Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I am rooting for Iran to win a medal in the London 2012 Olympics

Remember in February and March when Iran complained that the London 2012 Olympics logo really spelled "Zion"? Here's how they broke that insidious Zionist code, in case you forgot:

Well, they now have a quandary.

Because the medals were revealed today, and they have that same super-evil-Illiminati-Freemason-Zionist symbol!

Iran has won medals in the last five summer Olympic games (weightlifting, wrestling and Taekwondo) so chances are one or more Iranians will be handed the hated symbol.

Will Iran ban its athletes from winning medals? Will they confiscate winning medals and melt them down, donating the proceeds to Hamas? Will they pretend that they didn't spend an entire month whining about the symbolism and grit their teeth if they win?

I'm now rooting for Iran to win third place in some obscure sport, just to see how they deal with this. No matter how they handle it, it will be funny.

Then again, there is a simple solution for Iranian athletes: Only enter competitions where Israel is also competing, and then they can come down with mysterious fictonal illnesses, forfeit the competition and not have to worry about winning!

You can still order the EoZ exclusive London Zionist Games T-Shirts! I already sold a bunch, and they'll be worth a fortune when the summer of 2012 comes around!

PalArab politicians really are crybabies

Many have noted that the actions of the Palestinian Authority often resembles that of a spoiled child, throwing a tantrum because he does not get his way. I even wrote about it in 2006, an article that applies today (except for my underestimating Hezbollah's ability to take over Lebanon.) And while in that year, read this great piece from Treppenwitz.

Mahmoud Abbas has made a career of saying that if he doesn't get his way, he'll take the ball home so no one can play. He has threatened to resign over a dozen times in order to make his puerile point.

Whining, blaming, threatening, refusing to play by the rules - yes, there is a lot that 3-year olds have in common with Palestinian Arab politicians.

And now, we can add one more example, one that is literal: Crying.

A routine Security Council debate on the Middle East and Palestine became Israel's and the Palestinian Authority's dress rehearsal for September's General Assembly conference where the Palestinians will seek UN recognition.

Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour called on the UN to recognize a Palestinian state. It's time to end the occupation, he said before bursting into tears.

Aw, isn't life in Ramallah so vewy vewy hawd that it forces grown diplomats to tears? Must be. The delegates from the Congo might be able to hold it together, but their people's challenges are nothing compared to the lives of Arabs in Ramallah, where they sometimes have to choose which restaurant to go to and, increasingly rarely, they are forced to wait in airport-style lines at checkpoints.

The infantilization of the Palestinian Arabs is no longer symbolic.

(h/t Missing Peace)

Meanwhile, in Syria...

From AFP/Now Lebanon:

Syrian security forces shot dead at least 11 people, including a child aged seven, in a "vengeance" raid on the town of Kanaker near Damascus early Wednesday, a human rights activist said.

"The security forces entered homes at dawn on Wednesday and during the operation 11 people were shot dead and more than 250 arrested," said Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights, reached by telephone from Nicosia.

He said the operation in Kanaker, a town of 25,000 people, was backed by "a bulldozer and army tanks" and targeted people aged between 15 and 40.

According to Qurabi, the raid was an "act of vengeance" because inhabitants had supplied provisions to anti-regime protesters in the southern city of Daraa, the main hub of protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Assad may be betting that if a dozen or so people are killed every day, it will no longer remain news.

And he may be right. This story is not exactly on the front pages.

Get your very own pair of anti-Zionist "occupation" glasses!

One of the more interesting themes I have noticed among the twitterati of the anti-Israel left is that, no matter what the news story is, they have to relate it to "occupation."

People in Tel Aviv protesting high housing costs? Why aren't they mentioning the "occupation"?

A new publicity initiative from the Foreign Ministry? Well, it is propaganda because it doesn't talk about "occupation!"

Another group making videos about Israel that make Israels look like normal human beings? Feh! The country is defined by "occupation!"

So for those of you who are jealous of people whose worldview can be simplified to a single word, I have the solution for you:

Occupation glasses!

Any time you look at a map of Israel, or photos of Israelis helping out poor people in Africa or victims of disasters, or the latest numbers at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, or a live performance of the Israel Philharmonic simulcast at movie theatres across the US tomorrow night, or a potential better alternative to mammography for women made by Israelis - just put these on, and all will make sense again.

