Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Egypt quietly and severely restricting travel from Gaza

Hamas' interior minister is complaining that while Egypt claimed to open the Rafah crossings, it is only allowing a limited number of people (medical cases, students) to cross. People, even if they have valid papers, are not being allowed to go into Egypt.

Hamas is requesting clarification from Egypt as to the reasons for the new restrictions.

Lebanese parliament debates giving PalArabs basic rights

MEMRI quotes Arab newspapers Al-Hayat and Al-Safir:

A stormy argument broke out yesterday, June 15, in the Lebanese parliament over several bills calling for expanding the civil rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. One bill concerned the refugees’ right to purchase property in Lebanon.

The dispute was between Muslim MPs, who supported the bill, and Christian MPs – from both the opposition and the coalition – who vehemently opposed it, claiming that it would promote the naturalization of the refugees in Lebanon.

During the meeting, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, who supported the bill, called the issue a humanitarian one.

Al-Hariri warned that the day would come when the entire world would come to Lebanon to remove the siege on the Palestinians in Lebanon,just as today they are sending flotillas aimed at removing the siege on Gaza.

In the end, it was decided to postpone the vote for a month.

In fact, the Lebanese treat Palestinian Arabs far worse than Israel ever did. The Lebanese literally keep the Palestinian Arabs in camps, they allow paramilitary groups to rule over the PalArabs there, they severely restrict their civil liberties and rights, and they steadfastly refuse to allow generations of Arabs born on Arab soil to become citizens of the only country they have ever been in.

In Lebanon, however, party politics are incredibly complex, and the people who vote for or against rights for PalArabs could easily switch sides in an instant based on other alliances and considerations. Chances are, in this case, that the Christians are most concerned over the possibility of hundreds of thousands of new Muslim citizens further diluting the balance of power in Lebanon between different religious groups more towards Sunnis.

All Lebanese political parties agree that naturalizing Palestinian Arabs is anathema to the country, but some seem to be realizing that one day the West will wake up to their institutionalized bigotry. Right now they use Israel as a misdirection to keep the heat off, but all the world needs to do is ask a very simple question: Why do the Lebanese treat their Palestinian Arab brethren worse than Israel does? Exposing that hypocrisy is one of the many dangers to Lebanon.

(h/t Islamo-nazism blog)

A dubious Dutch politician

You might have read about the Dutch parliamentary elections which were held this month. Many newspapers focussed on the Netherlands shifting to the right and the politician Wilders.

One of the parties participating in these elections and winning some seats in the parliament (10 out of 150) was the progressive, left-winged party GroenLinks (GreenLeft). Personally I deeply appreciate its party leader, Femke Halsema, whom I trust to be seriously progressive and left-winged. E.g., concerning the Islamic headscarf she said:

(...) When I come to my children’s school it’s difficult for me – I really come straight out of the feminist movement – that I then sit among all types of veiled women. I will not attack their rights in there. But I can’t wait for the moment when they’ll freely fling off their headscarf. I prefer each woman in the Netherlands to be headscarf-less. And completely free. I don’t believe that any God has clothing requirements too. It was the men who expounded faith.
You don’t coerce women’s emancipation from the top. It must come from the woman herself. I have said that police agents should be able to wear headscarves. I have quarreled with Ciska Dresselhuys [a well-known feminist, Suz.], who did not want to accept any woman with a headscarf for Opzij magazine. That that doesn’t alter the fact that I have difficulties with the headscarf.
I notice it in my neighborhood: Naturally Islam is a problem. Indeed, especially Islam in combination with illiteracy. It is: having few opinions of your own about the good life. Not having much foothold in education and work, fearing our society and thereby being very receptive to what the imam thinks. Who is often very conservative.

Currently the biggest parties (liberal (VVD), Christian (CDA) and the party of Wilders (PVV)) are trying to form a coalition so that they can govern the country. If that fails however, it might be that there will be a more left-winged coalition which might mean that the GreenLeft party will be in the government as well.

As a concerned Dutch citizen, I believe it's my duty to unveil some background information on one of the new members of the Dutch parliament connected to this sympathetic small GreenLeft party: Arjan el Fassed.

Arjan el Fassed was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a PalArab father (Walid el Fassed). He had lived for a while in ar-Ram and in Nablus (The boring truth, Jerusalem Post, Aug 21, 1998). He is best known for his book "Niet iedereen kan stenen gooien" (Not everyone can throw stones) and being an editor for and co-founder of the Electronic Intifada. He worked as a program manager for Oxfam Novib, an organization which he himself considers not impartial.

El Fassed is not in favor of a two state solution, contrary to what GreenLeft stands for!

Arjan el Fassed is the one behind the Mandela-Hoax. He, himself, made up that Mandela had said the following:

“Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.”

Jimmy Carter even cited the letter. But Mandela never said, wrote or endorsed those words. Nevertheless, this quote started to live an own life and Israel-haters continue to use this fabricated Mandela-quote. Thanks to Mr. el Fassed.

Arjan el Fassed is connected to the organization al-Awda (The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition). That Mandela-memo he published on al-Awdas mailing list.

A "lovely" organization which talks about "Israel" rather than Israel:

Al-Awda's 2004 convention adopted by an overwhelming consensus a number of "points of unity", among which were included Al-Awda's vision, objectives and strategies. The "points of unity", which were later adopted by Al-Awda, advocated, first, the establishment "of an independent, democratic state for all its citizens in all of Palestine ... which encompasses present-day 'Israel', the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

And last, but definitely not least. Arjan el Fassed worked for LAW: the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights, the PLO legal advocacy lobby:

Ascherman identified the LAW organization, the PLO legal advocacy lobby. Yet a call to LAW revealed that LAW does not deal with the question of uprooting of trees. The LAW spokesman, Arjan El Fassed explained, that while LAW is not a humanitarian organization per se. He mentioned that monies that they receive from the Rabbis for Human Rights go to the families of the "martyrs" who have been killed over the past ten months. Asked to define what he means by "martyrs", El Fassed described the various attacks in which Palestinians have died in attacks on Israelis. In other words, the Rabbis for Human Rights have been providing funds for the families of Suicide Bombers.

