Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, August 03, 2012

UAE photo competition open to all - except, of course, Israel

From the website of the Emirates Photo Competition:

Under the patronage of International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is organizing the Seventh Session of the Emirates Photography Competition (EPC) 2012.

...The EPC believes in the inclusive nature of art and its timeless ability to unite the interests and creativity of human beings everywhere, as well as the ability of photography to facilitate interaction and communication amongst people. Therefore the EPC’s Seventh Edition will be open to all photographers from around the world.

Sounds great! Let's register!

Uh-oh:

It's a bit difficult for Israelis to register for this competition that is "open to all photographers worldwide, amateur or professional" when their country and nationality is not listed in the registration form.

If this was only a typical daily example of Arab hypocrisy and hatred of Israel, perhaps it could be laughed off. But this competition is under the patronage of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) which states clearly on its website:

All considerations of political, ideological or racial order are absolutely banned from the activities of FIAP.

So why is it sponsoring a photo contest that violates its own rules?

I am told that FIAP has already been contacted and is aware of the issue, but has not yet decided to do the right thing.

The president of FIAP is Mr. Emile Wanderscheid and his email is e.wanderscheid@fiap.net. You might want to contact him and ask about why FIAP is ignoring its own stated standards and is acceding to blatant discrimination against a FIAP-member country.

UPDATE: See my follow-up post here.

BREAKING: 20 Palestinians killed by artillery

8 Palestinian Arab civilians were killed as a barrage of artillery shells were fired on the Yarmouk camp. (UPDATE: The death toll is now 20!)

Two children who were killed were apparently brothers, Anas Ahmad Tlozi and Ibrahim Ali Tlozi.

Several shells exploded on Ja'una Street in the camp, which also injured 25 civilians. Many of them are in serious condition at a nearby hospital.

Residents of the camp appealed to the UN to help protect them from the withering fire of the enemy.

This terrible event will no doubt generate endless op-eds and condemnations from Palestinian sympathizers.

Hold on....I just received an update: The Yarmouk camp is in Syria, not Gaza.

Oh, forget it then. No one cares about dead Palestinians when they are killed by Arabs!

Today's nutty Al Aqsa rumor: Jews dissolving foundation with chemicals

Palestine Today reports that Jamal Amr, who is responsible for architecture affairs for the Al Aqsa Mosque, charges that he found traces of chemicals that the Israelis are using to dissolve the foundations of the mosque.

Who knows, maybe they are dissolving the entire Temple Mount.

Amr said in a speech that Israeli experts are deploying the solvents during the night and removing them during the day to hide their nefarious plans. This is the biggest attack against Al Aqsa in three years, he said.

Yes, the Israelis can use this wonder chemical to dig tunnels, or safely take down buildings, but they choose to use it to weaken the Al Aqsa Mosque. Because that's how they roll, apparently.

By the way, this story was also reported back in February. And Mondoweiss swallowed it, naturally. Because republishing absurd anti-Jewish conspiracy theories is how they roll, in reality.

And more links

Diana Muir Appelbaum uncovers a 1958 Turkish blood libel against Jews that still has echoes today in Turkish society.

Lebanese authorities arrest 36 men at gay cinema

According to a report on the Gay Star News website on Monday, “an unknown number” of the 36 had been released after an unnamed doctor administered the anal exam – a procedure meant to detect sperm.

PalWatch: The Muslim Brotherhood's Patient Jihad

The Economist has a large special report on Jews and Judaism today

JUDAISM IS FLOURISHING, both in Israel, where 43% of the world’s Jews now live, and throughout the Jewish diaspora. The Jews as a nation are flourishing too. Israelis, for all their problems, are the 14th-happiest people in the world, happier than the British or the French, according to a recent global happiness report commissioned by the UN. In the diaspora Jewish life has never been so free, so prosperous, so unthreatened.

Syria: the view from Israel in The Guardian

Israel's position with regard to the Syrian crisis has been misrepresented by two myths. One, propagated by the Assad regime itself, has argued from the outset that this is not a genuine domestic rebellion, but a conspiracy hatched by the US and Israel. The other holds that Israel favours the survival of Assad's regime ("the devil we know" theory) and has exerted its influence in Washington in order to dissuade the Obama administration from serious humanitarian intervention in Syria.

'If I were an Iranian, I would be fearful in coming weeks'

Good news! Iran's Parchin nuclear site seems to have been properly cleansed and is now (presumably) ready for inspection!

