Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Vacation

I am going on a vacation this week, and am traveling today, so there will be fewer posts than normal this week. I'm queuing up what I can.

On the bright side, I should get a tan!

Israel's Bedouin out of control (JPost editorial)

This is much worse than I was aware of:

The Knesset Committee on the Status of Women last week turned its attention to Israel’s Beduin. The emergent picture was no less than shocking. Most Israelis wouldn’t imagine such repression within our enlightened country.

Pro forma, we have progressive laws that are enforced vigorously and equitably. However, beneath this enlightened surface lurks a reality so unseemly that it’s hardly inaccurate to speak of another country-with-the-country, where our system of justice is plainly absent.

That country-within-the-country is mostly located in the Negev, but not exclusively so. It thrives wherever Beduin populations congregate. In those areas our laws appear all but irrelevant.

The statistics speak for themselves. More than 70 percent of all Beduin women in Israel are wed by coercion.

Their preferences or aversions are never taken into account.

According to an exhaustive two-year survey conducted by the Itach (Women Lawyers for Social Justice) NGO, 85% of Beduin women report that they are subjected to severe physical and/or psychological violence. Of these, 90% were openly battered in public.

The researchers believe that the true situation is considerably worse because the respondents were visibly frightened and reluctant to answer questions.

It gets worse. Abused women in Beduin communities are the least likely to enlist outside help. Of them, 67% admitted that they refrain from involving outsiders in their misfortune for fear of a backlash from their families, as well as of escalated brutality, ostracism and the loss of their children.

Additionally, these women don’t on the whole have monogamous marriages. The law notwithstanding, Beduin society practices unbridled polygamy. Official Israel’s only input appears in the form of generous child allotments paid to uncontrollably outsized family frameworks, whereby a man can boast 40 or more offspring.

Such social settings do not augur well for women’s welfare.

But the abandonment of these women to a cruel fate right under our noses is only one facet of the conspiracy of silence that envelopes the Beduin enclaves. The result is large areas to which the state opts to turn a blind eye and where it doesn’t exercise its authority.

For years Negev residents have been calling their region the Wild South. The appellation stuck, and has become common also in police and political parlance, and with good reason.

There’s no denying the state of anarchy especially in Beersheba and its vicinity. Beduin operate protection rackets in broad daylight; their victims fear for their lives.

Theft and robbery are daily occurrences. Numerous homeowners pay protection fees to uninvited Beduin “guards.” The protection-providers’ threats are so potent that victims shrink from testifying. Those who stop paying face penalties. Homes are broken into and ransacked and in one case boiling tar was poured throughout the premises.

In Beersheba’s Emek Sarah industrial zone, stores are raided openly and without hesitation during business hours. Pickup trucks are driven through showroom windows and loaded with merchandise before backing out.

Some establishments have suffered numerous attacks.

Most popular are electrical appliance and building supplies outlets.

Insurance firms frequently refuse their services to local entrepreneurs. Businessmen accuse the police of apathy.

The Mekorot national water company installed hidden cameras in its many Negev installations and discovered photographic evidence of gangs dismantling pumping equipment, loading it onto trucks and then engaging in wanton sabotage of what was left, before disappearing down dusty trails. The police often prove helpless. Pumping stations are rebuilt with the clear knowledge that it is only a matter of time before they are again destroyed.

Farmers feel abandoned. Everything – from irrigation equipment to ripe produce packed for distribution – is stolen.

Thousands of illegal Beduin buildings proliferate throughout the Negev while the courts appear dormant.

The conclusion that official Israel has abandoned all authority in and around Beduin communities is inescapable. This extends to all aspects of life – from the sad status of women to drug-smuggling, human-trafficking and tax evasion.

We mustn’t lose sight of the risk that disrespect for the law might spread to other segments of society. Ignoring a problem may be easy but won’t prevent it from mushrooming.