Sure, it is a little difficult to discern reality when you are wearing these, but that isn't the point. Constantly reminding people how evil Israel is - now, there's a cause these guys can get behind!

A Gaza resort gets torched

Here is the Paris Gardens Resort - in Gaza:

Unlike many of the Gaza resorts we have highlighted in the past, this one is unpretentious and fairly small. It looks like the type of place for ordinary Gazans to hang out without spending too much money.

It was destroyed this morning:

Assailants burned a Gaza resort at dawn Wednesday, the manager said.

Imad Al-Wazeer told Ma'an a group of 30 armed and masked men arrived at the Rais resort in Gaza and threatened employees.

The resort was damaged in Israel's Operation Cast Lead but Al-Wazeer says he reopened the facility in order to show Israel that the people of Gaza would live their lives in spite of the attack.

"This time, unfortunately, my resort was damaged by Palestinian hands," he said.

The resort cost some $120,000 to establish and has swimming pools, restaurants and other facilities. After the attack, however, 13 employees have lost their jobs, Al-Wazeer says.

He held the police in Gaza responsible for the attack, saying they should provide security.

The Al Mezan Center adds that the armed mob tied up the guard, burned down four kitchens in the resort, trashed rooms, burned and smashed tables for about an hour and a half. One guard who escaped called police but they didn't arrive until over an hour later after the arsonists had left. The masked men had earlier warned the owners of the resort.

Previous similar attacks were done in the name of morality; presumably women swam at this resort, or maybe men and women ate together.

While this may be true, I think that this really happened because of the occupation, which has replaced Satan as the ultimate source for all evil on the planet.

Hezbollah threatens belly dancer for appearing with Israelis

From Israel HaYom:

A Lebanese belly dancer is facing death threats and cannot return to her homeland after embracing an Israeli musician at an international festival in France.

On June 19, Israeli heavy metal band Orphaned Land performed alongside Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhri at the Hellfest music festival in the western French town of Clisson. At the end of their performance, the Lebanese dancer held up her country’s flag while Orphaned Land's singer, Kobi Fahri, held up an Israeli flag. The two then hugged and clasped each other's hands.

Israel and Lebanon are technically at war and it is illegal under Lebanese law for any citizen to have public interactions with an Israeli. Media outlets around the world carried the image of Fakhri and Fahri brandishing their national flags, prompting a seething Hezbollah to declare Fakhri a traitor and issue a death warrant for her. The dancer has since been hiding out in France, fearing for her life if she returns to her homeland.

The threats against Fakhri have now spread from Lebanon. Last week, the French Muslim party PMF, which is closely tied to Hezbollah, carried a quote from Hezbollah on its website, declaring Fakhri “a traitor who collaborates with the Zionist enemy.”

In response, Fakhri released a statement calling her appearance with Fahri an act of peace.

Here's the performance:

That is not the limit of anti-Israel nuttiness, however. Dr. Azzaf Eshrat, an MD writing in the crazy-left Salem News, says that this entire show was orchestrated by the Israeli government in order to distract attention from the flotilla! (He also claims that Orphaned Land stole their song from an Egyptian pop song. And that there is no archaeological evidence that Jews ever lived in Israel.)

Which just goes to show that upper class Egyptians are not necessarily more sane than crazed Hezbollah terrorists.

A praying girl, and a quick lesson in photo research

Yisrael Medad, in My Right Word, noticed something interesting in a photo illustrating a Daily Mail story.

The story is titled "Christian girls who go to church are 'more tolerant of other faiths than their peers'" . Here is the photo that illustrates the story:

Yisrael noted that the girl looks quite Jewish, and she even looks like she is a Jewish resident of Yesha - a "settler." Which would be an interesting choice to illustrate a story about Christian girls!

So I found the original image, showing he was right:

The tool I used, and have used often for situations like this where I want to find an original photograph, is TinEye. It can find identical photographs (even if they are cropped, as here.)

Another good tool for researching photographs are Google Image Search, which now allow you to upload photos to find ones that are similar (but the results are often quite wrong, sometimes hilariously so.) Tineye finds results more accurately but it doesn't have the massive index of photos that Google has. (For example, I could not find the original Reuters photo, assuming that the Daily Mail caption is accurate.)