Hezbollah, Iran behind this weekend's "aid" ships. Is a bloodbath planned?

Ya Libnan reports on the women's "aid" ship that is supposed to sail from Lebanon to Gaza this weekend:

An aid ship transporting medical supplies to Gaza will leave Lebanon in the coming days with dozens of women activists on board, one of the organisers told AFP on Tuesday.

“We are all independent women who believe in breaking the siege on Gaza and are committed to the enmity of the Zionist entity,” said Samar Hajj, who is coordinating the trip.

She stressed the women were not affiliated with the militant group Hezbollah, or any other political organisation.

“This has nothing to do with Hezbollah even though it is an honour for us to be supporters of the resistance,” said Hajj, whose husband Ali Hajj was one of four generals detained for nearly four years in connection with the 2005 car bombing that killed then Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri and 22 others.

Ali Hajj, who was domestic security chief, was released from prison in April last year after a UN-backed tribunal said there was insufficient evidence against the generals.

As I reported yesterday, the Palestinian Arabic media was reporting that Hezbollah was behind the ship. For for more direct proof, just go to the Syria Truth website.

In one article, written back on June 6th, it describes how Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah publicly said he will be supporting many ships to be sent to Gaza, and hinting that Turkey was coordinating its efforts to break the blockade by coordinating with Hezbollah, saying that "the red flag is making decisions based on the yellow flag."

That article also quoted sources saying that Nasrallah was planning to hide Hezbollah's actions by pretending that the ships are being sent by NGOs - some pre-existing and some to be invented by Hezbollah. For example, one of the weekend's ships is sponsored by "Reporters Without Limits" but it is not, as some reported, Reporters Without Borders, rather an organization completely made up by Hezbollah and employing Hezbollah reporters!

These deceptions are being made, according to that article, "in full coordination with Damascus and Tehran," in order to embarrass Israel.

More worryingly, the article says that Hezbollah was dismissive of the Free Gaza organizers of the "Rachel Corrie" ship, saying they were naive and silly for giving up meekly without a fight. This gave Israel a propaganda victory by contrasting their actions against those of IHH. The implication is that Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors plan to provoke another Mavi Marmara response.

A later Syria Truth article states that Samar Hajj, the spokeswoman of the women's ship, came up with the idea for that ship after hearing Nasrallah speak at a rally for the victims of the flotilla raid saying that he wanted to send ships from Lebanon. She contacted Hezbollah leaders who quickly coordinated the logistics of what she referred to as a ship of "Women's Resistors" - something that an individual could not possibly do in such a short time period (it takes Free Gaza months to arrange even a single boat.)

As we saw from the "freedom flotilla' incident, while Free Gaza and others offer de facto support for armed "resistance," they had no intention to start a fight with the IDF - it was the IHH, in almost certain coordination with Turkey, that planned a violent confrontation. Hezbollah is no less violent that IHH. Given the fact that Hezbollah views these ships as military, with the sole goal to provoke another Mavi Marmara incident, a women's ship may be the perfect way to accomplish that. We already see that the media even today refers to the flotilla as an "aid" flotilla when even its own organizers admit that the aid is a ruse to gain a political victory.

Nothing would make Israel's enemies happier than to see women being killed aboard this ship. I don't know how they might try to provoke the IDF into violence - maybe explosive booby traps on some areas of the ship that the women will lead the soldiers to. Or maybe equipping the "humanitarians" with paintball guns or toy guns that look real to provoke a deadly response.

The "reporter" ship might be an even bigger problem, with Hezbollah fighters and members masquerading as reporters secure in the knowledge that the media will be naturally sympathetic to their own people. The people on that ship must be identified and exposed immediately.

Hezbollah already has a history of trying to imitate and outdo other successful operations against Israel. Their kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, provoking the 2006 war, came only weeks after Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in Gaza - a major embarrassment for Israel at the time. The first Syria Today article indicates that Hezbollah has the same itch again.

Let's hope that the cameras are rolling from many different angles when the ships are intercepted.

UPDATE: YNet Hebrew reveals the ties between the "Free Palestine" movement that is organizing the weekend's ships and Hezbollah - and publishes a picture of Samar Hajj with Hassan Nasrallah:

UPDATE 2:

Added paintball scenario above.

Who is the biggest danger to world peace?

From MEMRI TV:

Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by a Hamas-affiliated preacher from Jabalya, Gaza, on June 11, 2010, and aired on Al-Aqsa TV.
Preacher: Whoever believes that our battle with the Jews and the Crusaders has subsided or is dormant is living in delusions. Do you know why, oh distinguished people? Do you know why the conflict continues and will continue until the Day of Judgment? Because the Communist East and the Capitalist West fear nothing as much as they fear the proclamation that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His messenger. They fear nothing as much as they fear the words “Allah Akbar.”
[...]
The Jews are convinced that their annihilation and the destruction of their state will never be accomplished by secular, reactionary, pan-Arab, or Ba’thist regimes. Their annihilation and the destruction of their state will only be achieved through Islam, by those who bow before Allah.

This is what I mean when I say that political Islam is truly evil.

And the political dimension as an integral part of Islamic belief. That will never change. Even so, I believe that the West can fight Islam as a political philosophy while not fighting it as a personal belief system.

In this case, the sheikh is not acting as a religious figure in the modern Western sense; rather he is a political activist inciting against Jews, Christians, Israel and the entire Western world. He is engaging in hate speech and he is inciting to genocide. He shows no more love for Western leftists than he does for Jewish Zionists - they are all the same enemy to him.

Supposedly, a mere 7% of Muslims worldwide are considered "extremist" even by Islam's biggest fans - which comes out to over 100 million people. The same poll found that 300,000,000 Muslims consider 9/11 "mostly or fully" justified.

