Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Naomi Campbell visits Bethlehem; PA threatens journalists

From AP:

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has visited the holy West Bank town of Bethlehem on her birthday.

Campbell, wearing a white shirt and black sunglasses, was accompanied by friends, Palestinian guards and her own private security detail, some wearing black-and-white checkered Palestinian scarves.

Palestinian security officials say she lit candles in the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born.

A worker at an adjacent restaurant said Campbell celebrated her birthday with a traditional Palestinian meal of lamb and rice.

She requested anonymity because Palestinian officials threatened to punish people speaking to reporters.

Actually, it looks like the PA threatened any reporters who wanted to cover the story, and they gave exclusive rights to the official government-run PA TV station.

Palestinian Arab journalists protested this, saying that PA security forces threatened to break their cameras if they tried to take pictures.

What a nice state Palestine would be!

One of Yemen's few remaining Jews murdered

JPost reports:

A member of the Jewish community in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa was stabbed and critically injured by a Muslim man accusing him of witchcraft on Tuesday, AFP quoted the man's son as saying. Army Radio quoted a friend of the victim as saying Aharon Zindani had died as a result of the stab wounds.

The 50-year-old Zindani “was stabbed at Saawan market near the US embassy in northeast Sanaa,” his son Yehya was quoted as saying. “He received stab wounds to his neck and stomach.”

According to Yehya Zindani, his father was undergoing surgery for his wounds.

He described the attacker as a “well-known person who says my father has ruined and bewitched him.” According to Israeli media reports the attacker stabbed Zindani 12 times before being stopped by a group of men and detained.

Al-Arab Online confirms that Zindani died from his wounds.

It says that the murderer cried "You are Jewish and ruined my business with the magic that you use." It also says that the killer was a qat dealer.

A Yemeni human rights group condemned the killing, noting that there has been increasing anti-semitism in recent years in the country, saying there has been "an unjustified campaign of incitement against the Jewish community in Yemen, using racist slogans calling for killing them."

A two state solution has nothing to do with Jerusalem

This Reuters article pushes one of the biggest myths around:

Named for the crash site of an airforce plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth.

'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits -- rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree.

Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms.

With the approval process going more quickly than expected, building could start later this year, creating the first new Israeli settlement in 15 years among the sprawl of a modern Jerusalem that is spread out over many hills.

If that happens, it would effectively cut off the city's Palestinian neighborhoods from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, imperiling the Palestinians' prospects for establishing a coherent capital and with it their goal of an independent state.

"There is only so much territorial abuse this tortured land can take before we kill the political options of saving the two- state solution," said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli attorney who monitors urban developments he thinks affect chances for peace.

In 1947, the Zionists accepted a two-state solution without Jerusalem, the eternal Jewish capital. The reason was because the desire to have a state - no matter what the boundaries - was far more important than anything else.

If statehood and independence is the most important goal for Palestinian Arabs, they would act the same way and would have their state today.

Why does Reuters say, as a fact, that only Jerusalem can be the Palestinian state's "coherent capital?"

Just because Palestinian Arabs insist that Jerusalem is essential to their having a state does not make it so. Indeed, it is provably false, as Ramallah is currently the effective capital of the PA.

They can add Jerusalem to any list of demands they want. They can also demand that Netanyahu do six consecutive somersaults on live television before any peace agreement. But arbitrary demands do not automatically become essential for a two state solution just because Arabs assert it.

Those who mix up Arab demands and a real two-state solution are not doing anything to advance the cause of peace.

Jerusalem Arabs are applying for Israeli citizenship. Must be an evil Israeli plot!

Here's hilarious example of how the anti-Israel Left engages in bizarre conspiracy theories to explain things they simply cannot understand.

From Riman Barakat in 972mag:

As an East Jerusalem resident, I am struck by a recent trend: many of my friends and acquaintances who hold Jerusalem identification cards – documents of permanent residency rather than Israeli citizenship – are quietly applying for and obtaining Israeli passports.