Yet when Israel tries to enforce even the most basic of laws in the Negev, anti-Israel activists claim that they are engaging in ethnic cleansing.

See also my previous post here.

(h/t Sophie)

Egyptian women's group take on MP who supports mutilating girls

From Bikya Masr:

Azza el-Garf

Egypt’s New Women Foundation said they are suing Islamist Parliament member Azza al-Garf over her pro-female genitals mutilation (FGM) statements. The women’s rights foundation sent a letter to the speaker of parliament Saad al-Katatny, informing him of legally going after Garf and asking for his permission to be allowed to take the MP to court.

The parliament needs to lift immunity for an MP in order for them to be held accountable in a court of law.

Garf was reported saying that FGM is an Islamic practice and that the anti-FGM laws should be amended. Garf is a Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) member, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

“We are on our way to sue Garf to preserve our rights and the gains of Egyptian women,” said the open letter to the speaker.

“We are suing her for going against Egyptian laws that criminalize sexual harassment and FGM, practices that goes against women rights and human rights.

“We completely refuse Garf’s statements and announce that she does not represent us.”

Garf gave similar statements on her Twitter account last month, calling for lifting the laws that criminalize FGM. The statements stirred criticism, which led to the FJP to announce that Garf has no account on Twitter and no comments were made by Garf herself.

Rights surveys in the country put the number of women who go through FGM to be around 86 percent. Current Egyptian law bans the practice and gives prison sentences to any medical staff who performs the surgery. However, many families go to underground clinics to get their daughters the procedure, risking permanent scares or even death.

In 2010, a 13-year-old girl died after a local doctor in the Nile Delta region’s Menoufiya governorate failed in the operation.

It will be interesting to see if the speaker of parliament will lift diplomatic immunity against Garf. I somehow doubt it.

The bad news: As of this writing, a full week after the petition went online and over a day after this article was published, less than 200 people had signed the petition. That's literally nothing.

Which means that women's rights are in serious trouble in Egypt.

Weekend Links, part 2 (Ian)

From Ian:

Honest Reporting replies to the Guardian
Tel Aviv is Israel's Capital (According to the Guardian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyMRUyRmvk0

Co-op bans settlement produce in Israel boycott
But the JC can reveal that at least two of the four companies with which the Co-op is now refusing to do business - Arava Export Growers and Mehadrin - had no contracts to sell produce to the UK
group before the boycott.

Mehadrin's Rami Hesel said: "We were not dealing withthe Co-op, even before the boycott. We had no business with them and didn't sell them anything. For us it is irrelevant.

"We have many Arab workers with us in the fields and packing houses. There are families who have been with us for many years. Any attempt to harm us harms the Palestinians, too."

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/67113/co-op-bans-settlement-produce-israel-boycott

Daphne Anson points out

'Despite the Co-op’s claims that they are applying their policy even-handed, goods from Occupied Northern Cyprus, for example, may still be sold in Co-ops and labelled as “produce of Turkey”.

"Produce Of Turkey": The Co-op, The Boycott, & Double Standards

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/produce-of-turkey-co-op-boycott-double.html

Released bin Laden papers show Al-Qaeda with Israel in its sights

“Al-Qaeda considered the use of drugs to infiltrate Israel’s borders and security infrastructure, thought of the Arab Spring as a positive development, called on Christians in Israel to convert to Islam, and slammed the Mubarak regime for its relations with Israel in newly declassified papers found by US
commandos in Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound.”