Who is more dangerous to world peace - 6 million Jews in Israel who hold every possible political and religious opinion, or 300 million Muslims who fully agree with this preacher?

Islamic leaders about to pass "Islamophobia" resolution at the UN

From Al Arabiya:

Muslim states said on Wednesday that what they call "islamophobia" is sweeping the West and its media and demanded that the United Nations take tougher action against it.

Delegates from Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Egypt, told the United Nations Human Rights Council that treatment of Muslims in Western countries amounted to racism and discrimination and must be fought.

"People of Arab origin face new forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and experience discrimination and marginalization," an Egyptian delegate said, according to a U.N. summary.

And Pakistan, speaking for the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the council's special investigator into religious freedom should look into such racism "especially in Western societies".

Acting for the OIC, Pakistan has tabled a resolution at the council instructing its special investigator on religious freedom "to work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity".

The OIC -- and its allies in the 47-nation council including Russia, China and Cuba -- dub criticism of Muslim practices and linking of terrorism waged under the proclaimed banner of Islamism as "islamophobia" that pillories all Muslims.

Diplomats say the resolution, which also tells the investigator to make recommendations to the Human Rights Council on how its strictures might be implemented, is bound to pass given the majority the OIC and its allies have in the body.

The UN Human Rights Council, already a cesspool of hypocrisy, is now turning into a rubber-stamp body for the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

And, as usual, they are accusing the West of crimes that they are far more guilty of.

Hamas makes "collaborator" accusations against Gaza NGOs

From the Palestinian Center for Human Rights:

In its issue no. 1096, published on 10 June 2010, Palestine Daily quoted the Mr. Al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior in a press conference on Wednesday, 9 June 2010 as saying: "Influential figures in non-governmental organizations gave up to security services in response to the deadline specified by the Palestinian government in the context of efforts of the national campaign against collaboration with the occupation." Mr. Al-Ghussein added: "We were surprised as a number of these figures assume leadership and important positions in non-governmental and civil society organizations." "A number of veteran collaborators who were not suspected gave up to security services."

PCHR is incensed at the implication that its members might be people who actually help save Jewish lives and fight terrorism. They indignantly demand:

[The PCHR}:

Strongly rejects these unprofessional statements, especially the ambiguous generalization adopted by the Ministry of Interior, which characterize non-governmental and human rights organizations as sanctuary for collaborators. These statements are completely unacceptable and must be withdrawn. PCHR demands the Ministry of Interior publish the available data regarding the identity of persons alleged to collaborate with the Israeli occupation forces in accordance with the applicable legal standards and to bring those persons to justice. PCHR further stresses that it rejects and condemns the generalized accusations practically and legally;

Renews its firm position regarding the duty of the Palestinian Authority to prosecute collaborators, bring them to justice and hold them accountable in accordance with the provisions of the law. Collaborators are an integral part of the occupation and one of its most dangerous tools implanted in the body of the Palestinian people.

PCHR never, ever condemns terrorist acts - even between Palestinian Arabs - in such strong terms.

This Hamas accusation comes in the context of Hamas' recent closing of at least a half-dozen NGOs and charities in Gaza, something that most Western media never really got around to reporting.

Administrivia open thread

Things are starting to calm down a little from the craziness last week, but it is still a very busy time here at EoZ.

This has already been my second-busiest month ever, with 76,000 hits. And there are still two weeks to go! (January 2009, during Cast Lead, was the busiest, at 83K.)

I need to apologize to anyone who sent me an email that I didn't respond to, or that I responded to tersely. I very much appreciate feedback and links and acknowledge the ones that I can, but I know I didn't reply to everyone (and I just noticed that some ended up in my spam folder.) It is just that with the little free time I have, I would rather communicate with thousands of people than with one. Nonetheless, many of the best posts of the past couple of weeks have been from links that people sent in email. (I am biased towards links I have not seen on other blogs, and links to stories that are from that same day's news.)

I also have to occasionally do my day job. And, oh yes, sleep.

Suzanne has been a great help in that regard, posting great stuff.

I also added the "Share" button at the end of every post. If you like something posted here, and you have an account on one of the social networking sites listed (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, or any of the hundreds of others listed there,) please just spend the few seconds it takes to click on the appropriate icon and forward it on. You never know which post will go viral or hit a nerve, but many good posts (IMHO) don't get the publicity they deserve because they never hit that elusive critical mass. If you want to help out the blog, that's the single best thing you can do.

Anyway, here's an open thread....

Israeli music video about world reaction to the raid

Lyrics:

Chorus x 2:
When the world's gone lost
We're gonna help you find the way
Too much drama in my eyes that I can't hide
When the world's gone lost
I don't plan to fall with it

Verse 1 - Ruff:
I'm on the wrong side of the map, activists with knifes got me trapped
Surrounded by hostility, trying not to react
Flotillas of hatred, ‫we're‬ caught in the matrix
I'm trying to survive, they're pulling the same tricks
This international hypocrisy won't get us far
One-sided media puts us behind bars
Nations with no minorities, judging ‫with no‬ authority
They're gonna tell me how to deal with what's in front of me
What about Sudan and North Korea? Could they care less?!
They wanna boycott us, they're gonna share less
We're lying on the fence for the rest of the world
Provide a buffer zone ‫while‬ overseas they get us sold
I know my people can be divided at times
Got too many opinions with too much shit on our minds
You can hate us now, we ain't gonna fight it
You're only making us stronger and more united

Chorus:
When the world's gone lost
We're gonna help you find the way
Too much drama in my eyes that I can't hide
When the world's gone lost
I don't plan to fall with it

