons. I don't think they thought this all the way through.

Now it must be mentioned that police cleared the Western Wall of most Jews from the vicinity while he visited there, and they cleared the Temple Mount of practically all Muslims during the Pope's visit there as well. (The Al Aqsa Foundation did not complain about this.)

Removing people who might endanger others is prudent and necessary. Sometimes there is a valid security reason to limit access to holy places. But it is certainly wrong to ban every member of a religion from their own holiest place.

Just ask Pope Francis.

05/26 Links Pt1: Another Anti-Semitic Outrage on the Dark Continent; Iranian 'Happy' Dir. Still in Jail

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Tragedy in Brussels

Once upon a time an exception was made in the anti-Zionist narrative for the sorts of Jews killed in the Shoah. The wandering Jew, the Jew with the portable homeland whose identity was defined by his religion and his religious texts, not his connection to a particular piece of land, was in vogue in Europe. The Jew sans Zionism seemed to represent the very embodiment of a new cosmopolitan, borderless Europe that had eschewed all that had made it evil during the two world wars. Europeans, at least those who bought in to the post-nationalist zeitgeist, seemingly had no problems with the ritual aspects of Judaism. These were the quaint religious ceremonies of an ancient, exiled people.
But for a few years now, there has also been an attack on the religious practices of Europe’s Jews, who are often the collateral damage of an anti-Muslim sentiment.
From attempted bans on circumcision and ritual slaughter to Israel bashing, Europe has become an increasingly inhospitable place for Jews. The tragic attack in Brussels and the intolerable beatings outside Paris are just the latest examples of anti-Semitism again rearing its ugly head, even among Europeans who should have learned from their past.
We call on all European leaders not only to condemn these attacks, but to act swiftly to catch their perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Another Anti-Semitic Outrage on the Dark Continent

It’s often quipped that European governments have a decent record of commemorating dead Jews, as evidenced by the numerous Holocaust memorials across the continent, and a pretty awful record when it comes to protecting live ones. The imperative of guaranteeing freedom of speech necessarily limits any actions that governments can take against anti-Semitic incitement, but that should not prevent European leaders from explicitly recognizing where this poison springs from. It is not enough to say, as did the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, that the Brussels atrocity “was an attack on European values which we cannot tolerate.” Only when Europe’s politicians finally acknowledge that the continent’s culture of Israel-hatred–expressed through boycott campaigns, degrading films and cartoons, frequent analogies between Israel and Nazi Germany or apartheid-era South Africa, and much else besides–is what lies behind this deadly violence, will we finally be able to say that some progress in confronting this social disease has been made.

Netanyahu Says Belgian Prime Minister is Only European Leader to Call Him About Anti-Semitism

The Belgian Prime Minister expressed shock over the murders, condemned all manifestations of anti-Semitism, and sent his condolences to the families of the victims in the call to update Netanyahu on details of the ongoing investigation into the slayings, according to the prime minister’s office.
Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked his Belgian counterpart for the call and offered to cooperate with the investigation, the statement said. He added, “As of now, you are the only European leader who has called me on this issue. I am very disturbed by the growing anti-Semitism in Europe. There must be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism toward Jews and their state.”

Nadim Nawarah was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet

Q: Who falls forward when they are shot from the front?
A: People who are shot in their legs.

By looking at the video I made recently showing Nadim Nawarah's fall synchronized with CNN's video showing Israeli police shooting what is undoubtedly a rubber bullet*, it is clear that he was hit with something. His fall comes at the same time that everyone else around him reacts instinctively to the sound of the shot; he is not play-acting as too-many Israeli "experts" are claiming.

Nawarah gets thrown off balance by being shot in his right leg or thigh. He takes weight off the injured leg, causing him to fall, breaking his fall with his hands. He then pivots to his back as he is falling to avoid his injured leg being further hurt.

Once you realize that he was not shot in the chest, all the other questions people are raising about this video are answered. He wasn't faking falling - he was really shot, but not by live fire.

A small piece of evidence, not definitive but supportive, comes from the high res photo taken during the two seconds he was alone on the ground. It shows an indentation on his pants that would be consistent with a rubber bullet. I would bet there is a large red welt beneath that indentation.

Now, what happened afterwards? I have no idea. If I am right - and I am convinced I am, at least in Nawarah's case - then you have no choice but to say that either he was shot after this incident in the chest, or another dead body was buried, and either this isn't Nawarah or that other person isn't Nawarah.

It is very difficult to say that he was shot in the ambulance or in the hospital or another body was found (actually, two bodies.) As I've said before, I dislike conspiracy theories. However, to believe that Israeli troops disobeyed orders and shot with live fire is a conspiracy theory as well. One way or another, there is a coverup going on, and Arabs in the territories are far less likely to publicly break with the official line than Israelis are.