AQ Received funding from Iran and Fatah
http://www.timesofisrael.com/released-bin-laden-papers-show-al-qaeda-with-israel-in-sights/

Letter Excerpts: What al Qaeda Thought of Fox News, CNN, ABC
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/03/media-strategy-what-al-qaeda-thought-of-fox-cnn-abc/

Al Qaeda Loves Keith Olbermann, Hates Fox
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/03/Al-Qaeda-Loves-Olbermann-Hates-Fox

Revealed: How bin Laden plotted to bring down Air Force One to kill Obama and replace him with 'totally unprepared' Biden

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138851/Osama-bin-Laden-files-reveal-plot-bring-Air-Force-One-kill-Barack-Obama.html#ixzz1tpy6pQdq

More shameful BBC propaganda against Israel
The BBC has now sunk to pinning its stories against Israel on people who refer to the Jewish state in terms of Nazism and Apartheid
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1172/more_shameful_bbc_propaganda_against_israel

DOJ Refuses to Prosecute Palestinian Terrorists
Tamimi was released even though she has admitted – on television – that she participated in the Sbarro terrorist bombing. In the interview, she even expressed her delight at the number of children among the dead.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/03/DOJ-Refuses-to-Prosecute-Terrorists

Former Egyptian PM Says He'd Visit Israel
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/03/Former-Egyptian-Prime-Minister-Israel

Hamas denies Israeli report on contact with Olmert
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-denies-israeli-report-on-contact-with-olmert/

How The Palestinian Authority Fights Corruption by Khaled Abu Toameh

“Palestinians say that the campaign of intimidation and harassment against the media is designed to prevent "negative reporting" about the Palestinian Authority government. The Palestinian Authority does not want anyone to report about corruption and abuse of power out of fear that this would affect financial aid from the US, EU and other countries.”
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3043/palestinian-authority-corruption

What about UN crimes?
Op-ed: IDF actions pale in comparison to crimes committed by UN peacekeeping forces
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4223342,00.html

Pat Condell - Hello Saudi Arabia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnLTHHpKl60

London won't hold minute of silence for 1972 victims
http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=268493

USS Cole Commander Slams Obama Adhttp://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/02/USS-Cole-Commander-Slams-Obama-Ad

Six army battalions called up under emergency orders to meet growing threat on Egypt, Syria borders
http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-approves-call-up-of-22-idf-battalions/

American Methodists vote against divesting from Israel
http://www.timesofisrael.com/american-methodists-vote-against-divesting-from-israel/

Also, Barry Rubin's article on new NYT Israel correspondent Jodi Rudoren's romanticizing terrorists who are hunger striking.

Weekend Links, part 1

Camera: Desmond Tutu Assails Israel, Gives Palestinians a Pass (Again)

and Elie Wiesel Challenges President Obama; Washington Post Misses Story

HuffPo: Israel, Canada has Accepted your Friend Request
Deputy Leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel Kamal Khatib: Our Babies Are a Demographic Time Bomb for Israel

WSJ: Inciting Genocide is a Crime (partial paywall but Google search it to read it)

JPost: Egyptian-Jews seek rehearing in Coca-Cola case

BBC: Swastikas daubed on Jewish woman's car in Brighton

Times of Israel: Israeli teacher aims to galvanize Syria fly-in, to highlight need for global intervention

The Commentator: UK ignores Palestinian incitement

NYT interview with "The Dictator" plus the latest trailer

Guess what country was in the top ten Lonely Planet destinations for 2011? Yup - Syria.

(h/t Sophie, John, D., Ian, Joel B, Shmuel)

Lebanon outsourcing education to - Iran!

A couple of months ago I posted about how Hezbollah was imposing its curriculum on all schools in Lebanon by forcing everyone to take a class on "the resistance." Afterwards, I wrote sarcastically, "When will they cut out the middleman and just let Ayatollah Khamanei write the course materials for every class?"

Maybe they read my blog.

Education Minister Hasan Diab expressed hope Thursday that Lebanon would soon sign a cooperation agreement in education with Iran.

“We look forward to signing an agreement in the near future to benefit from the educational experience of Iran,” Diab told reporters after receiving his Iranian counterpart Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee, who is accompanying Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi on an official visit.

Diab said the agreement would help the implementation of the ministry’s “salvation” plan for the sector.

Asked by reporters about remarks that the agreement would amount to a “Persian invasion,” Diab said: “This is untrue ... the Education Ministry is a sovereign ministry and in many aspects, it is crucial for all Lebanese.”