An essential way to research photographs is viewing the EXIF information on the photo, and the easiest on-line method is Jeffrey's EXIF Viewer. The information shown there can indicate if the photo was edited, when the picture was taken, and sometimes (especially with wire service photos) it will show the original caption and name of photographer actually embedded in the photo. Using this you can often see when news media uses old photos, for example, or identify edits. You do have to be careful with the EXIF information because sometimes cameras have not had their clocks set properly.

These tools can sometimes help create real news stories, especially in the area of media bias.

Time's Tony Karon relieved Breivik hates anti-Zionist Jews like him

Time magazine's Tony Karon looks at Anders Breivik's manifesto, and is happy that he isn't one of those Jews who Breivik admires:

Clearly, though, Breivik confines his philo-Semitism to Zionists, who he sees as fellow conservative nationalists in the war against Islam. As for the rest, adherents of multiculturalism, their fate should be the same as any other "traitors" to his Judeo-Christian Crusade.

"Never target a jew because he is a Jew," Breivik writes, "but rather because he is a ... traitor."

So Breivik doesn't hate all Jews. But he certainly hates most of us:

"So, are the current Jews in Europe and US disloyal? The multiculturalist (nation-wrecking) Jews ARE while the conservative Jews ARE NOT. Aprox. 75% of European/US Jews support multiculturalism while aprox. 50% of Israeli Jews does the same. This shows very clearly that we must embrace the remaining loyal Jews as brothers rather than repeating the mistake of the [Nazis]."

Of course, many right-wing Jews, while abhorring the terrorist violence used by the Breivik, nonetheless share his aversion to Islam and to multiculturalism....And some Zionist conservatives, while unreservedly condemning Breivik's action, were also concerned to prevent it from obscuring an underlying message they support....

Breivik and Bin Laden may seem like polar opposites, but in the end they're reading off the same "clash of cultures" script. It's a script in which, Breivik acknowledges, the majority of Jews -- and of Europeans -- want no part.

And conservative, Zionist Jews, Karon implies, share the same hateful ideology that Breivik and Bin Laden espouse.

This is a transparent attempt by Karon to paint Zionist Jews with the same brush as a mass murderer, and it is disgusting.

Karon of course is not alone - plenty of people are trying mightily to place Breivik among their enemies so they can feel better about themselves - but this is a particularly sickening essay that is meant to distinguish between the "good" anti-Zionist Jews (like Karon, naturally) and the abhorrent Zionists.

Indeed, Breivik wants to see liberal Jews destroyed, and that is disgusting. But Karon wants to see conservative Jews destroyed.

And if there is a cause-and-effect between articles written by right-wing conservative Jews and the actions of a madman, as Karon falsely implies, then Karon has just written justification for the next terror attack targeting Israeli or Zionist Jewish interests by the next madman.

His essay is at least as inciting as those he disparages.

Iranian swimmer suffers from pre-emptive Jew-cooties

From AP:

The Iranian swimmer who withdrew from a heat featuring an Israeli at the world championships maintains the move was not political.

"My flight was exactly the day before my race, so I was so tired and drowsy. Because I had to wait for my visa," Mohammed Alirezaei told The Associated Press two days after not starting a 100-meter breaststroke heat including Gal Nevo of Israel.

Speaking after completing his 50 breaststroke heat Tuesday, Alirezaei added that he had "no problem" competing against Israeli athletes, saying he did so at junior worlds.

However, Alirezaei also pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100 breaststroke at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee accepted the explanation then that he was ill.

Alirezaei said the fact that both withdrawals came against Israelis was merely a coincidence.

Asked about the latest withdrawal, IOC president Jacques Rogge told the AP on Monday: "I'm sure knowing the rules of FINA, the athletes will have to explain why and that most likely the athletes will have to come up with very good reasons."

Is it merely a coincidence that Alirezaei always feels ill before competing against Israelis?

Or is this proof that time itself is an construct, and Israeli athletes can retroactively make him sick by planning to be in the room with him the next day?

Or perhaps the Mossad, fearful of losing face against the superior Iranian athletes, work overtime to shoot their patented Joo-Rays to their enemies ahead of time?

All of these are plausible, especially to the rules committee members. What certainly cannot be true is that Alirezaei withdrew for political reasons.

As was reported in the Iranian media:

A member of the Iranian swimming team at the Shanghai FINA World Championships refused to contest a heat because of the presence of an Israeli athlete.

Mohammed Alirezaei refused to compete in the 100-meter breaststroke race at the world swimming contest. Gal Nevo of Israel had been due to swim in the same race.