It’s not immediately clear why. Current residents of East Jerusalem – numbering over 350,000, or 38% of the city’s total population – already go about their daily lives, shop at Israeli malls, use Israeli services, frequent Israeli restaurants and bars, send their children to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and receive Israeli social and health benefits. What does “upgrading their status” from East Jerusalem residents to citizens of Israel add? Why did East Jerusalem residents refuse the Israeli offer of citizenship in 1967, and why are they actively seeking to obtain it now, especially given that citizenship requires them to pledge the controversial oath of allegiance to the Israeli state?

I believe the trend is the result of a well-planned and consistently applied Israeli strategy to pressure the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem.

Of course! If Palestinian Arabs voluntarily choose to become Israeli citizens, it has to be a nefarious Jewish plot!

It cannot possibly be that they see the Palestinian Authority is a corrupt dictatorship with ever-increasing totalitarian tendencies and they believe that their lives, and the lives of their families, would be infinitely better under Israeli sovereignty. No, that's crazy talk. It must be that Israel, by asking them to prove their residency status periodically, is really pressuring them to become Israeli citizens against their will.

Because, of course, as 972mag nutcases know all too well, those evil Jewish Zionists naturally want to pressure the hated Arabs of "East Jerusalem" to become Israeli citizens and increase the number of Arab citizens in the Jewish state. This must be another form of "ethnic cleansing."

(Here is also another way that Arab leaders infantilize their own people, not giving them credit for doing what they want to do and instead finding ways to blame Israel for Arabs acting in ways that don't adhere to their cherished - and often false - narrative.)

Barakat's agenda becomes a bit clearer later in this nonsensical piece:

As the PA turns a blind eye to the phenomenon of East Jerusalemites becoming Israelis, I wonder: does the PA still adhere to the vision of East Jerusalem as the future capital of Palestine? If not, the PA should start discussing the possibility of an Open City immediately, both internally and publicly.

Here we see the truth. To Barakat, Jerusalem being a Palestinian Arab capital is not the most important goal - the goal is to ensure that it is not Jewish!

You know how important it is for Jerusalem to be an Arab city, as we are constantly reminded? Well, it isn't really that important. Better it be under UN control than allowing Jews to have a say in how their capital is run.

This is entirely consistent with the Arab attitude towards Jerusalem in 1949, when all Arab countries (except for Jordan) pushed the UN to make Jerusalem an international city. Nothing then about the eternal importance of Jerusalem to Muslims, no cheer that the Old City was under Muslim control - no, to them, it was more important that all of Jerusalem - including the western side - be taken away from the Jews. And this is what Barakat is saying here.

Barakat, a Palestinian Arab who is now Co-Director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information - as liberal an organization as any Arab is likely to join - shows that even for her, the true goal is reducing the amount of land ruled by Jews, and not "Palestinian statehood." A Palestinian Arab state is just the means to that other goal, not the goal itself.

(h/t Arnold Roth)

Iran Photoshops an Israeli passport to prove "Mossad spy"

From Emanuele Ottolenghi at Commentary:

Last week, Iranian blogger Potkin Azarmehr questioned the authenticity of reports that Iran had executed Majid Jamali Fashi, the 24-year-old Iranian accused of carrying out the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Massoud-Ali Mohammadi.

This morning, Potkin circulated a snapshot of an Israeli passport, showcased on Iranian TV, which authorities claim is evidence that Fashi was an Israeli agent.

Harry's Place notices:

The passport Iranian television is claiming belonged to the alleged “Israeli spy” (see Gene’s story below) is a crude forgery copied directly from a facsimile of an Israeli passport on Wikipedia. Such was the ineptitude that the word “forgery” is in fact too generous – they made no effort to even change the details. The only difference is the new photo inexpertly pasted over the original (without even paying attention to the stamps). Details blacked out in the Wikipedia image are simply erased while visible details are left exactly as is.

It isn't even a good Photoshop job. And even Iranians noticed that the photograph does not show him looking at the camera, as every passport photo has.

Just something else to keep in mind when Iran claims to have caught "Zionist spies."

(h/t David T)

Iranian "news" agency replaces "Iran" with "Israel" in HRW press release

From HRW, in a press release about human rights abuses in Bahrain:

United Nations member states should scrutinize Bahrain’s deplorable human rights record during the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on May 21, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today.