There are many reasons to overthrow Bashir Assad, but one of them not often mentioned often enough: it would weaken Hezbollah and give hope that Lebanon can become independent of Islamist rule again.

And dangerous ideas like having Lebanon depend on the mullahs in Iran to teach their students would not even be considered.

(h/t @JCampbellUKIP)

The PLO's "acceptance" of two states, 1977

From JTA, February 28, 1977:

In London, Said Hammami, the PLO's representative there, said in an interview today in the Observer that the Palestine National Council when it meets in Cairo March 12 cannot amend the charter because it represents ideology rather than a practical program.

However, he said the PLO is ready to accept two states in Palestine "because since 1948 there has been a new factor, the Israeli people, not the Jewish people." But he said that Israel cannot survive in the long run as a Jewish State but will eventually become a Hebrew-speaking corner of the Arab world.

Hammami listed three points that comprise the PLO policy: a demand for complete withdrawal of Israel from occupied territory; that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip be handed over to the Palestinians to form an independent state under the PLO with the option later of deciding whether it wanted to join with Jordan and/or Syria; and the recognition of the right of all Palestinians to return to their homes, although this right might not be exercised "for a number of years."

Over the past 35 years Israel has changed its position drastically towards concessions to the PLO - and the PLO has not changed its position one iota towards peace with Israel.

It still considers Israel a temporary anomaly; it still rejects the idea of a Jewish state or of "two states for two peoples;" it still insists on the "right" to have millions of Arabs immigrate to Israel to destroy it demographically.

The only difference is that 35 years ago they were explicit about their ultimate goal of using the territories as a stage in the ultimate destruction of Israel, and after Oslo they pretend that they really want peace. Yet in Arabic they are still quite clear, and their people know it.

And in the 35 years of Israel giving up land, making unilateral concessions and accepting the concept of two states, it has not moderated the Arabs one tiny bit from their hard-line position of 1977 - which is in fact identical to the infamous 1974 Phased Plan for the destruction of Israel, piece by piece.

Saudi women's only village bans "indecently dressed" and "tomboys"

From Al Arabiya:

An all-female village in Saudi banned women who are not dressed conservatively or dressed like men from entering the village grounds in an attempt to combat “alien” phenomena that violate social traditions and spread negative practices.

The Women’s Village in Sakakah, the capital city of al-Jawf Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia, issued a statement banning the entry of women who are deemed to be “dressed indecently” as well as those who look or behave like men, the Saudi newspaper al-Sharq reported.

The statement, which was sent by the village administration via mobile text messages, was issued after a large number of girls engaging in behavior that contradicts the conservative character of the Saudi society started frequenting the village and taking part in many of its activities.

In several women-only parties, the statement explained, teenage girls dressed in revealing clothes or maintained a manly appearance and some of them performed what was seen as “provocative” dances, considered not in line with social norms of the place.

“Those phenomena are alien to our society and do not reflect its conservative character. That is why they need to combated and have their causes uprooted,” said the statement.

The clampdown on “indecent” behavior is not the first in Sakakah. The village administration had issued an earlier statement banning visitors from entering with mobile phones with cameras and prohibiting events that involve noisy music and dancing.

The implementation of such resolutions is overseen by a team of Saudi security women who are in charge of maintaining law and order in the village and detecting violations committed by visitors throughout the year.

The decision of the Sakakah administration is also not the first to target tomboyish girls as they are also banned from entering public schools and universities together with men who maintain an “effeminate” or “punk” appearance.

So if you are a woman in Saudi Arabia, you cannot even dance in front of other women!

Other articles make it appear that makeup is also prohibited.

I cannot find out much about this women's village; it certainly does not take up the entire town. And since cameras seem to be forbidden, there are no photos except for the outside gate.

I wonder if they built roads for cars in this "women's village"?