An anti-tank missile shot from Gaza gets intercepted

In Iran, anti-semitic outbursts are increasing under Ahmadinejad

Dr. Ruth visits haredim in Israel and sees that things are not as bleak as we are hearing

(h/t Yoel, Yerushalimey, Menachem)

Surprise! Henry Clifford fakes Zionist quotes as well

Henry Clifford, the man who paid to put copies of The Map The Lies on LIRR train stations and who refused to answer the many proofs that they were deceptive, is now adding more deception to his already tattered reputation.

He wrote an article in the LoHud.com paper where he takes alleged Zionist quotes that he claims shows that early Zionists were hell-bent on ethnically cleansing the land.

In a must-read article, CAMERA traces back the history of these quotes and shows how they are distorted, out of context or simply not credible.

I'll only add one point. Henry writes:

Richman and Grossman tell us that in 1967, “the Arab world threatened Israel with destruction.” Here’s what then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin said in 1982: “In June 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian army concentration in the Sinai approaches did not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.”

The Arabs did not initiate the war, Israel did.

No one says that Nasser fired the first shot. But the threat to Israel was real, both in extreme Arab rhetoric and in fact (by his closing off he Straits of Tiran, for example.)

But Clifford pretends to be concerned primarily with the West Bank. And every historian would agree that Jordan fired the first shot there, after Israel warned them not to get involved.

If Jordan had decided not to join the war, the Palestinian Arabs would still be under Jordanian occupation. They certainlywouldn't have an independent state! Also, they would still be doing all they could to destroy Israel within the Green Line, as they did before 1967.

So Clifford is again being knowingly deceptive.

And his choice of quotes also shows very clearly that he has no ability to think for himself, and that his entire knowledge of the Middle East comes from anti-Israel websites that he simply copies and pastes from without doing even the slightest fact checking.

Ian's Thursday links

From Ian:

Stand with Us: Danny Ayalon Israel Palestinian Conflict: The Truth About the Peace Process (video)

Hamas blasts Palestinian official’s Auschwitz trip
"Islamist group’s spokesman says Holocaust ‘is a big lie,’ and visit by Abbas adviser was against public opinion" See also MEMRI

BDS movement forcing Brits to pay more for medicines?

"The European Union – Israel Agreement on Conformity, Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) was approved by the European Council of Ministers in March 2010 and then sent on to the European Parliament for ratification. The European Parliament has delayed that process for over two years – supposedly as a reaction to the May 2010 flotilla incident in which nine Turkish political activists were killed after having attacked Israeli soldiers."

Why Abbas Wants to Go Back to the UN in September by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Abbas's decision to return to the UN is not only a ploy to avoid internal problems at home, it is also a way of trying to extort the Americans and Europeans into channeling more funds into his coffers. Abbas's threat: Give me more money or I will misbehave and file another request with the UN."

Islam at the Olympics "Rid the Streets of Evil" by Shiraz Maher

"With East London hosting the world during the Olympics, a group of Islamists associated with Anjem Choudary and his group, Islam4UK, have taken the law into their own hands.
Over recent weeks the group has launched a vigilante campaign in Waltham Forest, close to the main Olympics venues, to target "Pimps and Prostitutes," part of a wider campaign by Choudary's associates to launch their own vigilante campaigns, based on a narrow interpretation of Shariah law. Last year, the group put up stickers around parts of East London declaring it a 'Shariah Zone.' It warned women to observe strict dress codes, and local residents against drinking alcohol. Homosexuals were also threatened."

The Palestinian Culture of Slapping Israel

“PFD (Palestinians for Dignity), which was instrumental in the protests against Mahmoud Abbas and PA corruption earlier in the summer, is now protesting the European Union’s decision to upgrade a variety of trade and other ties with Israel.
The EU is the largest provider of economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority — so the willingness to antagonize it should be put in the context of what the PFD is willing to sacrifice — not for the benefit of the Palestinian people, but to demand that Israel be slapped:”

IDFBlog: IDF Roundup – What Happened In July 2012
20 Years of Saving Lives Abroad
Delhi Police Charge Muslim Journalist in Attack Against Israelis

“Nearly five months after an Israeli diplomat's car was bombed in New Delhi, the Delhi Police on Tuesday indicted Indian journalist Syed Mohammad Kazmi of conspiring with foreign elements [i.e., Iran] and others for the terror strike.”

German Center on Anti-Semitism Appoints Edward Said Wannabe, Achim Rohde

“Opponents of Dr. Rohde claim that his work is aimed at belittling anti-Semitism by confounding it with Professor Said’s Orientalism philosophy, which Dr. Rohde is now pushing hard as a sort of replacement theology: their confused thinking equates anti-Semitism with Orientalism and portrays Muslims as victims of Nazism and the Holocaust.”