Verse 2 - SHI 360:
‏But I‪'‬m already home and the media distorts your vision
‏Got blind followers here in full submission
‏Provocateurs,‬ they just wanna instigate
‏And create the image you love to hate
‏You can talk about humanitarian aid
‏Politically affiliated IHH
‏Guess who's more popular? Erodgan
‏Fuck left and right‪,‬ we should all stand as one
‏You really thought we were gonna let ‪'e‬m in?
‏When yesterday they tried to bring Karine
‏A - was that aid or to arm Jihad?
‏Wanna talk about aid‪?‬ What about Gilad‪?‬
‏Because the horse is trojan, doors not open
‏I gotta do whatever to protect my home and
‏I‪'‬m a peace dealer, my flow killa
‏But no peace came at me on the flotilla

Chorus x 2:
When the world's gone lost
We're gonna help you find the way
Too much drama in my eyes that I can't hide
When the world's gone lost
I don't plan to fall with it

עם ישראל חי

(h/t Yerushalimey)

An offensive comment - with a tiny grain of truth

Viiit comments on my posting on the fundamental problem with Israel's PR:

Actually there is a solution, especially in regard to the third group, the leftists.

Their need is to dress their hate in acceptable, "revolutionary", "progressive" dress.

Their hatred can and must be re-directed towards Arabs and Muslims.

Their psychological need is to hate, and they don't necessarily need to hate Jews.
Speaking openly about how disgusting Arabs and Muslims are, will shift their hatred.
I am speaking from my personal experience. I have converted several leftist by teaching them about Islam:

Muhammad the pedophile, mass-murderer, etc. Is the best point. Additionally Arab and Muslims oppression of women. Beating of wives as commanded by Koran, FGM, "honor" killings etc.

Let's defer to the master of propaganda, Goebbels: Chose just a few points and repeat them endlessly.
1. Arabs and Muslims are liars.
2. Muhammad was as subhuman liar, pedophile and mass-murderer.
3. Muslims sexually abuse their boys and girls in huge numbers and this is the basis of their personality.

Zvi correctly responded:

Creating hatred is NEVER the right answer.

However, there is a tiny grain of truth in viiit's comments, distasteful as they are.

Negative propaganda will always get more press, more publicity, and greater receptivity than positive counter-propaganda. It's just the nature of humanity. Tabloid headlines rarely celebrate good news.

While disparaging Islam as a religion is not a desirable nor effective tactic, we should not be shy about denouncing as loudly as possible the human rights abuses endemic in Arab and Muslim countries. The perception that Israel is uniquely evil, when it is surrounded by countries who are infinitely worse by every possible metric, can only be changed by educating people about that reality.It wouldn't directly counter anti-Israel rhetoric but it would dilute it greatly - as well as expose the hypocrisy of the haters.

More importantly, we need to speak forthrightly about political Islam - and make a clear distinction between that and the personal choice to practice Islam.

Islam as a religion may be offensive to some, but as long as its adherents are not forced to practice it (i.e., the religious police in Saudi Arabia who arrest retailers whose shops are open during prayer times, Iran kicking women off of planes for not being "properly dressed," Dubai authorities jailing couples who kiss) there is nothing wrong.

But Islam is not merely a personal belief system; it is a political movement as well - one as dangerous as Communism or Nazism. People, especially on the left, are skittish to recognize this fact because they don't want to give the appearance of impinging on religious freedom or of disparaging Islam, but the fact is that global Islam is political and not religious in the Western sense.

And political Islam is truly evil.

Political Islam as a philosophy is expansionist, colonialist, oppressive, racist, intolerant, supremacist - and murderous. It openly advocates violence against those who do not submit to its superiority. It is thoroughly against everything that liberals hold dear.

Moreover, political Islam is a threat not only to Israel but to the entire world. While Western-backed "moderate" Muslim governments carefully and soberly denounced 9/11, the fact is that their people cheered - and they reflect the reality of what political Islam has taught them for generations. Heroes in the Arab and Muslim world are not those who pretend to follow a Western-style liberal program but rather those who stand up to the West. There is no comparison between the popularity of a Mubarak and a Nasser. The World Trade Center terrorists were a product of "moderate" Saudi Arabia.

If people want to call Islam a "religion of peace," let them. But it is also a political philosophy of never-ending war between Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb - between Muslim countries and everyone else. That fact must not be swept under the rug because of fears of being labeled an "Islamophobe."

These are the facts that must be repeated over and over again. Not coincidentally, they mirror almost exactly Muslim lies about Judaism and Israel. In other words, institutionalized Muslim anti-Zionism and anti-semitism is, in no small way, a massive redirection to keep Westerners from noticing the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of the accusers to begin with.

It is well past time to remediate this.

Israeli PR redux (Zvi)

Zvi, commenting on my post on how the hasbara problem is more fundamental, writes:

Israel (and Israel supporters) also need to learn that

1. Israeli PR must not only address those who already understand the conflict, but also those who do not; for all that there is heavy news coverage of Israel, it is, in much of the world, short on facts and long on libels and deliberately mind-narrowing boilerplate. Israeli PR often assumes that you understand the lingo and that you already identify Hamas as a terrorist organization. But if you're talking to a young, moderate left-leaner from the UK or Norway or Spain, it's unlikely that this person "gets" the references made by Israel or that anyone has been telling them the truth about Hamas.

2. The Israeli government's PR team (I'm not talking about unaffiliated supporters of Israel) needs to mobilize quickly. PR battles are typically won within the first 24 hours of the news cycle, and Israel almost always loses them during that period.

3. Israel, nevertheless, needs to remain scrupulously truthful.

4. Israel's PR team needs to take the initiative rather than being mostly reactive. One of the reasons for #2 is that Israel is far too reluctant to take the initiative. And by "take the initiative," I do NOT mean putting up paper ads in the UK tube system so that they can be torn down or removed via lawfare. Israel's detractors and enemies publish a constant stream of anti-Israel fluff & libel, complete with multimedia, reports, ads, etc. that are treated as objective reports and hard news by media around the world. They are funded by Israel's enemies and so-called friends. Israel's enemies manufacture a lot of imaginary humanitarian crises. Israel's enemies spend a lot of time in the media creating and repeating shameless lies. Israel spends a lot of time reacting to this stuff. And it should. But it also needs to spend a lot of time communicating the reality of Israel, and it is not doing that.