Latest Latma

Very "inside" this week.

Death penalty for those who mock God, Koran, prophets in Kuwait

From Al Arabiya:

Kuwait’s parliament on Thursday passed a bill stipulating the death penalty for Muslims who curse or mock God, the Muslim holy book, all prophets and the wives of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

The same punishment is applied to those who “describe themselves as new prophets or messengers from God,” the Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported.

“But if the accused is a non-Muslim, the punishment would be lowered to jail for no more than 10 years,” the report added, according to the bill.

Forty MPs, including cabinet ministers, voted for the bill in the second and final round of voting, against six opponents who included all five Shi’ite MPs present and liberal MP Mohammad al-Sager.

The bill introduces two new articles to the Gulf state’s penal code specifically to stiffen penalties for such offences.

Defendants who repent in court will be spared capital punishment but will get a jail sentence for five years and a fine of $36,000 or one of them, while repentance by those who repeat the crime is not acceptable, the bill says.

“We do not want to execute people with opinions or thought because Islam respects these people... But we need this legislation because incidents of cursing God have increased. We need to deter them,” opposition MP Ali al-Deqbasi said during the debate.

Nothing says "respect" like threatening to kill someone.

Oh, and the reason that the Shi'ite MPs opposed the law?

Shiite MPs also demanded that the bill impose the death penalty on anyone who curses their sect’s 12 revered Imams, but the Sunni-dominated parliament rejected their request.

But once their amendment was defeated, then they became advocates of freedom of expression:

Shiite MP Abdulhameed Dashti said the bill breaches the Kuwaiti constitution and the principles of Islam.

“Why are we trying to show Islam as a religion of death and blood when it is actually the opposite of that,” Dashti said.

Hamas cynically celebrates World Press Freedom Day

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh held a ceremony yesterday to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.

Hamas routinely attacks Gaza journalists and who disagree with its policies. Right now, there is no freedom of the press in Gaza and reporters self-censor out of fear for their lives. They have beaten journalists who try to cover anti-Hamas demonstrations, they have banned Fatah newspapers from Gaza, and they have even attacked documentary filmmakers.

Haniyeh cynically praised the journalists who follow Hamas' propaganda goals, saying that Palestinian Arab journalists are "in the trenches" in the battle with Israel.

Journalists who spoke at the event were naturally careful to blame all their problems on the "occupation."

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, activists protested against the US Consulate holding an event in Ramallah to celebrate World Press Freedom Day. Palestinian Arab journalist unions demanded their members boycott the event. Because, after all, that's what press freedom is all about in the territories. (PalPress claims that the entire event was foiled because of the protests; however Ma'an quotes the Consul General as speaking at the event to at least some journalists.)

(h/t CHA)

Biotechnology milestone as Israeli drug gains FDA approval

From Bloomberg:

Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (PLX) soared in Tel Aviv trading after the biopharmaceutical company’s first product won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Protalix surged 14 percent to 29.14 shekels at the 4:30 p.m. close in Tel Aviv. The stock gained 13 percent in New York trading, the biggest single-day advance in more than six months. The company developed the drug, Elelyso, with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to treat the most common form of Gaucher disease, a rare genetic disorder.

The approval may help Protalix cement agreements with drugmakers for its medicines in development, Chief Executive Officer David Aviezer said.

“This is a validation of our technology,” Aviezer said in an interview in Tel Aviv. “The approval could be a harbinger for additional agreements with other companies for some of our other drugs in the near future.”

Elelyso is based on breakthrough research by Dr. Yoseph Shaaltiel, the company's chief scientist. He generated medicinal proteins from genetically modified carrot cells, rather than the more expensive and bacterial-infection prone mammalian cells generally used for biotech drugs.

Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, paid Protalix $60 million for an exclusive agreement to sell the drug globally except for in Israel, according to the company’s annual report. Pfizer also agreed to pay Protalix $55 million for meeting certain regulatory requirements. The U.S. company will get 60 percent of Elelyso sales while Protalix will keep 40 percent.