Hungarian Politican Resigns From Anti-Semitic Party After Jewish Roots Become Public

YouTube, Google and Apple Take Steps Towards Combating Online Anti-Semitism

Countering Clifford and His Anti-Israel Maps

House considering Jewish refugees bill

“Bill would also recognize other displaced populations, including Christians from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf”

Members of Congress file brief to support Jerusalem passport case

Have a safe flight, thanks to Israel’s XSight

Runway debris costs about $14 billion in damages yearly. That’s why the FAA likes an Israeli system to detect birds and metal fragments 24/7.

Israeli Daily Picture: Rishon LeZion Celebrates Its 130th Anniversary This Week

Al Azhar cleric says suicide bombings are a religious duty

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a program featuring Egyptian cleric Hashem Islam Ali Islam, a member of the Fatwa Committee of Al-Azhar, which aired on Al Aqsa TV on July 12, 2012.

I say to people who object to martyrdom operations that martyrdom operations are among the deeds most pleasing to Allah.

They constitute a religious duty in this day and age, in order to strike at the Zionist enemy.

In Egypt, Al Azhar is considered to represent moderate, mainstream Islam.

But it is possible that the quote is out of context. After all, he only mentions "the Zionist enemy," so perhaps he is only justifying blowing up Jewish women and children.

Which isn't really controversial at all, is it?

Arab women protest brutal murder of wife in Bethlehem

From AP:

The brutal killing of a battered wife in front of horrified witnesses in an open-air Bethlehem market prompted angry accusations Wednesday that Palestinian police and courts ignore violence against women.

Nancy Zaboun, a 27-year-old mother of three, had her throat slashed Monday after seeking a divorce from her abusive husband of 10 years. The husband was arrested at the scene and is the prime suspect, West Bank officials said.

The case reverberated across Palestinian society because of the brutality of the attack. However, violence against women continues to be tolerated—similar to attitudes in other parts of the Arab world—and women's rights activists say abusive husbands are rarely punished.

Zaboun was regularly beaten by her husband, 32-year-old Shadi Abedallah, at times so severely that she had to be hospitalized, said Khaula al-Azraq, who runs a West Bank counseling center where Zaboun sought help.

Even so, Abedallah was never arrested. Police only made him sign pledges he would stop hitting his wife, said al-Azraq, adding that Abedallah himself is a former police officer.

Zaboun was killed after attending a hearing in her divorce case. She was walking on the steep paths of an open-air market—not far from the Church of the Nativity, marking the traditional birthplace of Jesus—when she was fatally slashed.

On Wednesday, several dozen women staged a memorial for Zaboun in the Bethlehem market alley where she was killed, holding signs and chanting, "No to violence against women." One sign read, "Shame on us Palestinians for killing our women."

Women have scored some breakthroughs in traditional Palestinian society in recent years, including gaining a greater role in public life. However, tribal laws still remain strong, and violence against women is generally viewed by police as an internal family matter.

Honest Reporting notes that this came only a day after The Guardian published an absurd piece where Israel was blamed for Palestinian men beating their wives.

By the way, Arab media disgustingly published graphic photos of the murdered woman. (And in the first link, the moral editor tastefully edited out the inch of exposed skin between her shirt and jeans, while allowing his readers to see her slashed throat.)

93,000 Jews

I went to the Siyum HaShas at MetLife Stadium last night, along with some 93,000 other people celebrating the end (and beginning) of another Daf Yomi cycle.

My phone has a "panorama" mode, but the software cannot seem to handle such a complicated scene as well as I had hoped. Nevertheless, this photo (click on it to see it full screen) gives you the impression of what it looks like to have so many Jews together at once.

And while a quick glance at the image seems to show mostly, yeshiva/"black hat" and Chassidic Jews, in fact all types were there. For example, at the end of the "official" singing to celebrate the Siyum, a group of "kipa sruga" Israelis kept singing for another five minutes, much to the consternation of the organizers.

Virtually every speaker stressed the idea of Jewish unity at this event organized by the right-wing Agudath Israel of America.

Rabbi Yitzchok Alderstein writes a very nice op-ed about the phenomenon at the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times, in contrast, spends more than half of its own Daf Yomi coverage on how women are discouraged from studying Talmud in right-wing circles.

Gaza takes 45% of PA expenses, only 2% of revenue

PA Finance Minister Nabeel Kassis today said the decline in foreign aid for the authority led to a major financial crisis, mostly due to the pledges of many Arab donor countries that were not fulfilled.