If you were going to design PR for Israel, what are some of the things that you might include in a PR campaign? How about some short stuff that would actually break the mold, that would actually inform people? Here are a few thoughts, none of which are likely to be particularly original.

* the true story of an Iraqi or Yemenite or Iraqi Jewish family living in Israel. Also, maybe people who lived in the refugee camps near Sderot

* I can also imagine ads featuring a variety of ordinary Israelis talking about ordinary, daily-life things, also about aspirations. Voiceover at the end providing context, possibly surprising context.

* life in Sderot - rockets = hundreds of thousands of military hand grenades (Michael Yon)

* This week, Israel delivered X amount of aid to Gaza. Why do so many news services deny that this is happening?

* use metaphors, starting with cops trying to stop gunmen and only afterward identifying the cop and gunman with the middle east: if a cop trying to stop a gunman from shooting at civilians hits another person by accident, after trying hard to avoid this, it's a tragedy. The gunman was the criminal (and the cop may be crying over the civilian death without being a war criminal). Hamas fighters are the gunman, Israeli soldiers the cop. I can imagine this as a TV or print ad as well as an online video. Break out of the prejudices of the middle east conflict and the crazed lies that accompany it in order to allow people to be openminded before coming back to it. Israel's position is the rational one here.

* Creation of a professional quality web site, with interesting and constantly refreshed content, including youtube videos, integration with social networking, etc. This needs to provide content that the media, bloggers, etc. can use. It needs to be a go-to site for information and it needs to provide content if Israel's cynical enemies get that content banned on youtube (at which point the youtube video should be replaced with a video of a person who tells viewers where to go to find the video, plus a clickable link for those who have half of a clue). I'm sorry, but the MFA web site doesn't cut it. This one requires a serious ongoing commitment.

* One thing on that site (while I generally favor proactivity) should be a set of SIMPLE, CONCISE myth/fact pages, clearly laid out by native English speakers. Better yet, myth/fact/recommended action. I'm talking about 2 PowerPoint slide's worth of content or 1 minute of video. People who want more info can be directed to more detailed info, but the 2 slides or video need to be clear, concise & professional. The Israel/apartheid thing can be exploded very concisely, and aid to gaza or rockets falling on sderot can have some short briefs too.

* Video: Israel's invitation to Iran to abandon a completely pointless conflict. To Turks, with whom there should literally be no conflict of interest and with whom there has been friendship. Whatever. Israel's position is rational and sane, but it gets mischaracterized and filtered through distorting channels. Bibi is quite capable of acting as Israel's spokesperson for public statements like this. Invitation to the Pals, though there is no chance that Abbas will accept it, or to the Arabs, particularly if Netanyahu thinks that he can provide an Israeli Peace Plan (an even more critical area where Israel has ceded the initiative to others).

And I know that Israel is a small country, with small budgets, but it's got a big problem and it needs to address that problem with speed, creativity, clarity and wisdom.

A counter-review of "Palestine Betrayed" (Aaron)

I asked one of my non-Zionist commenters, Aaron Carine, who is critical of Israel but very well-read about Israel's history, to write up a review of the Ephraim Karsh book "Palestine Betrayed" that I reviewed and excerpted last month. Here is Aaron's review and my comments:

Karsh presents a wealth of new information on Zionist-Arab-British geopolitics,as well as what was going on among Palestinians in 1948. But his boast of having refuted the New Historians is premature.

Take his account of 1948. Karsh offers nothing to support his claim that there were only a few expulsions--and it needs support,considering that over a hundred expulsions are recorded in Israeli archives. He deals with Arab and Jewish terrorism,but leaves out most of the massacres of Arabs by Israeli infantry,and even expresses skepticism about the Deir Yassin massacre. He records the Israeli offers at Lausanne,but omits the initiatives by Egypt and Syria(first uncovered, I think, by Simha Flapan). He also makes it sound as though Ben-Gurion's offer to take back 100,000 refugees was unconditional,which it wasn't.

Karsh's insistence that there was no conflict between Zionism and Arab interests strikes me as naive. He constantly quotes Zionist statements about coexistence,but doesn't see the inconsistency between this and a Palestine "as Jewish as England is English". The statements of Herzl, Ben-Gurion and others about transfer are left out, as is the eviction of Arab peasants and shepherds.

There are little errors, such as his claim that the Zionists accepted the Peel partition plan---the World Zionist Congress rejected it(cf. Christopher Sykes, Crossroads to Israel). Sometimes,when he differs with a New Historian they both cite contemporary sources, so we have no basis,beyond our prejudices, for choosing.

The quote of Palestine as "Jewish as England is English" was from Chaim Weizmann, testifying before the Peel Commission in November 1936. Here is the Palestine Post article that mentions it:

In that same testimony, however, Weizmann emphasizes both his hopes for Arab-Jewish cooperation as well as the frustrations Jews had in being discriminated against by the Arabs and his feelings that the Arabs were treated badly - by Great Britain! (click to enlarge)

From my own readings of contemporaneous Jewish Palestinian sources, it is clear to me that the quotes about "transfer" and other quotes that indicate bigotry against Arabs by the Jewish leadership have been taken out of context (not to mention the many that are wholly fiction.) Here is just one example - Weizmann spoke about Arabs at length to the Commission, yet only one sentence makes it into the "New Historians' " books. Karsh contextualizes it more accurately while the "New Historians" emphasize only the anti-Arab sounding statements and ignore the far more numerous ones that indicate sympathy and the desire for cooperation. Whether Karsh goes to far in the other direction is an open question, but his viewpoint is clearly ignored by the revisionists.