Gaucher disease can cause fat to build up in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and nervous system. About 1 in 14 individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry carries the mutated gene that can cause the illness, and as many as 1 in 500 present a form of the disorder.

This time those Zionists are selfish. Gaucher disease mostly affects Jews.

CIA report predicting that Israel won't survive, 1947

Israel Matzav found a neat CIA document that discusses what they think would happen if the UN votes to allow partition of Palestine in 1947. It was written on the eve of the UN vote.

The experts get a lot wrong; for example the report says that it is unlikely that Arab nations would attack the Jewish state directly in opposition to the UN. Yeah.

Here are its conclusions, which were not rosy for the future of Israel.

CONCLUSIONS.
If the UNGA accepts partition as the best solution of the Palestine problem, it is almost certain that armed hostilities will result in Palestine; that the social, economic, and political stability of the Arab world will be seriously disturbed; and that US commercial and strategic interests in the Near East will be dangerously jeopardized. Although the UNGA Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine is now considering establishing a Commission responsible to the Security Council to oversee the implementation of partition, it is unlikely that any sizable international police force will initially be available to the Commission. It is highly probable, therefore, that Jewish and Arab forces will clash over the attempt of the Jews to establish a Jewish state.

Into this struggle between the Jews and Arabs of Palestine, the people of the Arab states will inevitably be drawn. Although most of the Arab governments will be reluctant to act in opposition to a UNGA decision and against the wishes of the major powers, nationalist, religious, and tribal pressures will compel them to support unofficially the Palestine Arabs. Inevitably the extremists, the chauvinists, will increase their inﬂuence at the expense of those statesmen in the Arab world who believe that the development of their countries depends on the maintenance of close ties with the US and the UK. While irresponsible tribesmen and fanatic Moslems are haphazardly blowing up parts of the pipelines and attacking occasional Americans, it is possible that the responsible governments will refuse to sign pipeline conventions, oil concessions, civil air agreements, and trade pacts The various projects which are necessary to raise the standard of living cannot be carried through without US assistance and guidance. With the US committed to partition, such developments will be shelved indefinitely. The poverty, unrest, and hopelessness upon which Communist propaganda thrives will increase throughout the Arab world, and Soviet agents (already being smuggled into Palestine as Jewish DP’s) will scatter into the other Arab states and there attempt to organize so-called “democratic movements” such as the one existing today in Greece.

In the meantime, the war in Palestine, barring international armed intervention, will increase in intensity. The Jewish forces will initially have the advantage. However, as the Arabs gradually coordinate their war effort, the Jews will be forced to withdraw from isolated positions, and having been drawn into a war of attrition, will gradually be defeated. Unless they are able to obtain signiﬁcant outside aid in terms of manpower and material, the Jews will be able to hold out no longer than two years.

The UN, having recommended partition, would have to consider the serious threat to the peace resulting from the recommendation. It would, in effect, be compelled to take steps to enforce partition, with the major powers acting as the instruments of enforcement. The dangerous potentialities of such a development to US-Arab and US-USSR relations need no emphasis.

They weren't the last to predict Israel's destruction. Somehow, Israel survived despite all the expert opinions.

Here is the entire report.
CIA Report on Partition of Palestine

(h/t Norman)

Afternoon open thread Zowie!

Gotta keep things exciting!

Pilgrimage to Djerba starts despite warning

From Magharebia:

Thousands of Jews from around the world will soon make their first pilgrimage to Tunisia's Ghriba synagogue since the country's Arab Spring revolution.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been invited to the May 9th event as a guest of honour.

"Tunisia, a country of tolerance and openness, welcomes the visit of Jewish pilgrims to the Ghriba site in Djerba, as they were accustomed to for decades," Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said at an April 16th World Tourism Organisation conference.