At a meeting at the headquarters of the Legislative Council in Ramallah he said that the 2012 budget 2012 has a deficit exceeding one billion dollars.

He also noted that while the PA spends some 45% of its budget in Gaza, it receives less than 2% of its revenue from the sector.

I have noted in the past that the PA spends a huge chunk of its budget on paying employees in Gaza not to work, as Hamas has taken over most of the high-profile governmental functions using Iranian money but Fatah doesn't want to make it look like it has abandoned the sector. Much of the Gaza infrastructure is still being quietly run by the PA, which therefore indirectly subsidizes Hamas, allowing the terror group to spend more of its money on weapons, bunkers, smuggling tunnels and the like.

Hamas collects virtually all the taxes in Gaza but practically none of those go back to the PA, as Kassis noted, even as the PA spends more that twice on Gazans compared to the West Bank Arabs on a per-capita basis.

For some reason, though, the Westerners who fund the PA don't demand oversight on how the money is being spent in Gaza, nor do they express concern that their donations are indirectly supporting Hamas terror.

Moreover, the Western donors don't demand that their money not go towards paying the families of "martyrs" and terrorist prisoners who get handsome monthly stipends in reward for their efforts to kill Jews.

A'jad: "Zionists have been ruling the world for 400 years"

This is even crazier than his usual stuff:

Ahmadinejad [said,] “It has now been some 400 years that a horrendous Zionist clan has been ruling the major world affairs, and behind the scenes of the major power circles, in political, media, monetary, and banking organizations in the world, they have been the decision makers, to an extent that a big power with a huge economy and over 300 million population, the presidential election hopefuls must go kiss the feet of the Zionists to ensure their victory in the elections.”

Ahmadinejad said that Israel is the symbol of the globally ruling Zionism in the world, reiterating, “Among the western governments and politicians there are great differences of tastes and the political competitions are tough, but is supporting the Zionist regime, they are all united.”

The president pointed out that in order to evolutionize the status of the world decision making is needed, the forces must get united, and their ultimate objective must be the annihilation of the Zionist regime, emphasizing, “The Zionist regime is both the symbol of the hegemony of the Zionism over the world and the means in the hand of the oppressor powers for expansion of their hegemony in the region and in the world.”

Ahmadinejad added, “Zionism is the modern times plight of the human society and when we meet the European politicians they say speak transparently about everything, but they refrain from talking about the Zionist regime, which proves that Israel is the axis of unity of the world hegemonic powers.”

He added, “It is the self declared leaders and hegemonic powers that are at odds with each other and the enemies of one another, and are now trying to transfer that enmity and antagonist feeling to the other parts of the world, while the Muslim nations all move in the same direction towards worshiping God, and the apparent disputes among them are imposed by the Zionists.”

But he's not anti-semitic. You see, he's talking about the famous "Zionist" bankers and media moguls and politicians who have ruled the world since the 1600s.

Not, Allah forbid, the Jews, whom he respects and loves.

(h/t Judeopundit)

Christians are leaving Palestinian lands because of...Jewish graffiti?

This has to be one of the most stupid articles every written about the Middle East, by Ali Khaled in The National.

After a bunch of wholly inconsequential prose, we get to the point of the piece:

Palestinian Christians have shared their Muslim compatriots' pain in the past 64 years, increasingly marginalised in a land they have inhabited for over 2,000 years. Across the region, dwindling Christian communities are often blamed on the rise of Islamists but this is an oversimplification and, in Occupied Palestine, almost wholly a mistake.

Certainly some Islamist groups, heavy on ideology and light on political nous, have been their own worst enemies. Hamas is not blameless in its treatment of Gaza's Christian minority. ...

In truth, however, Hamas has neither the desire inside Gaza, nor the influence outside of it, to truly marginalise Palestinian Christians. The Christian Palestinian population has suffered, less visibly, just as Muslims have. Christians now account for only 4 per cent of the West Bank population and less than 10 per cent of Palestinians in Israel.

Over the last year in particular, attacks by Israeli extremists on Christians have increased. A Christian cemetery on Mount Zion has been desecrated and two churches vandalised (one of them, Jerusalem Baptist Church, had already suffered arson twice since 1982). "Death to Christianity", "We will crucify you" and "Jesus son of Mary the whore" graffiti stain the walls. That defilement would cause outrage in almost any country, but not in Israel.