As far as how the Jews responded to the Peel Commission recommendations, it appears that the Zionist Executive of the WZO accepted it in theory but rejected the specific borders and they were charged with further negotiations concerning the matter. The absolute Arab rejection made that point moot.

A small indication of Iran's obsession with Israel

The Iranian Al-Alam satellite channel is aimed mostly at the worldwide Arabic audience. On its webpage, the top navigation menu includes these items in the Farsi edition:

Home
Top News
Iran
World Reports
Private Chat
Israel
Regional developments
Links
Articles

Their Arabic edition has a similar menu:

Home
All News
Policy
Reports and analysis
Hebrew newspapers
Economy
Sport
Science and Technology
Entertainment
Headlines

Their English edition, however, is missing the top-level Israel menu item.

Pro-Israel aid ship "Gilad Shalit" from the Netherlands?

The Kuwait News Agency reports:

Pro-Israeli bodies in the Netherlands are organizing a ship that is to head to Israel, carrying humanitarian aid destined for Sderot and Gaza Strip, Radio Israel reported.

This comes as an effort to counter the anti-Israeli Freedom Flotilla campaign trying to break the siege on Gaza and to strike and weaken international solidarity with the strip.

The ship is carrying the name of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in Gaza,"with the participation of a number of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim peace activists, politicians, and people in media," the radio added.

This campaign is organized by members of a pro-Israeli Christian society, and members of the Jewish community in the Netherlands, besides Dutch intellectuals.

The organizers informed the Israeli Embassy in the Netherlands of their planned journey to Israel.

I see nothing about this except in the Arab media.

Self-hating Jews to convene in Detroit

Jews who hate Israel, other Jews - and themselves - will be meeting in Detroit this weekend to denounce Israel and Zionism. Here's a small part of their vitriolic press release, courtesy of the Electronic Intifada site:

Overcoming Zionist ideas and practice is crucial, first and foremost, because of the impact of its institutionalized racism and colonialism on the people of Palestine and the broader region. This impact manifests in the demand for political, legal and economic power for Jews and European people and cultures over indigenous people and cultures. This racism is also the cause of the extensive displacement and alienation of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of African and Asian descent) from their diverse histories, languages, traditions and cultures and in the marginalization and economic exploitation of its Mizrahi population and migrant workers within Israeli society. Zionism is also anti-Semitic in its rejection of Jewish cultures and histories -- including both Jews who are "other" than European and the European Jewish "victim" which it attempted to distance itself from in the creation of the "new Jew."

Look how much these "Jews" care about Jewish culture and history! They complain about Israeli discrimination against Jews from Arab countries - fifty years ago. Yet they don't ask how many of these same Jews would prefer to have stayed in the Arab nations that treated them with as much respect. After all, Arab massacres against Jews were not nearly as bad as European massacres, so those Jews - around half of Israel's population - must really want to move back to Syria and Yemen and Egypt, right?

In fact, the Jews at this conference care so much about Jewish history and culture that they are opening their conference on Shabbat!

These self-loathing Jews, who are so much against "the rejection of Jewish culture and history," show their naked hypocrisy by invoking their own usurpation of even secular Jewish history, as can be seen by their poster for their meeting:

This is a Photoshop of a photo of a demonstration against child labor that took place in 1909:

Who is manipulating the history of their people again?

The sponsors are the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, whose anti-Israel demonstrations generally attract a handful of people. Their only tie to Judaism is to pervert it as a weapon for being against Israel, as their page of their events shows: they had a Tashlich ceremony and a Chanukah party, for example..

I wonder how many of them came home from that party to a real menorah in their home? Nah, that would be too Zionist - the celebration of Jews defeating the non-Jewish usurpers of their land. To them, that party was about dreidels and latkes.

(h/t Philosémitisme blog)

Israel's PR problem is more fundamental

Soccer Dad reproduces an email from an Israeli public relations expert:

Why Israel Cannot Solve Its PR Challenge (or, It's The Message, Stupid!)

By Glenn Jasper

Much has been written over the past few weeks - ever since "The Flotilla Affair" - about the overall weakness of Israel's PR, both when crises hit and in general. And they all brought wonderful examples of how and why Israel's PR has missed the mark.

But I'm afraid they've missed the mark as well.

To understand why we are failing, we must first look at why the other side is succeeding. And the answer to that question is simple: A unified message.

After 9/11, Israel was unified, not only in its condemnation of the attack, but in its message to the world of "You see! This is what we've been going through! Now, do you understand us?"

But time has "healed," and we have once again descended to our previous disagreements and ideologies. We are not united.

And sadly, if Israel itself is not unified - as our enemies are, for the purpose of destroying Israel - then there will be no unified message, and we will continue to lose the PR battle, even if we are right.

So, please do not waste your time analyzing the PR strategy - or even lack thereof - or tactical approach of the Israeli government. It's not about that. It's the same problem that has plagued the Jewish people for centuries. We can't unify. Even about a message. Even when our future is at stake.

Unity of message is a major problem, but I don't think it is the fundamental problem.

Implacable critics of Israel fall in a number of categories.

There are the anti-semites who will always hate a Jewish state. No amount of PR will change their minds.

There are the Muslims who feel that Israel's very existence is an affront to their honor and it must, ultimately, be destroyed for justice to be served. They will couch their arguments in more liberal-friendly terms but this is the ultimate goal of even so-called moderate Muslims. Their minds cannot be changed by PR either.

Then there is the far left. They have had the most success in their campaign against Israel. Much of the reason is because, just like the far right, people who are more moderate in their viewpoints are loathe to publicly criticize the fringe elements for fear of weakening their own position. Since the media is overwhelmingly liberal, this means that far left positions are subject to much less scrutiny than those of the right (and, again, the mirror argument exists in the right-wing media.)

So the obvious hypocrisy of "human rights' activists who are only interested in the human rights of those who are perceived victims of Israeli policy is not exposed nor discussed, and the position that Israel is uniquely beyond the pale of human decency is unchallenged.