This doesn't explain the other people shot, of course. We have one more dead person, Muhammad Salama, and one seriously injured person Muhammad Abdallah ‘Azza both of whom were allegedly shot by live fire. But the Nadim Nawarah scam - because on some level that's what it is - puts questions on the entire narrative.

As far as Muhammed Salama, the youth with the green Islamist flag, is concerned, I am having a hard time reconciling the coroner report with the video of his shooting. Here is the CCTV video of him.

He is allegedly shot from the unseen IDF position, which is around the corner from him from the camera's perspective (h/t Yenta)

The coroner report said "the bullet entered the right side of Muhammad’s back and exited the body from his left parasternal area."

I don't see, from that angle and the direction he was walking, how a bullet could have entered his right side and exited his left, unless it changed trajectory within his body (which is certainly possible.) That is hardly strong evidence that he wasn't shot by live fire from the Israelis, but it is something to research.

A further anomaly is that the CCTV videos show Salama shot at 2:58, still lying there at 2:59, yet the medical report says "Muhammad was admitted to the emergency room at the Palestine Medical Complex at 3:00 pm. Immediately upon arrival, he underwent a thoracotomy in which it was discovered that his heart was damaged. At 3:15 pm, after a failed attempt at resuscitation, Muhammad was announced dead." That seems to be a very short timeframe.

It would be wonderful if all the news agencies who were on the scene would release their full video and photo archives from May 15 so they could be examined by third parties, and not only when they think they can support their own narrative as CNN did.

And I want to make it clear that if the border police did use live fire against regulations I would want to see serious punishments meted out. So far, out of all the footage released from news agencies as well as on YouTube, I have not yet seen a single firing of live ammunition.

(All posts on this topic here.)

*In my video I mistakenly focused on the shooter to the furthest right. As Ray in Seattle notes in the comments, it was actually a shooter to his right/our left that fired the rubber bullet that felled Nawarah. It is equally clear that his gun has the rubber bullet attachment. Since then I have changed this video to now show the correct shooter.

Another "work accident"

This morning, Nizar Issa, 25, from Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, was blown up by an "internal explosion."

The Al-Quds Brigades announced that "the martyr was elevated during a mission to perform his jihad duty." He was working with explosives, no doubt for peaceful purposes.

This comes right after a similar explosion killed two Islamic Jihad members yesterday.

By my tally, this makes 21 Palestinian Arabs killed by terrorist internal explosions and rockets in 2014. Which is slightly more than the amount of Arabs confirmed killed by Israeli forces this year.*

My old graphic about "work accidents" seems quaint in light of how often they have happened recently.

*I am not counting the two "Nakba Day" casualties as I see no evidence that Israeli forces used live fire.

Apparently, saying that Jews "stole Palestine" is passe. The cutting edge insult is to say that they "raped" it.

Ahmed Al-Sayed El-Nagar is Chief Economist for the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

He wrote an article in Al Ahram for "Nakba Day" where he says, 12 times, that Zionists "raped" Palestine.

Whenever the anniversary of the Zionist rape of Palestine comes, Arab memory in general, and Egyptian memory in particular, recalls images of Palestine under occupation or the British Mandate letting hordes of rapists of all nationalities pass to its lands. Nothing unified those hordes except the Zionist dream of raping Palestine. The British Mandate gave them public lands and granted them all forms of assistance with the consent and support of the US and the West in general. It allowed them to have the most advanced weapons to form criminal gangs for intimidating and expelling the Arabs and committing heinous massacres against them.

Memory also recalls Zionist and Western myths around Zionist superiority that established an "advanced state" in a developing region and the myth, which is more false still and mean-minded, about Palestinians selling their lands, as if Zionists established Israel on lands they bought, not through raping the land, state and rights of another people. ...

As a matter of fact, when the vast operation of raping Palestine commenced with Jewish immigration in 1904 on a large scale...

...This obviously means that the Zionists didn't buy Palestine but rather raped it in the 1948 War...

As well as those economically exploited agricultural lands, Israel seized the Negev within the War of Rape in 1948.

...Furthermore, by signing the Haavara Agreement, Nazi Germany supported the Zionist solution to the Jewish problem in Europe. This solution was based on establishing a Jewish state through raping Palestine...

...Since the Zionist flow to Palestine was aiming at raping it, the industry was basically military...

Thus, the West provided the machinery and financing, and even the demand, to vitalise the Zionist military industry. In addition, Zionist gangs provided a permanent and increasing source of demand on the Zionist military industry and its products in Palestine. This demand turned into a flood with Zionist preparation for the War of Rape of Palestine by the end of the British Mandate...

In Arabic, the word for "usurp" and "rape" is the same, and I've seen plenty of auto-translations of Arabic articles that talked about how Israel "raped Arab lands" but which I assumed really meant (and I would translate as) "usurped."