It is in Bethlehem, birthplace of Christ, where the exodus has been most pronounced, with more than 10 per cent of Christians leaving just in the past decade.

Vandalism against churches is reprehensible. But is it enough to cause an entire population to disappear?

In the mind of author, perhaps. But there are a few little things that the author is ignoring.

Like how the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem have accelerated since 1995 - when the city came under PA control.

Like in 2005, when Muslims were seizing Christian lands in the West Bank. When the two teenage Amr sisters were raped and murdered. When Christian women near Hebron were sending their daughters abroad so as to avoid them being harassed daily by Muslim. When 17 year old Rawan William Mansour was raped by members of Fatah who were never prosecuted.

In September, 2006, seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza were firebombed after Pope Benedict made remarks about Mohammed that offended Muslims.

In 2007, attacks by Muslims to the Christian community in the territories increased. Christians were afraid to complain because of fear of being labeled "collaborators" with Israel. So they left. Christians were beaten by Muslims, their land fenced off by Muslims.

Christians are so afraid of their Muslim neighbors in the PA territories that they are more likely to blame publicly Israel for their troubles.

Even today, the tolerant and peaceful PA is arresting Christians who are eating in public during Ramadan, with a Muslim cleric saying, quite clearly, that "our streets are Islamic."

But lets see more idiotic articles that say that Christians aren't leaving because of documented cases of Muslim attacks, firebombs, rapes, murders and threats. No, the reason must be because of Jewish graffiti.

(h/t Clark)

Racist Jews finding hi-tech jobs for Arabs

Another disgusting case of tech-washing:

Obviously, they are helping Arabs to fool the world into thinking that they want to help the Arabs. Very, very sly, these Jews.

(h/t Yoel)

US State Dept details Iran's 2011 terror record

The US State Department puts out an annual review of worldwide terrorism. Here is what their latest country report has to say about Iran as a state sponsor of terror:

IRAN

Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran remained an active state sponsor of terrorism in 2011 and increased its terrorist-related activity, likely in an effort to exploit the uncertain political conditions resulting from the Arab Spring, as well as in response to perceived increasing external pressure on Tehran. Iran also continued to provide financial, material, and logistical support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Iran was known to use the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and terrorist insurgent groups to implement its foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and support terrorist and militant groups. The IRGC-QF is the regime's primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.

In 2011, the United States discovered that elements of the Iranian regime had conceived and funded a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States in Washington D.C. Mansour Arbabsiar, an Iranian-born U.S. dual-national working on behalf of the IRGC-QF, was arrested in September 2011 for his role in the plot; also indicted in the case was an IRGC-QF officer who remains at large. Arbabsiar held several meetings with an associate whom Iranian officials believed was a narcotics cartel member. This associate, in fact, was a confidential source for U.S. law enforcement. The thwarted plot underscored anew Iran's interest in using international terrorism – including in the United States – to further its foreign policy goals.

Despite its pledge to support the stabilization of Iraq, Iran continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to Iraqi Shia militant groups targeting U.S. and Iraqi forces, as well as civilians. Iran was responsible for the increase of lethal attacks on U.S. forces and provided militants with the capability to assemble explosives designed to defeat armored vehicles. The IRGC-QF, in concert with Lebanese Hizballah, provided training outside of Iraq as well as advisors inside Iraq for Shia militants in the construction and use of sophisticated improvised explosive device technology and other advanced weaponry.

Qods Force provided training to the Taliban in Afghanistan on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives, and indirect fire weapons, such as mortars, artillery, and rockets. Since 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets, and plastic explosives. Iran has shipped a large number of weapons to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in particular, aiming to increase its influence in this key province.

During the wave of pro-democracy demonstrations in Syria, Iran provided weapons and training to assist the Asad regime in its brutal crackdown that has resulted in the death of more than 5,000 civilians. Iran also continued to provide weapons, training, and funding to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Palestine Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. Since the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict, Iran has assisted in rearming Hizballah, in direct violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Hizballah in Lebanon and has trained thousands of Hizballah fighters at camps in Iran.

In 2011, Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior AQ members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. It also allowed AQ members to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iranian territory, enabling AQ to carry funds and move facilitators and operatives to South Asia and elsewhere.

Since 2009, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has called for its members and the international community to institute countermeasures to protect their respective financial sectors as well as the global financial system from the risks – in particular the terrorist financing threat – posed by Iran. In October 2011, the FATF strengthened its language and again called for countermeasures against Iran. Iran has had some limited engagement regarding anti-money laundering/counterterrorist finance and has responded to overtures by multilateral entities such as the UN's Global Programme against Money Laundering, but it has failed to criminalize terrorist financing and require that financial institutions and other obliged entities file suspicious transaction reports. It has not engaged with FATF and is not a member of a FATF-style regional body.