Alirezaei had also pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100-meter breaststroke race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Iranian athletes have on various occasions shown strong support for the oppressed Palestinians nation by withdrawing from matches and games where Israeli sportspeople are present as well.

Chairman of Iran's National Olympic Committee Mohammad Ali Abadi said in an interview last year that Iranian sports organizations follow the government's policy towards the 'Zionist regime (Israel) and boycott all competitions in which Israeli athletes are present.

Nah, that's just posturing. He really, really was sick.

Video - 10 Unknown West Bank facts

This cute video has been going around...

Hamas having problems paying salaries too

It is not only the PA that suffers from a cash crunch. From JPost:

Hamas also seems to be facing a financial crisis and, like the Palestinian Authority, has not been able to pay full salaries to its civil servants in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas legislator Yahya Musa called on the Hamas government to “be frank with the people and tell them the truth about the financial situation.”

Musa expressed concern over the Hamas government’s failure to pay full salaries to its employees for the last few months.

“If there’s a financial crisis, then the government should say so,” Musa said. “And if there isn’t a crisis, the government should quickly pay full salaries to all its workers.”

Sources in the Gaza Strip said that because of the financial crisis, the Hamas government has in recent months paid only half salaries to its employees.

Ismail Mahfouz, a senior official with the Hamas-run Ministry of Finance, denied that his government was facing a financial crisis. He said that the delay in paying the salaries was due to lack of cash in the hands of the government.

Here is the Arabic article that this seems to be based on.

Some NGOs in Gaza may suspend operations due to Hamas audit

From IRIN, July 19:

Various international NGOs working in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) have questioned a demand by the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip to audit their books, saying the move could jeorpardize vital operations.

“We have nothing to hide but obviously there are concerns about what other information they may want to look at or have access to, including beneficiary lists and contact details for staff, which are normally kept in HR folders,” said one aid agency employee who requested anonymity.

According to aid workers, the motives behind the audit are unclear, particularly as the suspension of several major agencies in Gaza would place greater humanitarian responsibility on the shoulders of the Hamas authorities.

Some suspect the demand could be a pre-emptive move by Hamas to begin collecting income tax from agency staff in Gaza. Currently, under a presidential decree from Ramallah, Gaza humanitarian staff do not pay income tax.

Aid workers also say agreeing to the request would break the “no contact” policy held by some NGOs funded by governments, including the US, that list Hamas as a “terrorist” organization.

Should a compromise fail to be reached by 25 July, when the audit of many offices is scheduled to take place, at least 18 aid agencies are preparing to suspend their activities in the Gaza Strip, cutting off more than US$135million per year in aid, well-placed sources told IRIN.

At least 80 international agencies operate in Gaza, but due to the sensitivity of the situation, few will publicly disclose whether they have agreed to the audit or not.

It is now past the deadline, but I have not heard anything.

(h/t DF)

Norway remains utterly, hopelessly clueless (updated)

From JTA:

Norway's ambassador to Israel drew distinctions between the Oslo and Utoeya massacres and Palestinian terrorism.

Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to "outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases."

While Sevje voiced sympathy for Israeli terror victims, having experienced "the inferno" of such attacks during his posting, he saw little chance of Norway reviewing its Middle East policies.

"We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel," he said. "Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo."

I wonder, Mr. Sevje, does Hezbollah exist because of "occupation" as well? Because Israel isn't occupying any Lebanese territory, and yet Hezbollah still threatens Israel. Explicitly.

Does Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror exist because of the "occupation?" Because their leaders say that they are against the existence of Israel altogether. Explicitly.

Are Hamas rocket attacks against southern Israeli communities because of "occupation?" Because they accelerated after Israel evicted all Jewish families from the area. If "occupation" causes terror, wouldn't one expect the attacks to disappear when the occupation disappears?

Is Fatah's history of terror because of the "occupation?" Because Fatah was founded before 1967. And their logo still shows a map of "Palestine" that insists that Palestine is on both sides of the Green Line.

Was the terror attack against the AMIA in Argentina, an attack roughly as deadly as the ones in Oslo, because of "occupation?" Because it is hard to imagine how an attack thousands of miles away is related to that.

Are the Palestinian Arabs who chant at rallies "Palestine is our country, and Jews are our dogs" referring to the areas on the Jordanian side of the "Green Line"?