The voice of the international community has been subdued regarding Bahrain’s manifold violations, especially compared with the international response to abuses in Syria, Libya, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries, Human Rights Watch said.

Iran's FARS News reports on this statement, but it seemed to have a problem with HRW's list of countries performing human rights abuses:

The voice of the international community has been subdued regarding Bahrain's manifold violations, especially compared with the international response to abuses in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, Human Rights Watch said.

The list of countries engaging in human rights abuses changed from "Iran and its allies" to "Iran's enemies."

That's Iranian "news" for you.

(HRW's Arabic version of the press release is identical to the English one.)

(h/t Gidon Shaviv, Israel Research Fellow at NGO Monitor)

Exposing more BDS hypocrisy: 400 PalArabs attend agriculture show in Tel Aviv

A few weeks ago, someone named Ben White tried to make fun of my assertion that Palestinian Arab farmers are not keen on boycotts of Israel, since it can hurt them too.

White's main piece of evidence that Palestinian Arab farmers really want to boycott Israeli goods and services came from a quote from a spokesman for the "Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees," saying that Palestinian Arab farmers do in fact support boycotting Israel.

I easily showed that he's an idiot and a hypocrite, and that plenty of Palestinian Arab farmers willingly cooperate with the supposedly hated "occupiers". And I pointed out a number of specific cases where Palestinian Arab farmers eagerly attended seminars in Israel to increase their profits.

Here's more proof that the BDS haters like White are obviously acting in ways that are at odds with normal Palestinian Arab farmers and agriculturalists.

The Agritech exhibition (the international convention on agricultural technology), which took place [last] Tuesday-Thursday in the Exhibition Grounds in Tel-Aviv, was attended by agriculturalists and commercial representatives from all over the world, and included Israeli innovations in agriculture and various agricultural crops. Amongst those present and presenting in the exhibit were Palestinian agriculturalists from Judea and Samaria.

The Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria issued entry permits to approx. 400 Palestinian agriculturalists that came to view, learn, develop and even acquire some of the innovations presented in the convention, so that they may develop their own agricultural estates. In addition, the Civil Administration funded the farmers’ carpooling services, so that they may conveniently attend the exhibit. “Palestinian farmers are exposed here to many technological developments and innovations in agricultural technology”, explained Samir Mudai, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer. “We are attempting to create a connection between Israeli and Palestinian agriculture.”

In addition, in the area allotted by exhibition organizers, 4 stands were positioned upon which Palestinian farmers presented their wares: the “Cnaan” Company from Jenin, which produces olive oil, Tehina: “Hayona” from Nablus, a company which produces natural fruits and vegetables from Jericho region, and “Taibe” Beer, a company in Ramallah.

As presenters attended every day of the exhibit, the Civil Administration issued them with Israeli entry permits which include sleeping arrangements, so that they may sleep nearby and readily attend every day of the exhibit. “We are exposing them to Israelis and to the world”, Muadi remarked. “Here, they are exposed to potential customers and generate business relations from all over the world.”

Among the various stands, it was clear that a great deal of interest was shown in Palestinian products, particularly those of “Hayona” Tehina Company, who managed to sell tehina and halva to the audience with great success.

The Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Office works restlessly – throughout the year, we vigorously endeavor to integrate Palestinian agriculturalists within conventions of this kind, and arrange seminars so as to develop the Palestinian economy and its agriculture, and farmers are already bearing fruit. “Following the Agrotech exhibit, business relations commenced with “Rami Levi” Company, who intend on buying vegetables from Palestinian farms”, remarked Mr. Muadi. “Rami Levi already met with several farmers and we truly hope that he will distribute their agricultural produce.”

In addition, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer is exploring the option of introducing Palestinian products into Israeli markets. “We’re currently exploring the possibility of attempting to introduce Palestinian stations in the new Tel Avivi Wholesale Market”, Mr. Muadi summarized.

This also neatly proves that, contrary to what the haters claim, Israel wants to help these Palestinian farmers succeed - unlike people like White.