It is easy to forget how integral Iran is to world terrorism, both Shiite and Sunni. But this sums it up nicely.

Wednesday links

From Ian:

The BBC’s own goal In pictures: Ramadan in Gaza's old quarter

Culture Does Matter By Mitt Romney

“I have just returned from a trip abroad. I visited three lands — Israel, Poland, and Great Britain — which are defined by their respective struggles for freedom. I met with some of the greatest heroes of those struggles. I am always glad to return to American soil. On this occasion, I am only strengthened in my conviction that the pursuit of happiness is not an American right alone. Israelis, Palestinians, Poles, Russians, Iranians, Americans, all human beings deserve to enjoy the blessings of a culture of freedom and opportunity.”

Palestinians Choose Resistance Over Economic Improvement

“What is more important, I believe, is a factor identified by Francis Fukuyama–the level of “trust” in a society. Israelis have been willing, when push comes to shove, to pull together for the common good in a way that Palestinians, who have always been riven by clan and political rivalries, have not. Israeli political culture has also been resolutely democratic, and this, I believe, is the ultimate secret of its success–it is inconceivable that the egalitarian Israelis would have tolerated the rule of a strutting authoritarian like Arafat. Israeli political culture demanded that “resistance” fighters like Begin and Shamir put down the gun and compete for votes like normal politicians. The Palestinians have never, even now, demanded this of their leaders–or at least not made the demand stick–and they will continue to pay a heavy price for elevating “resistance” over economic opportunity.”

Barry Rubin: Romney Lays It Out: Progress and Success Versus Name-Calling And Bragging About Being Victims

“Palestinian leaders complained, saying that this showed Romney was racist and out of touch with the realities of the Middle East. Actually, their reaction showed that they are counterproductive leaders who are out of touch with the realities of the Middle East and human history.”

IOC head Rogge to speak at memorial event for Munich athletes

“British PM also to attend ceremony, organized by Israeli embassy and local Jewish groups”
“LONDON — The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, will speak next week at a ceremony in memory of the athletes murdered at the Munich Games, organized by the Israelis and British Jews, it was announced Tuesday.”
“The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, will also address the gathering, the organizers announced Tuesday. A message of support will be read from Charles, the Prince of Wales and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will be in attendance. Israel will be represented by Sports Minister Limor Livnat.”

British Allow Anti-Semitic Iranian Propaganda in the UK by Lee Kaplan

"The Heritage and Destiny Channel," on You Tube, run by Iran, currently features a video with two British subjects: an actress and film producer named Michelle Renouf, whose real name is Michelle Mainwaring, 62, a former Australian television model, now a British citizen, and a barrister named Philip Bree, who lives in London. Both star in mock interviews by Iranian TV, and try to lend an air of rational authority in their interviews as they methodically explain that the Olympic logo being used at this week's Olympic Games in London is in fact a conspiratorial "subliminal Zion race-supremacy logo," and part of an international conspiracy conducted by the Jews. According to Lady Renouf, the zigzag design of the logo's lettering spells out the word "Zion," and refers to Jews and Israel. The video can be seen in the UK as well as on You Tube."

State Dept. report describes ‘rising tide’ of anti-Semitism

Gaza launches missile; IDF, Egypt exchange fire

No injuries from anti-tank missile fired at tank; shooting between Egypt, smugglers accidentally draws in IDF.

Bulgaria releases photo of suicide bomber from Burgas blast

“Image is a computer reconstruction of the bomber’s features based on recovered body
parts”

Syrian rebels now have anti-aircraft missiles, NBC reports

“Weapons smuggled across border with Turkey, Free Syrian Army claims”

Mark Steyn: Taking the Jew out of Judo

But it’s a useful reminder that the Olympian “bridge for love and connection” operates to the same principles as the old gag:
One day the U.N. Secretary General proposes that, in the interest of global peace and harmony, the world’s soccer players should come together and form one United Nations global soccer team.
“Great idea,” says his deputy. “Er, but who would we play?”
“Israel, of course.”

Also, Pat Condell on The Guardian:

(h/t O.)

Sudanese TV preacher: Jews are tearing apart the world

From MEMRI, naturally:

Now, if we own the world, why would we want to tear it apart?

We must be building a new, goy-free planet in its place!