Was the Ghriba synagogue bombing in Tunisia in 2002 because of "occupation?" Because it was, you know, a synagogue.

Were the hundreds of attacks against Israel before 1967, before anyone ever heard of "occupation," because of "occupation"?

Do the Muslim students in Norway who routinely express admiration for Hitler because he killed Jews - documented in a 2010 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation report - say that because of the "occupation?"

Did an Iranian general, just recently, call to destroy Israel altogether because of his opposition to "occupation?"

As an ambassador, you must be a bright guy, so I'm certain you can explain exactly how "occupation" is the common thread that runs through all these examples. Please, enlighten us with your astounding Norwegian wisdom.

(h/t AB)

UPDATE: The ambassador has sent out a complaint to Ma'ariv, where the interview was first published:

I spoke to your journalist off the record with a clear condition that any quotes would be sent to me for my approval. The interview, however, was printed without me having been presented with the quotes. This goes against the journalistic norms that I am used to both from this country and other postings, and I do not find it acceptable.

Regarding the substance of the interview, there are several problems and inaccuracies in the text. The most important one is this: When asked whether the terror attack in Norway would change Norwegian perception of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I told your journalist that many Norwegians would see terror actions in Israel in the context of both the occupation and religious extremism, and that this would not change after what happened at Utoya.

I did not seek to convey any personal or governmental position regarding the motivation behind terror attacks against Israel, nor to compare terror attacks in Israel and Norway. The Norwegian position has always been, as rightly stated in your article, that terror, regardless of motivation, is unacceptable.

It does not sound like he is denying the quote, although he is changing "we Norwegians" to "many Norwegians." It would be interesting to see how Ma'ariv responds.

(h/t Naftali)

So what's the deal with the Lebanon/Israel maritime dispute?

Now Lebanon had a good article on the basics of what looks to become a major issue between Israel and Lebanon:

At issue now between Lebanon and Israel is where their maritime borders should be fixed. Along the coast, the countries more or less agree where the line should start, but out in the Mediterranean, there is serious bickering. Lebanon wants to use Point 23 (see graphic) as the border’s southern limit, whereas Israel wants to use Point 1, several kilometers north of Point 23.

Lebanon, however, finds itself in a bit of a quandary. In 2007, Lebanon inked a deal with Cyprus on their mutual maritime boundaries. In that agreement, which was never ratified by Lebanon’s parliament and is therefore not in force, the two countries decided that the southern limit of the maritime border should be Point 1.

Mohammad Kabbani, head of parliament’s Public Works and Energy Committee, told NOW Lebanon that using Point 1 was a mistake. The agreement with Cyprus, he said, was supposed to be written in a way that left Lebanon’s southern boundary open for negotiation. Lebanon’s parliament never ratified the agreement for fear of angering Turkey, which occupies part of Cyprus and does not think the Cypriot government has the right to be negotiating such deals.

With the Cyprus agreement shelved, in both July and October 2010, Lebanon sent maps and coordinates to the UN (in line with UNCLOS) stating that the southern limit of its EEZ is Point 23.

Kabbani dismissed the idea that Lebanon sought to use the “facts on the ground” created by Israeli licensing to set the border. He maintains that Point 23 is the proper point to use, and added that a group of experts are still working with Lebanese authorities to finalize the boundary. Kabbani said there is some talk of the border possibly being still further south of Point 23.

Israel, for its part, signed an agreement with Cyprus in December 2010 defining their undersea borders, using Point 1 as the northernmost limit of Israel’s EEZ. The countries ratified the agreement, and it went into force in February 2011. Lebanon soon cried foul, and in June 2011, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour sent a letter to the UN calling the Israel-Cyprus agreement into question.

Today Israel is holding fast to Point 1 as the basis of a border, pointing to Lebanon’s agreement with Cyprus.

Over at Qifa Nakbi's blog, he summarizes this and the comments are fascinating.

He drew this map showing the disputed area:

And a commenter found this similar map that was printed at Makor Rishon:

The disputed area is roughly 1000 square kilometers.

This map shows that the current areas of Israeli exploration, drilling and most of their known reserves are well within an undisputed Israeli zone.

Globes notes this the issue is being greatly exaggerated:

However, the entire story has been taken out of all proportion. Even if the UN were to adopt the Lebanese version of the maritime border, there would be no serious harm to Israel's exploration licenses in the region.