In case you are unaware, the Civil Administration is a branch of the IDF.

When boycotters say that they are following the desires of "Palestinian civil society," they want to make it sound like a large swath of Palestinian Arabs support an effort that directly hurts them economically. As we can see, this is absurd. The "civil society" is made up of self-appointed "spokesmen," tiny NGOs built to attract money from Western useful idiots and some unions which do nothing besides declare strikes every once in a while to feel important. They do not represent anyone who actually does productive work.

Given this evidence, the haters will have to fall back on their next moronic argument - that this is just "farmwashing."

Freedom of the press, Hezbollah-style

From Al Akhbar:

Restrictions have been imposed at Hezbollah’s Manar television to avoid the appearance of unveiled women on the station’s programs.

The decision by Manar TV not to host unveiled women on its programs is no secret, although the management seems to be dealing with it as such. The media PR manager, Ibrahim Farhat, politely declines to answer questions on the subject, promising “to talk about it later.”

He says that the “information is not accurate,” while refusing to explain where the inaccuracy lies. “When the (inaccurate) information is published, we will issue a response,” he adds.

However, what seems to be inaccurate to the manager, is very clear to the station’s employees, who were informed of the decision more than a year ago and have been implementing it.

Manar employees are often embarrassed when their contacts lead them to a guest who would be informative on a subject under discussion, but who does not fulfill the new condition: “She has to be wearing the hijab.”

How did the decision come about? One employee recalls that the management held a meeting with the employees about a year and a half ago and informed them of a series of decisions, one of which was to not host unveiled women.

The employees do not know at what level these decisions were made, but they suspect that they came directly from the general secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

{T]he result was that management took the decision, without discussing it beforehand with the journalists. It was made clear at the time: “If it is difficult to implement in a certain program, then cancel the program.”

With time, however, some exceptions began to appear. In news bulletins and reports, unveiled women are allowed to appear. They are also allowed in reports where people on the street are asked for their opinion. So the standard is “what can be controlled.”

There is evidence that the management imposed restrictions on what headscarves can be worn by female presenters, insisting that the headcovering had to be a dark uniform color.

Even the “beauty” of the presenters was part of this approach. For example, the management got rid of a number of female presenters because they had had plastic surgery.

These measures sealed a series of (economically) “daring” decisions initiated in the advertising department, which operates under strict conditions. The station, for example, does not show advertisements for products on the Israeli boycott list.

Did Columbus put Hebrew "B'Ezrat Hashem" on his letters?

From CNN:

Today marks the 508th anniversary of the death of Christopher Columbus.

Everybody knows the story of Columbus, right? He was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail in 1492 to enrich the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices from the orient. Not quite.

For too long, scholars have ignored Columbus's grand passion: the quest to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims.

...Recently, a number of Spanish scholars, such as Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez, have concluded that Columbus was a Marrano, whose survival depended upon the suppression of all evidence of his Jewish background in face of the brutal, systematic ethnic cleansing.

Columbus, who was known in Spain as Cristóbal Colón and didn't speak Italian, signed his last will and testament on May 19, 1506, and made five curious -- and revealing -- provisions.

Two of his wishes -- tithe one-tenth of his income to the poor and provide an anonymous dowry for poor girls -- are part of Jewish customs. He also decreed to give money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter.

On those documents, Columbus used a triangular signature of dots and letters that resembled inscriptions found on gravestones of Jewish cemeteries in Spain. He ordered his heirs to use the signature in perpetuity.

According to British historian Cecil Roth's "The History of the Marranos," the anagram was a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, a prayer recited in the synagogue by mourners after the death of a close relative. Thus, Columbus's subterfuge allowed his sons to say Kaddish for their crypto-Jewish father when he died. Finally, Columbus left money to support the crusade he hoped his successors would take up to liberate the Holy Land.