Arab press roundup

Unity:

Unidentified assailants on Wednesday morning assaulted senior Fatah leader Yahya Rabah in the Gaza Strip, according to relatives.

Rabah was leaving a restaurant in Gaza City when unidentified men approached him and beat him with bats. Rabah was transferred to hospital for treatment of bruises and wounds. His condition is stable, relatives say.

De Nile:

Israel said Tuesday it had received a letter from Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi indicating he wanted to work for peace in the Middle East, but Mursi's office later denied sending it.

"The letter that the media reported to have been sent from President Mursi to Israel was fake. President Mursi has not sent anything to Israel," spokesman Yasser Ali told Reuters.

An official from Peres' office said the letter was authentic.

"It was received by the Egyptian ambassador and handed over (to Peres's office). The denial was to be expected, given the letter's high publicity in Israeli and Egyptian media," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Peres's office had distributed a copy of the letter to media, as well as a copy of an Egyptian embassy message sent along with it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Fatah and an Islamist group clash in the Lebanese Ain al Hilweh camp; one was killed and five injured.

Al Ahram has an investigative piece showing that Hamas is behind the massive weapons smuggling operation through Egypt and in the Sinai.

The Aqsa Foundation released a pretty boring 13 minute video showing Israeli excavations in the Kotel courtyard, some tunnels adjacent to the Temple Mount, some Israelis peacefully visiting the Temple Mount, an Arab riot there, and the "Children are Ready" video, all in one mishmash intended to incite:

Salam Fayyad is proud that British media, in their Olympics sites, called Jerusalem the capital of "Palestine."

According to the "Morsi Meter," in his first 30 days in office Mohamed Morsi has kept only one out of 64 campaign promises.

Turkey has not yet fulfilled its promise to reduce Iranian oil imports by 20%. It is still importing 167,000 barrels per day of oil from Iran.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia cannot keep the lights on.

Work accident!

Ma'an reports:

A Palestinian man was killed and two others were injured when a car exploded in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighborhood before dawn Wednesday, an official said.

Hamas admits that the dead man, 22-year old Ayman al-Sharafa was one of its members who was killed in an accidental explosion "during training."

So apparently Hamas transports explosive materials using ordinary cars traveling through residential neighborhoods.

I'm sure there is some ministry in Gaza where people can complain about that.

Tom Friedman's amazing ability to write from 1992

Thanks to Mitt Romney, we can again see Tom Friedman's hypocrisy.

His latest screed starts off with this:

Since the whole trip was not about learning anything but about how to satisfy the political whims of the right-wing, super pro-Bibi Netanyahu, American Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, why didn’t they just do the whole thing in Las Vegas? I mean, it was all about money anyway — how much Romney would abase himself by saying whatever the Israeli right wanted to hear and how big a jackpot of donations Adelson would shower on the Romney campaign in return. Really, Vegas would have been so much more appropriate than Jerusalem. They could have constructed a plastic Wailing Wall and saved so much on gas.

Super right-wing! Evil Republican candidates seeking Jewish money! Jewish multibillionaires controlling US policy! Let's try to get every offensive stereotype out there and call it humor, shall we? (Not to mention that no one calls it the Wailing Wall nowadays except for Arabs and Tom Friedman.)

But it is Friedman's charge that Romney has no interest in learning anything new about the Middle East that is most ironic. Because this column shows that Friedman still thinks that we are in the early days of the peace process, somewhere between the Madrid conference and the Oslo accords.

He writes:

While Romney had time for a $50,000-a-plate breakfast with American Jewish donors in Jerusalem, with Adelson at his elbow, he did not have two hours to go to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, to meet with its president, Mahmoud Abbas, or to share publicly any ideas on how he would advance the peace process.

Even after the Intifada, after the rejection of serious Israeli peace offers, after ignoring Israel's settlement freeze, after seeing hundreds of examples of official Palestinian Arab media praising terrorists and the PA naming streets and schools and camps after suicide bombers, after trying to bypass negotiations and refusing to compromise one iota, after years of PA stonewalling and replacing diplomacy with gimmicks like the UN statehood bid, Friedman still thinks that the way to bring peace is to pressure Israel and pander to the decrepit, corrupt Palestinian Arab leadership!

Romney did meet with a Palestinian Arab leader: Salam Fayyad. You know, the person who Friedman has lavishly praised as the greatest hope for Palestinians. And a funny thing happened as a result: Fayyad was criticized by Palestinian Arabs, including from the Fatah organization, for meeting Romney! Does that sound like a peace partner to Friedman?