A professional Israeli source that examined the border route under contention said that it involved the northern extremes of the Alon and Ruth licenses, in the northern part of Israel's licenses region. As far as is known, in these areas there are several structures that might contain gas or oil, but these structures are relatively small, and are not top of the agenda of Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) and Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) who own the licenses.

The only fallout from moving the Israel Lebanon maritime border south would thus be in the Ruth and Alon gas and oil fields, if there are discoveries in these licenses, and if they spill over the border into Lebanon. If that is the case then development of these fields, which are far from the top of the agenda, would be delayed.

So is it a big deal? Lebanon sure is posturing as if it is. The Shi'ite speaker of Lebanon's parliament was quite aggressive:

Speaker Nabih Berri said in an interview with As-Safir newspaper published on Tuesday that those who oppose Hezbollah’s weapons should stand by it at this time, especially because of the oil exploration file that “is a priority to all Lebanese.”

“The value of oil reserves, which fluctuates between $200 billion and $300 billion, is enough to pay off the public debt and move Lebanon into a stage of economic and financial affluence,” he added.

One of the commenters at Nabki's blog wrote an article about this issue a year ago, and quotes himself:

As the above map shows, the Tamar1 find is within Israel’s territorial exclusive economic zone. That is not an issue. The real problem arises if the Lebanese can show that a natural gas/oil field spans the territorial boundaries of the two states. In that case what is the accepted international procedure for determining who gets what?

Interestingly enough and maybe even surprising to some, there is no single standard principle. There are two principles:

(1) The Right Of Capture principle says that each side is permitted to lift as much as it can on its side of the border. This principle is in effect all throughout the state of Texas but more importantly it is what governs the relationship between the US and Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico.

(2) Both sides of the dispute would resort to international arbitration.

Keeping in mind that Lebanon and Israel are in a state of war and given that the Israeli side has already started the exploration and the construction of the required infrastructure which of the above two principles is going to apply if Lebanon can demonstrate that there are natural resources that span the internationally recognized boundary? You have guessed it, The Right of Capture is most likely to be applied.

In other words, if Lebanon was smart, they would be trying to work with Israel to demarcate the borders, as they are way behind in exploration and construction.

If it wasn't for the fact that Lebanon is now politically and militarily controlled by a terrorist group, this could have been a way to actually forge a peace agreement between the two states. Imagine a Mediterranean natural gas equivalent to OPEC!

Alas.

UNIFIL troops attacked

From Naharnet:

Three French soldiers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were wounded on Tuesday in a blast targeting their vehicle in the southern coastal city of Sidon, Agence France Presse reported.

The blast took place at the southern entrance of the city, an army spokesman told AFP.

Only two days ago, the Lebanese Army pledged to protect UNIFIL forces:

Lebanese army commander General Jean Kahwaji warned that France and other countries that are part of UNIFIL have fears regarding their abilities to carry out their tasks in South Lebanon, and their desire to strengthen the Lebanese army’s role, the National News Agency reported on Sunday.

During a meeting held in his honor in France, Kahwaji added that the Lebanese army will confront any attempt to harm UNIFIL.

Of course, Hezbollah restricts what the LAF can do in southern Lebanon.

Since they have their own army.

That is not happy with UNIFIL.

(h/t T34)

Is J-Street aiding the PA in its September UN stunt?

From Aaron Klein at WorldNetDaily, July 13:

The left-wing Jewish lobby J Street has been aiding the Palestinian Authority in its bid to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state at the United Nations, according to PA officials speaking to WND.

The officials said J Street has been helping the PA to set up Capitol Hill meetings with mostly Democratic lawmakers in a search for diplomatic support for their U.N. statehood move. Israel strongly opposes the plan to unilaterally declare a state in September.

J Street did not return WND email and phone requests for comment.

Strangely, the J-Street site is silent on the matter. My request for them to clarify went unanswered.

However, in a fawning interview of Jeremy Ben Ami, Michael Omer-Man writes that J-Street opposes the unilateral statehood bid:

In addition to not involving itself in Israel’s internal politics, J Street also opposes outside pressure on the Jewish state to make peace. [!!!!! - EoZ] J Street, Ben-Ami said, also opposes the Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood in the United Nations this September. He described a scenario where Palestinians’ false expectations and ultimate let-down upon declaration of statehood could lead to renewed violence.

“We are not in favor of UN action, we’re trying to put it off,” he explained. “We’re trying to avoid [it] and we’re trying to advocate for the US to do things that will avoid [Palestinian statehood recognition] coming to a UN vote.”