Estelle Irizarry, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, has analyzed the language and syntax of hundreds of handwritten letters, diaries and documents of Columbus and concluded that the explorer's primary written and spoken language was Castilian Spanish. Irizarry explains that 15th-century Castilian Spanish was the "Yiddish" of Spanish Jewry, known as "Ladino." At the top left-hand corner of all but one of the 13 letters written by Columbus to his son Diego contained the handwritten Hebrew letters bet-hei, meaning b'ezrat Hashem (with God's help). Observant Jews have for centuries customarily added this blessing to their letters. No letters to outsiders bear this mark, and the one letter to Diego in which this was omitted was one meant for King Ferdinand.

I had heard some of these claims before, but the idea that Columbus put a Hebrew B"H in the corner of all the letters to his son was a new one on me.

So I found a book of all (or many) of Columbus' letters online.

Sure enough, there is....something...on the upper left of each letter to Diego, that looks like initials scrawled quickly, but not to be seen on any of his other letters.

However, I cannot see how they can be read as a Bet-Heh.

Interesting, nonetheless.

(h/t KS)

"Zionist orgy in Al Aqsa"

I mentioned that a small crowd of Jews peacefully visited the Temple Mount yesterday on the occasion of Jerusalem Day.

The most over-the-top reaction this time came not from the Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation, as it usually does. It was not from Hamas or Islamic Jihad. No, this foaming-at-the-mouth story comes from Israel's "peace partners" in Jordan.

From Jordan's Addustour:

Zionist Orgy in Al Aqsa

Zionist gangs came to seize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the occupying army, confirming that the enemy is implementing his plans and his expansionist aggressive schemes for the Judaization of the Holy City, and he is no longer interested in negotiations and the peace process.

In this regard, it must be noted that this aggression is in accordance with malignant Jewish Policy, with the enemy creating events and Talmudic religious holidays, to rally Jews who hate, and the mob of settlers, and to release them like rabid dogs on the Arabs of Jerusalem to terrorize them, and to caused them to leave the holy city, or to terrorize the worshipers, and cause them to not pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, allowing them to attempt to split it with Muslims similar to what happened to the Mosque of Ibrahim in the city of Khalil Rahman (Hebron.)

The aggression against al-Aqsa comes to coincide with the Zionist campaign on the increasing the pace of settlement and crimes of ethnic cleansing, and seizure of the largest area of the West Bank, and terrorizing farmers through leveling agricultural land, and the uprooting of olive trees, and harness the courts of Zionism for the issuance of unfair rulings, including confiscation of houses of Jerusalem, and given to the settlers, to complete the project of converting the Holy City to the Jewish capital of Israel. ...

To summarize: the Zionist aggression on al Aqsa will continue, and the enemy will not back off from his expansionist plans, in light of Arab impotence and U.S. support and hypocrisy of Europe. The brotherly [Arab] countries must react out of the box to rescue Jerusalem and Al Aqsa, and the Palestinian people must join the Arab spring as the only way to liberate the land and establish of the state, and bring about their return.

At least one other newspaper, in the equally moderate UAE, republished this little hateful screed.

(UPDATE: The proper translation instead of "orgy" seems to be "ruckus" or "revelry." h/t arabicreader.)

Anti-semitism is alive and well among soccer-fan tweeters

Two small Israeli flags were displayed in the crowd during a major televised soccer game in Germany:

And the Jew-haters came out of the woodwork on Twitter:

WTF....do u see those Israeli flags at mid pitch....muthfukers r everywhere....even in germany

RT @Ali_ElMaestro8: Them jews with the Israeli flags are pissing me off.

Dean whitney

2 days ago

Reply Retweet
Hardly surprising there's Israeli flags either. The Jews blackmail Germany cos of what they did and will do it for ages.

Ryan

2 days ago

Reply Retweet

I'm pretty sure the two fellas waving Israeli flags at the CL final have been sent on a PR mission. Infuriating.

Azero

2 days ago

Reply Retweet
them guys waving the israeli flags on the halfway line are mocking the Germans on a different level #ChampionsLeagueFinal

Majid Freeman

2 days ago

Reply Retweet
@goldman1007 abramovich is Jewish - the Israeli flags on the halfway line were possibly a reference to the massacre at Olympics 40 years ago

Armchaireverton

2 days ago

Reply Retweet

You can read the whole thing at Storify.