Unlike the first two categories, however, this group is not only against Israel. They are against the United States, and many of them are against Western civilization and mores altogether. Israel, for them, is a convenient lightning rod for their hate, but if it didn't exist they would be doing the exact same thing against some other target.

This third group has willing allies in the other two groups, because their hate for America as the leader of the free world far outweighs their discomfort at supporting theocratic or autocratic Muslim dictatorships whose worldview is (supposedly) antithetical to their own. Their self loathing is what drives them, not their hate for others.

The far left (really, the socialist left) is skilled at using the terminology of liberalism to attract followers - and, more importantly, to inoculate themselves from attacks by the more moderate left. Who cannot be against colonialism, or oppression, or racism, or ethnic cleansing? Who would speak out against equal rights and justice? They frame the debate in terms of these keywords and the more mainstream liberals are not interested in digging a little deeper to uncover their de facto support for Muslim colonialism, racism and ethnic cleansing.

The success of this group of Israel haters has been stunning. The flotilla is only the latest example of groups with an ultimately destructive agenda is given a free pass by the media as a "humanitarian" organization. (Deep down, Western powers know that Israel has the legal and moral right to blockade Hamas, but they too are reticent to say so publicly because they don't want to appear to be the "bad guys" either. That is how pervasive the newspeak of the far left has become.)

The so-called BDS movement, that relentlessly supports boycotting and divesting from anything Israeli, has not been very successful in reality but has had enormous success in perception.

One minor but very telling gauge of the success of the Israel-haters has been the recent flurry of popular singing artists succumbing to demands by these groups to cancel concerts in Israel. Elvis Costello, the Pixies and just today Devendra Banhart (whose girlfriend is Israeli!) have all buckled under to the demands of those who single out Israel as uniquely evil. Popular musicians cannot be expected to be knowledgeable enough about the issues to withstand such pressure - in their circles, Israeli evil is self-evident.

A unified message is important, but it isn't going to happen. Even if it did, it would not erase this groundwork of embedded Israel-hatred that has been building for decades and is only now hitting a critical mass. Israel, from much of the world's perspective, IS South Africa and no PR blitz will erase that. The hate train left the station long ago.

What can be done about it? That is a much more difficult problem. Unfortunately, if Israel falls, the rest of the West will fall like so many dominoes, because they are as "guilty" as Israel is from the perspective of the haters. It is not only an existential crisis for Israel - it is a longer-term existential crisis for the entire Western world. That is what needs to be emphasized.

The rhetoric of freedom, justice, equality, self-determination and liberty needs to be taken back by its rightful owners, and those who have hijacked it must be exposed.

It cannot happen too soon.

A liberal takes on the hypocrisy of the European Left

The Portal of Ideas blog has been translating articles by Catalan activist, journalist and former politician Pilar Rahola. Here are excerpts from some of her writings:

Why don’t we see demonstrations against Islamic dictatorships in London, Paris, Barcelona? Or demonstrations against the Burmese dictatorship? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of women who live without any legal protection? Why aren’t there demonstrations against the use of children as human bombs where there is conflict with Islam? Why has there been no leadership in support of the victims of Islamic dictatorship in Sudan? Why is there never any outrage against the acts of terrorism committed against Israel? Why is there no outcry by the European left against Islamic fanaticism? Why don’t they defend Israel’s right to exist? Why confuse support of the Palestinian cause with the defense of Palestinian terrorism? An finally, the million dollar question:Why is the left in Europe and around the world obsessed with the two most solid democracies, the United States and Israel, and not with the worst dictatorships on the planet? The two most solid democracies, who have suffered the bloodiest attacks of terrorism, and the left doesn’t care.

And then, to the concept of freedom. In every pro Palestinian European forum I hear the left yelling with fervor: “We want freedom for the people!” Not true. They are never concerned with freedom for the people of Syria or Yemen or Iran or Sudan, or other such nations. And they are never preoccupied when Hammas destroys freedom for the Palestinians. They are only concerned with using the concept of Palestinian freedom as a weapon against Israeli freedom. The resulting consequence of these ideological pathologies is the manipulation of the press.

The international press does major damage when reporting on the question of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. On this topic they don’t inform, they propagandize. When reporting about Israel the majority of journalists forget the reporter code of ethics. And so, any Israeli act of self-defense becomes a massacre, and any confrontation, genocide. So many stupid things have been written about Israel, that there aren’t any accusations left to level against her. At the same time, this press never discusses Syrian and Iranian interference in propagating violence against Israel; the indoctrination of children and the corruption of the Palestinians. And when reporting about victims, every Palestinian casualty is reported as tragedy and every Israeli victim is camouflaged, hidden or reported about with disdain.

I am not Jewish. Ideologically I am left and by profession a journalist. Why am I not as anti Israeli as my colleagues? Because as a non-Jew I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. To fight against anti-Semitism is not the duty of the Jews, it is the duty of the non-Jews.

As a journalist it is my duty to search for the truth beyond prejudice, lies and manipulations. The truth about Israel is not told. As a person from the left who loves progress, I am obligated to defend liberty, culture, civic education for children, coexistence and the laws that the Tablets of the Covenant made into universal principles. Principles that Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. That is to say that as a non-Jew, journalist and lefty I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed too.

The struggle of Israel, even if the world doesn’t want to accept it, is the struggle of the world.

The first question, then, is why so many intelligent people, when talking about Israel, suddenly become idiots. The problem that those of us, who do not demonize Israel have, is that there exists no debate on the conflict. All that exists is the banner; there’s no exchange of ideas. We throw slogans at each other; we don’t have serious information, we suffer from the “burger journalism” syndrome, full of prejudices, propaganda and simplification. Intellectual thinkers and international journalists have given up on Israel. It doesn't exist exist. That is why, when someone tries to go beyond the “single thought” of criticizing Israel, he becomes suspect and unfaithful, and is immediately segregated. Why?

I’ve been trying to answer this question for years: why?