That's not exactly a condemnation of the statehood bid - one that attempts to take the Temple Mount, Western Wall and the entire Old City out of Jewish hands. It sounds more like J-Street wants to fine-tune how and when the PLO should stake their claim.

But if we are to believe Jeremy Ben-Ami, the WND report is not true. I believe, however, that it is entirely possible that J-Street is consulting with the PLO on strategy, and that the PLO calls up J-Street to arrange meetings.

J-Street's official position on Jerusalem is that it should be negotiated - but J-Street does not advocate that it should be recognized today as Israel's capital.

(The worst part of the article was where Omer-Man claims, falsely, that J-Street's position is virtually identical to Kadima and Labor. It isn't, and the Palestine Papers show that Kadima was way to the right of J-Street.)

The news about the small golden bell, possibly from a tunic worn by a high priest during the Second Temple period that was discovered in the sewage tunnel near the City of David, has angered Palestinian Arabs as the wire services have picked it up.

Various Arabic media are noting the story by quoting a Silwan official as saying that this "underlines the efforts of the occupation and the extremist Jewish groups to falsify history and planting Jewish history forged in the region."

But I thought that biblical history is Palestinian history as well!

Hamas increasing control of tunnel trade

Palestine Today reports that Hamas security forces have been active today in the vicinity of the Rafah tunnels - and even filling some of them in.

Sources say that Hamas wants to limit the kinds of items allowed in, and to increase "quality control" of smuggled items. The main purpose seems to be for Hamas to ensure that all goods that are smuggled in are taxed properly, as they are putting fences up around the tunnel areas so they can inspect the contents of all trucks exiting the area.

Hamas claims there are no honor killings!

Reuters reports:

Most safe-houses in the Gaza Strip are meant to provide protection for armed militants on Israel's target list. Now Gaza is offering protected shelter to battered Palestinian women.

Its lone women's safe-house, opened two months ago, has had eight clients, all guarded by police from the Islamist Hamas movement that runs the enclave and enforces a conservative though not radical Muslim religious code.

So-called 'honour killings' are rare but not unknown among religious Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, and like every society it is not immune to wife-beating.

"In 2010 there was no record of killing under the motive of family honor and this is a positive development," said Huda Naeem, a Hamas lawmaker who backed the safe house as a way station for women at risk within their own families.

And of course Reuters believes her.

Assuming she is only referring to Gaza "honor killings," I know of specific cases in April and July in Gaza. (There were many more in the West Bank.) And, as Reuters goes on to say later:

Sobheya Joma, a woman lawyer at the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), said there was no way to know for sure if honor killings were really eradicated.

"The ICHR is worried because it has recently noticed that some deaths were listed as unexplained or accidental," Joma told Reuters in her Gaza city office.

Reuters being Reuters, of course, they need to blame Israel for some of the women being beaten by their husbands in Gaza:

At one stage, women under risk were transferred to the other Palestinian Territory - the West Bank - where they could be kept safe from angry relatives.

But it is now virtually impossible for Gazans to get to the West Bank because of an Israeli blockade, which is vigorously imposed following repeated Hamas attacks on the Jewish state.

That awful Israeli policy allows Gaza husbands to beat their wives!

(h/t jzaik)

Hamas executes two "collaborators"

From Ma'an:

The government in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that two residents accused of collaborating with the Israeli occupation have been executed.

Hamas officials told Reuters the two men, a father and son, had confessed to providing intelligence that helped Israel track down Palestinians including Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed in a 2004 airstrike on his car.

One of the crimes they were convicted of is that they "weakened the morale and spirit of resistance of the Palestinian people."

PCHR notes:

[T]he ratification of death sentences is an exclusive power of the President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) under the Code of Criminal Procedures (3) of 2001; the implementation of any death sentences without the President's ratification constitutes a violation of the law and constitution. PCHR stresses that the ratification of such sentences is necessary especially following signing the Palestinian reconciliation agreement in May 2011.

So this is not only Hamas' attempt to scare potential "collaborators." It is also a slap in the face of the "unity" agreement.

Hamas is telling Abbas, quite plainly, that they do not recognize his authority or position at all.

The last time Hamas executed a "collaborator" was only hours before the "unity" agreement was signed. This is the first time Hamas has openly ignored this PA law since the agreement.