(h/t Daniel F)

Links, links and more links

Zvi's linkdump:

Pressure for arts boycott of Israel condemned

The Irish government's #2 man (and FM) criticized the IPSC's bullying of Irish artists who want to visit Israel.

Why the cultural boycott of Israel is a blunt and backward instrument

This author is plainly not a friend of Israel. I suggest reading this mostly because this is a non-friend who seems to have realized that the "cultural boycott" of Israel is not only disingenuous but cruel and completely unfair.

Israeli kibbutz takes bite out of Iran's caviar exports

Algerian author sparks uproar with Israel visit

South Sudan, world’s youngest nation, develops unlikely friendship with Israel

"JUBA, South Sudan (JTA) – This city in the world’s newest country is not your typical Arabic-speaking capital. For one thing, most of the city’s inhabitants are Christian. For another, the Israeli flag is ubiquitous here."

Israel attracting Chinese students

"When Zhong Weichao, a doctoral student at Harbin Institute of Technology in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, started a yearlong exchange in Israel five months ago, he soon thought you can never judge a country by its size.
...
"The coolest thing here is that the environment is very open. You can challenge the teacher by asking whatever questions interest you, and they are capable of and willing to answer them all. And the technology you are engaged in is world-class," he said."

N.Y. mural contrasts gay rights in Israel with neighboring countries

A mural created by gay Birthright alumni contrasts gay rights in Israel with repression in the Arab countries.

And finally, a satirical look at the way the media report on Israel:

How to Write About Israel

From Yoel:

Tantawi (in hint to Israel?): we'll cut off the tongue of whoever turns against us...we're ready to fight (Hebrew)

Nasrallah: we can hit Tel Aviv, Israel will be annihilated

Iran to Hezbollah (in response to above?): Don't strike Israel

Israeli detention was ‘five-star’ compared to Syrian jail — freed Turkish journalist who was on Marmara

Egyptian paper: Egyptian nuclear scientist defected to Israel (Hebrew)

Palestinian, African migrants brutally rape two Israeli girls

Archaeologists discover ancient olive press in Modiin

Israeli may become next world chess champion

Also, Report: Israel to deploy 20,000 commandos in Greek Cyprus (h/t Dan)

Jacob responds to my Hasbara Challenge from yesterday

How Bedouins are systematically stealing land in Area C (series translated from Makor Rishon) (h/t zozosophie)

"Very dangerous" Israeli candy infiltrates Lebanon

While Lebanese citizens are killing each other over their Syrian loyalties, an even more important story has come out of Lebanon:

A joint national and security forces committee has seized Israeli made candies in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Monday.

The candies had wrappers with Hebrew inscriptions on them and another layer of Arab writings about the name of the alleged Syrian factory that made them. They were stashed in hundreds of bags, it said.

The committee is now questioning the trader who smuggled the candies to the camp.

“This is a very dangerous phenomenon which should be resolved responsibly,” the head of the committee of social affairs for popular committees in the southern city of Sidon, Fouad Othman, said.

“This requires the reunification of all Palestinian efforts inside the camp,” he added.

Othman also urged the Lebanese authorities to investigate how the candies were smuggled to Lebanon and then to Ain el-Hilweh.

They have a photo of this "candy:"

These wrappers say "Tnuva Butter."

Maybe it tastes so good that they thought it was candy.

Or maybe it just had the same physical effects of other Israeli products smuggled to Arab areas.

Iranian commander confirms Iran's commitment to destroy Israel

How much more explicit can they get?

From Iran's official FARS news agency:

Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said threats and pressures cannot deter Iran from its revolutionary causes and ideals, and stressed that the Iranian nation will remain committed to the full annihilation of the Zionist regime of Israel to the end.

Addressing a defense gathering here in Tehran on Sunday, General Firouzabadi said that nations should realize the threats and dangers posed by the Zionist regime of Israel.

He reiterated the Iranian nation and Supreme Leader's emphasis on the necessity of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and its causes, and noted, "The Iranian nation is standing for its cause that is the full annihilation of Israel."