Last year, for the first time in two decades, the annual pilgrimage to Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island was cancelled over security concerns. The synagogue, the oldest in Africa, was also the site of a 2002 al-Qaeda terrorist attack that left 21 people dead.

Organisers of the Djerba pilgrimage decided to resume the event after the Tunisian government pledged to provide security for the visitors.

"The government will ensure through its democratic security apparatus to limit some phenomena and curtail some behaviours so as to provide favourable conditions for tourists to visit Tunisia," Jebali added.

But Israel warned against visiting there:

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a travel warning Thursday advising Israelis to avoid Tunisia.

The warning, released the PMO’s Counter Terrorism Bureau, followed an updated situation evaluation and stressed credible threats of terror attacks against Jews and Israelis.

The bureau emphasized threats to people congregating in the city of Djerba on and around the upcoming Lag B’omer holiday on Thursday and Friday next week.

Djerba, noted for it’s 2.500 year-old Jewish community, was the site of a synagogue bombing in April 2002 that killed 21 and wounded 30 more.

The advisory was given a threat assessment level of three out of four, with a “specific-high” rating.

The advisory seems well-advised. Islamists in Tunisia are warning against the "Judaization" of the island. Some are claiming that Jews buying land on the island with the intent of purchasing the entire island, something denied by the government; others called for a demonstration against the pilgrims in front of the historic synagogue. While the government is admirably saying it will provide security, there seem to be a whole lot of people who are against a Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba.

Shareholders sue Egypt over canceled gas deal with Israel

From Egypt Independent:

International shareholders in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that oversaw the now defunct Egyptian-Israeli natural gas deal, said on Thursday they were suing the government of Egypt for violating three bilateral investment treaties.

The decision to take legal action against the Egyptian government under treaties with the United States, Poland and Germany is the strongest move so far by the group, ensuring the dispute is handled diplomatically and not just commercially.

Egyptian state-owned oil and gas companies announced on 22 April the termination of gas sales to Israel, which were part of a 20-year deal, following a year of sabotage and pipeline attacks that had already disrupted supplies.

Thursday's announcement came after months of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue through negotiation, one of the shareholders, Ampal-American Israel Corp, said.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

The investors, who include Thai energy giant PTT, US businessman Sam Zell and Israel's Merhav, are also suing the Egyptian oil and gas companies. Together they are seeking up to US$8 billion in damages.

"The investors' disputes with Egypt arise out of a series of acts and failures by the government of Egypt that have seriously undermined the value of the investors' investments in EMG," Ampal said in a statement.

The underwater pipeline, which EMG spent about $500 million on building, had been targeted by militants in Egypt's unruly Sinai peninsula numerous times, halting the flow of gas for most of the past year.

In 2010, prior to the attacks, EMG provided 2.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas to Israeli customers. But that number was expected to more than double throughout the 20-year deal.

This should be interesting.

The 140 character pitch for Judaism and the Jewish state

In last night's much heralded debate between Daniel Gordis and Peter Beinart, there was an intriguing question asked at 56:36.

The question was that both of them had written about the tragedy of young American Jews who do not identify with Judaism or with the Jewish state. If they had two minutes to make a pitch for one of them to re-engage with Judaism and Zionism, stuck in the proverbial elevator, what would they say?

Gordis, who is a Conservative rabbi, answered that he wouldn't engage in the conversation at all. Bringing up the famous story of the person who demanded that rabbis Shammai and Hillel teach him the entire Torah while he stands on one foot, Gordis said that he would side with Shammai and refuse to answer - it is a dismissive, loaded question, and one cannot teach the big questions of life in two minutes.

Gordis railed against today's culture where people think that big ideas can be adequately expressed in a text message. He said that if one is serious to know the answer, he'll be happy to spend the months and years necessary to answer the question.

Unfortunately, this is the wrong answer. We do live in a time where people are thinking in soundbites and text messages and tweets, and we have to adapt to it. Arguments for Judaism and Jewish nationalism must work on all levels.