It looks like I was being too charitable.

And it also sounds like Mr. Nagar is a bit obsessed with rape. In a country where 99.3% of women are sexually harassed, the deliberate, repeated use of that term is ironic.

Latin Patriarch tells Pope that Israel is Herod and Palestinians are Jesus

The speech given by the Latin Patrriach to the Pope was filled with what can only be considered age-old
Catholic antisemitic imagery.

Holy Father, thank you for the beautiful celebration of the Eucharist here ,where we are so close to the Grotto of the Nativity.

I see a total harmony between your person, your way of leading, your way of addressing the world and the message of Bethlehem. Bethlehem: simplicity, openness, communion, the Divine who becomes incarnate, humbles himself and takes on our human form to be able to love us more.

Yes, a city where, if the Palestinian Arabs would have their way, Jews would be barred - including Rachel's Tomb, which the Patriarch's friends have been trying to usurp from the Jews. How open of them!

It is our wish that your visit will revive in human hearts, the Christmas message, the peace and the warmth of the grotto of Bethlehem.

We fervently hope that your pilgrimage may help each person to experience the greatness of the humility of Bethlehem, to recognise the futility of arrogance and the beauty of childhood and innocence.

"Arrogance" is a codeword among Middle Easterners for Western powers. Iran uses the term most often but it is used by Arabs sometimes as well.

So many children today have been reduced by the great of this world to a life of misery. They are often abandoned, homeless, without parents, and are forced to run around the dusty streets of refugee camps, as they have neither roof nor home to protect them.

Many are young people and children, friends of the child Jesus, who hear the same words spoken to Mary and Joseph “there is no room in the inn”. There is no place for them, neither in the family policy that decides their fate.

Why again are there "refugee camps" in areas under Arab control, including Palestinian Arab control? Why haven't they been replaced with permanent housing? Why have they been treated like dirt for 66 years by their Arab brothers? Why can they not become citizens of their host countries? Why are they considered "refugees" when they live in "Palestine"?

Because the "refugees" are cannon fodder. They are more useful to the cause when they are miserable than when they are happy. The Latin Patriarch has never said a word demanding that they be treated like other Arabs, that they be treated with respect by other Arabs. No, it is easier to keep them homeless to help make the specious comparison between then and baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph, homeless and suffering.

It is worth reminding the world that Israel has tried to build decent homes for the "refugees" and was rewarded with UN resolutions condemning them. The reason for homelessness for 66 years has nothing to do with Israel.

There is no place for children in legislations. Neither do they take part in negotiations for a peace that never finds its way to reach us, a peace that fails to break through the walls of fear and distrust that surround this city. In the footsteps of the Divine Child, our young people have experienced migration, hunger, cold, and also often, the demolition of their homes.

Walls of fear and mistrust? Is the Catholic leader now blaming Jews for not happily embracing being blown to bits by terrorists?

The wall does not "surround" Bethlehem. Not even close.

And once again, he compares Palestinian Arab children to Jesus, and Jews to his oppressors.

Together with you Most Holy Father, today we beg the child Jesus, to expand His grotto to welcome and accommodate the many children who are victims of violence and injustice. How can we forget to pray for the many prisoners in overcrowded prisons…

Prisoners who presumably can be forgiven for their terrorism and murder but those Jews who do not accept Jesus are damned.

They hunger for a piece of bread, yearn for justice and peace, destitute for a welcoming home. We are not yet done with the present-day Herods, who fear peace more than war, who dread the prosperity of families and who are prepared to continue killing.

There you have it. Today's Jews are the Herods while Palestinian Arab children are Jesus.

Most Holy Father, your arrival here was preceded by your reputation as a man of God, as a true leader who knows how to govern, and a true brother for all of us. We, the descendants of the first shepherds, in response to the invitation of the angels, we are with you in Bethlehem to adore the Child and to pay tribute to His parents.

And if the Palestinians are "descendants of the first shepherds" then the Jews are usurpers and thieves.

He is so loving!

Unfortunately, Pope Francis, whether by design or not, echoed one of the Patriarch's points:

And we have to ask ourselves: Who are we, as we stand before the Child Jesus? Who are we, standing as we stand before today’s children? Are we like Mary and Joseph, who welcomed Jesus and care for him with the love of a father and a mother? Or are we like Herod, who wanted to eliminate him? Are we like the shepherds, who went in haste to kneel before him in worship and offer him their humble gifts? Or are we indifferent?

Since the Jews have already been compared to Herod and Palestinians to Jesus, Francis' questions sound a bit too rhetorical.

(h/t Irene)

UPDATE: One of the videos welcoming the Pope says that Jesus was the first Palestinian refugee. (Turn on subtitles.)