The top military official reminded that the Iranian Supreme Leader considers defending Palestine as a full religious duty and believes that any kind of governance and rule by anyone other than the Palestinians as an instance of usurpation.

Earlier this year, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed in explicit remarks Iran's direct involvement in the Palestinian and Lebanese confrontation with Israel, including the Lebanese Summer 2006 33-day resistance against the Zionist regime.

"Wherever Iran interferes, it announces it in a very straightforward manner. For instance, we interfered in confrontations against Israel, which resulted in the (Lebanese) victory in the 33-day war and (Palestinians' victory in) the 22-day (Gaza) war," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing millions of Friday Prayers worshippers on Tehran University Campus in February.

"In future too, we will support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime," the Leader underscored.

"The Zionist regime is a real cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God Willing," Ayatollah Khamenei underscored.

Time for Iran's Western apologists to work overtime to parse these words as if they aren't aggressive or threatening.

(Lots of hat tips but Challah was first)

Wafa Sultan vs. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad

Worth watching:

(h/t Israel Matzav via Cheryl)

Seen today

Two lessons from the barn owls

Al Arabiya English last week aired a very nice story about cooperation between Israel and Jordan in using barn owls as a natural way to control pests.

Seven barn owl chicks nestled together in a wooden box in Israel's Beit Shean valley are not fuzzy and cute exotic pets, but they have become functional as they are the success of a decade-long project to use their species as biological pesticides.

In 2002, Jordanian and Israeli farmers wanted to end the use of poisons and toxic pest controls but still needed a way to safeguard their products from rats and mice.

The farmers, along with Israel's Society for the Protection of Nature and Jordan's General Mansour Abu-Rashid, began placing nesting boxes where the barn owls would breed in, up to 2,600 boxes in fields on the Israeli side of the border, hundred which are used by Jordanian farmers.

According to Ornithologist Dr. Motti Charter from Haifa University, around ten years would pass until an Israeli male owl and Jordanian female owl coupled up and bred.

"For them, they don't know that the border is here and they probably met, you know, not like people at a bar or something like that, they met one night and decided to have -- that they fell in love and they started a nest here," Charter said. "The whole concept is that, you know, it doesn't matter if it's Jordanian or Israel, they're barn owls. And for us it's a great success story because it shows, because of the Jordanians started thinking differently, started using the barn owls, they succeeded."

I'm not sure who had the story first, Al Arabiya or Reuters or the BBC. Green Prophet seems to be the source for the story.

It is a very nice story, and one that is tailor-made for Western audiences. It shows that Israels and Arabs can and do cooperate on projects that are mutually beneficial.

It would be nicer if the Arabic media would cover this story as well.

So far I haven't found a single article about this Arab-Israeli cooperation in Arabic-language media. (Jordan's Ammon News published the English Al Arabiya story.)

If there will ever be real peace, articles like this must be published in the Arabic media where ordinary Arabs can see that Israel is not as one-dimensionally evil as it is usually portrayed.

(The story can also help stop incidents such as this one where Jordanians bragged about killing an owl, and videotaped themselves doing it.)

Jews visiting Temple Mount again freaks Muslims out

On Jerusalem Day, a group of Jews visited the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount.

Here are photos of them from Qudsmedia:

As usual, Muslim Arabic media is freaking out over the "usurpers" who are "defiling" and "profaning" this indisputably Jewish holy place.

The proper response, of course, is to ensure that such peaceful visits happen multiple times a day.

Stunning Jerusalem webpage from JCPA

JCPA made a great webpage about Jerusalem, featuring a nice high resolution panoramic photo of Jerusalem with annotations, as well as a video and other information. Great for Yom Yerushalayim!

Video of IDF capturing Temple Mount, 1967

JTA links to this video for Jerusalem Day, showing not only the famous scenes of soldiers at the Kotel but on the Temple Mount as well.

It is to Israel's everlasting shame that the keys to the Mount's gates were given back to the radical Muslims of the Waqf almost immediately.

Even so, this is a day of celebration when Jews finally regained sovereignty over the only capital they have ever had.