And I felt it was an intriguing question, as there was nothing in the question that presupposed that the young Jew in the elevator was hostile, but rather that he or she was clueless, as most - unfortunately - are.

I feel that Hillel's answer was good as well - because he ended it off with "go and learn." The response, both then and now, should not be a real answer - but it must be a hook to get people to want to find out the real answers for themselves

So I took it upon myself to respond to that question. But since I like a challenge, I didn't want to use a rather expansive two minutes, but I wanted to craft a response limited to the 140 character limit on Twitter.

Here it is:

Learning about other peoples and cultures is wonderful, but learning and internalizing about your own people and history is a prerequisite.

Tunisian TV executive fined over showing "blasphemous" film

Last year I reported about how a Tunisian TV director was stand trial for screening an "offensive" cartoon, called Persepolis, which shows how an Iranian girl conceives of God. Days of violent riots followed, including the firebombing of the director's house.

The director has been fined:

A Tunisian court on Thursday imposed a 2,400-dinar ($1,550) fine on a television boss over blasphemy charges after a trial that deepened the division between Islamists and secularists.

The director of Nessma television is accused of insulting sacred values by screening the film “Persepolis,” which showed depictions of God.

Nabil Karoui was charged over the decision by his Nessma television station to broadcast the award-winning animated film that includes a scene depicting Allah, which is forbidden in Islam.

“Persepolis” is a cartoon film directed by comic book writer Marjane Satrapi that tells the story of the Iranian revolution and the Islamic regime of Ayotollah Ruhollah Khomeiny through the eyes of a precocious young girl.

Nessma’s head, Nabil Karoui had earlier said in January at the opening of his hearing: “I am sorry to be here today, this is a political trial.

It’s the trial of 10 million Tunisians who dreamed of having a democratic country.”

While he could have been jailed, the penalty is still a serious setback for human rights in post-revolution Tunisia.

EoZ is an "extremist hate site!"

My well-received essay pointing out the hypocrisy of Israel haters, and the fundamental moral difference between Zionists and anti-Zionists, was quoted by Jonathan Hoffman in The Jewish Chronicle.

The very first comment, by "Mary in Brighton," was:

Jonathan why do you keep linking us to extremist hate sites ?

Another says that my post is a "far right whitewash."

I see similar comments when my posts are linked to on Reddit.

It's always amusing to see how people who have no ability to counter arguments choose instead to resort to name calling and an attempt to de-legitimize their opponents.

And if this is an "extremist hate site," then are there even words to describe the many sites to the right of EoZ?

(h/t istrue)

Sham Hamas/Fatah "unity" continues

From AFP:

A Cairo meeting between Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal and an official of the rival Fatah movement made no headway on the formation of a Palestinian national unity government, an official said on Thursday.

Two hours of talks Wednesday night in the Egyptian capital produced “nothing new,” the Palestinian official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meshaal and his deputy Mussa Abu Marzuk discussed with senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed “the possibility of advancing the reconciliation process, in particular a government of national unity, but the meeting produced nothing new,” the official said.

It's actually worse than this. Hamas denies that there was any formal meeting at all, with a spokesman claiming that at best there was an ad-hoc, unplanned meeting.

Hamas also accused Fatah of arresting six of its members in Bethlehem and further accused them of torturing Hamas prisoners.

We are now in May - the month that was supposed to be when the "unity" elections would be held.

The entire "unity" sham came about as a reaction to a series of rallies last year in Gaza and the West Bank that spooked Hamas and Fatah into thinking that an Egyptian-style revolution to topple them was imminent. They held lots of meaningless meetings pretending to unify, and it seems that their delaying tactics have been successful: even though everyone realizes by now that there has been no real movement to unify the two sides, there has also been no repetition of the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Fatah is buckling down on freedom of expression and is acting, along with Hamas, just like the other Arab dictatorships.

(h/t CHA)