I do know this: It is in Israel’s overwhelming interest to test, test and have the U.S. keep testing creative ideas for a two-state solution. That is what a real U.S. friend would promise to do. ...And here is what I also know: The three U.S. statesmen who have done the most to make Israel more secure and accepted in the region all told blunt truths to every Israeli or Arab leader: Jimmy Carter, who helped forge a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt; Henry Kissinger, who built the post-1973 war disengagement agreements with Syria, Israel and Egypt; and James Baker, who engineered the Madrid peace conference.

Yes, Friedman is still stuck in a twenty-year old time warp. And the proof for this is that he doesn't mention Bill Clinton.

Clinton did what Friedman demands from American presidents. He "advanced the peace process." He pandered to Yasir Arafat and got Israel to move from a nation far more rightist that Bibi is today into one that accepted a two-state solution. He spent huge amounts of time getting Israeli leaders to go way, way past every single previous red line. While Clinton's style to move things forward was more by taking the role of a concerned friend than someone who tells "blunt truths," the fact is that he managed to get Israeli leaders to go way beyond what Kissinger, Carter or Baker did. And he did it during a time that Israel was still being faced with regular suicide terror attacks.

But Friedman cannot mention Clinton, because Clinton realized at the very last minute that the Palestinian Arabs were not interested in peace, not interested in compromise, and not interested in a real two-state solution that would allow Israel to maintain security (or, for that matter, any Jewish holy sites.)

Obama, too, has belatedly learned that Abbas is not a peace partner. It isn't Jewish money that moved Obama to the right, as Friedman charges - it is Obama's slowly realizing what Friedman cannot, that Abbas is the obstacle to peace. While it is easy to be cynical about Obama's recent pandering to the Jewish vote, it appears that even he learned something from Abbas' intransigence over the past three years. After all, Abbas slapped Obama in the face numerous times - when he refused to negotiate during the settlement freeze and when he refused to abandon the statehood gimmick last year. Friedman withholds any criticism about that.

Fayyad, for all his faults, is not a supporter of terror. He has a vision for a real two-state solution. He might have no followers, and Fatah hates him as much as Hamas, but he is the only Palestinian Arab leader in history who actually thinks pragmatically. Sidelining Abbas and promoting Fayyad is exactly what the US should have been doing for the past few years.

Romney has learned the obvious truth from history. Arafat and his successor have been more faithful to their terrorist roots than to truly accepting peace with Israel, and they have never prepared their people to accept a two-state solution. Instead, they have been telling their people, in maps and in actions, that a Palestinian Arab state is a stage towards the ultimate destruction of Israel.

Friedman remains in a time warp, stuck in a twenty year old reality.

It isn't Romney who refuses to learn new facts - it is Thomas Friedman.

The Ma'an quote game - find an official liar and let him spew

From Ma'an on Tuesday:

The deputy leader of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Kamal al-Khateib, said Tuesday that the Israeli municipal council of Jerusalem planned to transform the yards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into public parks and gardens, to make them accessible for the Jews to visit at any time.

...In his remarks Tuesday, Al-Khateib said soldiers detained the imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday while he was praying. “Israeli troops stormed the mosque and prevented worshipers from completing their prayer,” he said.

Both of these allegations have zero evidence behind them. They came from rumors in the Arab press that became morphed into these confident, authoritative-sounding statements from an Islamic official.

And, of course, Ma'an prints them without any skepticism.

Here's another one from Ma'an, this one from Sunday:

Israel allocates 70 times more water to each settler than to the average Palestinian in the West Bank, the head of the Palestinian Water Authority said Sunday.

Seventy times? The accusation is patently ridiculous. (This fact sheet on water estimates that Palestinian Arabs get about 124 m3/year per capita, while Jews in Judea and Samaria get 134m3/year per capita - about 8% more, not the ludicrous 7000% that is claimed.

And, of course, Ma'an prints these statistics without any skepticism.

(To be fair, the Israeli statistics assume a smaller Arab population and note that Israeli allocations of water do not include the water that the Arabs provide for themselves, which is more than Israel provides and which the PWA head purposefully ignored. But there is absolutely no way to twist the numbers to come close to the PWA's ridiculous claim.)

In both cases, Ma'an unquestioningly quotes these charlatans (the Palestinian Water Authority site doesn't even have this supposed report published there) and doesn't lift a finger to find out if they are telling the truth or blowing smoke.

Because since when do Palestinian Arab newspapers care about truth when they can find liars with official titles who are willing to be quoted?

And once the supposedly authoritative Ma'an pushes such an absurd claim, can Mondoweiss be far behind?