Why, of all the conflicts in the world only this one interests them?

Why is a tiny country which struggles to survive criminalized?

Why does manipulated information triumph so easily?

Why are all the people of Israel, reduced to a simple mass of murderous imperialists?

Why is there no Palestinian guilt?

Why is Arafat a hero and Sharon a monster?

Finally, why when Israel is the only country in the World which is threatened with extinction, it is also the only one that nobody considers a victim?

I don’t believe that there is a single answer to these questions. Just as it is impossible to completely explain the historical evil of anti-Semitism, it is also not possible to totally explain the present-day imbecility of anti-Israelism. Both drink from the fountain of intolerance and lies. Also, if we accept that anti-Israelism is the new form of anti-Semitism, we conclude that circumstances may have changed, but the deepest myths, both of the Medieval Christian anti-Semitism and of the modern political anti-Semitism, are still intact. Those myths are part of the chronicle of Israel.

Tolerant and cultural Islam suffers today the violent attack of a totalitarian virus which tries to stop its ethical development. This virus uses the name of God to perpetrate the most terrible horrors: lapidate women, enslave them, use youths as human bombs. Let’s not forget: They kill us with cellular phones connected to the Middle Ages. If Stalinism destroyed the left, and Nazism destroyed Europe, Islamic fundamentalism is destroying Islam. And it also has an anti-Semitic DNA. Perhaps Islamic anti-Semitism is the most serious intolerant phenomenon of our times; indeed, it contaminates more than 1,400 million people, who are educated, massively, in hatred towards the Jew.

In the crossroads of these defeats, is Israel. Orphan and forgotten by a reasonable left, orphan and abandoned by serious journalism, orphan and rejected by a decent UN, and rejected by a tolerant Islam, Israel suffers the paradigm of the 21st Century: the lack of a solid commitment with the values of liberty. Nothing seems strange. Jewish culture represents, as no other does, the metaphor of a concept of civilization which suffers today attacks on all flanks. The Jews are the thermometer of the world’s health. Whenever the world has had totalitarian fever, they have suffered. In the Spanish Middle Ages, in Christian persecutions, in Russian pogroms, in European Fascism, in Islamic fundamentalism. Always, the first enemy of totalitarianism has been the Jew. And, in these times of energy dependency and social uncertainty, Israel embodies, in its own flesh, the eternal Jew.

A pariah nation among nations, for a pariah people among peoples. That is why the anti-Semitism of the 21st Century has dressed itself with the efficient disguise of anti-Israelism, or its synonym, anti-Zionism. Is all criticism of Israel anti-Semitism? NO. But all present-day anti-Semitism has turned into prejudice and the demonization of the Jewish State. New clothes for an old hatred.

Benjamin Franklin said: “Where liberty is, there is my country.” And Albert Einstein added: “The World is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it”. This is the double commitment, here and now; never remain inactive in front of evil in action and defend the countries of liberty.

Those who go into the streets claim to do so in favor of the freedom of Palestine. Well, where have they been all these years, as the fundamentalist phenomena that oppressed the Palestinians were on the rise? Does Hamas have anything to do with freedom, or rather, doesn't it have everything to do with Islamism of a fascist tendency? Is freedom defended by training children to commit suicide attacks and by enslaving women? Is freedom defended by Iran, which supports Hamas financially? Does freedom belong to the terrorists of Hezbollah?

Those who protest in the streets also say they do so out of solidarity. Well, solidarity with whom? With Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, who has been less critical of the incursion than any European carrying a sign? With the Palestinians who do not agree with having the financial aid sent to their people being used to build armies and prepare bomb attacks? Do they wonder what happens to these funds? Does solidarity with the Palestinians mean defending terrorism and excusing Hamas' aggressions? Is peace defended by boosting Palestinian leaders who do not believe in it?

It is true that the intolerant left lives better by being anti-Israel. And it is also true that, in the face of complex realities, the vociferous masses prefer the simplicity of the "good" and the "bad." But, beyond prejudice, facts are stubborn. Israel withdrew from Gaza, leaving intact the economic structures it had created. Hamas destroyed them all, and took advantage of the withdrawal to prepare an army of destruction. And hundreds of missiles later, it continues its preparations.

The silence of this left, which is so loud today, has been very significant. What is happening in Gaza is tragic. But it did not start with the Israeli incursion. And to put all the blame on Israel is comfortable and simple, but useless. Because the main enemy of the Palestinian people comes from within.

(h/t Zvi and Bubbe)

Mavi Marmara: The Facts (video)

Shown on Israel's Channel 2, this is the most accurate and up-to-date video presentation of what happened aboard the Mavi Marmara.

(h/t Islamo-nazism blog)

Hezbollah planning women's ship to Gaza?

Firas Press and Palestine Today both quote Israeli radio that a new ship is being planned to sail from Lebanon to Gaza that will have only woman passengers.

The ship would be called the "Mary," and is meant to force Israel to make difficult decisions about how to intercept it.

And who is behind this ship?

Why, Israel's peaceful humanitarian neighbors, Hezbollah!

Meanwhile, three more boats are expected to come in coming days. A Lebanese boat, sponsored by Reporters Without Borders and the Free Palestine movement, is expected this weekend. Two boats from the Iranian Red Crescent are also planned.

I find it interesting that Reporters Without Borders, which should be dedicated to the objective reporting of news, is instead choosing to create the news that its members will report.

Cement prices in Gaza plummet

Palestine Today reports that the cost for cement in Gaza, smuggled in from Egypt, has dropped from 1200 NIS to 700 NIS in recent months.

That comes out to about $180 per metric ton, which is about twice what it costs in the US.

The local Gaza cement industry continues to extract materials from destroyed buildings to create new cement clocks, but they are somewhat inferior for construction.

The article stresses that the price of other materials needed for construction remain high, including steel.

Ceramic tiles from Egypt are significantly cheaper than that which can be locally made, which hurts the local industry.