Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, December 03, 2012

Another huge Monday linkdump

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Palestinians: Abbas's Classic Thug Extortion Trick

"This is a classic case of diplomatic terrorism. If you don't hand over the money, their friend here is really, really mad, and they're only just managing to hold him back. And the world fell for it."

Why Hamas and Islamic Jihad Supported Abbas's Statehood Bid by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad celebrated because they think that the UN has paved the way for the establishment of an Islamist state within the pre-1967 lines. Like many Palestinians, the two Islamist states are confident that the countdown for the creation of an Iranian-backed entity in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem has begun.
The Palestinian Islamists's message to the Palestinians is: "Let Mahmoud Abbas take now whatever he can because we know that in the future these lands will be under our control."

‘We now have a state, Abbas declares, returning triumphant to Ramallah

President tells crowd of thousands ‘We won’ and dedicates victory to Arafat and martyrs
“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine,” Abbas added. “The world has said ‘no’ to aggression, settlements and occupation.”
Abbas dedicated the “achievement to the Palestinian prisoners and martyrs who dedicated their blood throughout the long national struggle.”

How Israel's Ceasefire Terms Are a Security Disaster

“The elimination of this cordon sanitaire, which protects the security fence, and therefore the country, will not only leave Israel more vulnerable to attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, but also invite "publicity stunts" by adversarial non-governmental organizations under the direction of Hamas leaders, such as, for example, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM organizes riots and demonstrations, staging them for television cameras to make Israel look as if it is attacking Arabs, when in reality, Israel is responding to Arab attacks -- a detail the media usually leave out.”

PM says Palestinian incitement against Israel reflects root of the conflict
‘This is not a dispute over land, but a denial of the existence of the state of Israel,’ Netanyahu tells ministers
PMO: Special Briefing on Incitement in the Palestinian Authority
Presentation as a: VIDEO or PowerPoint

Israel to hold back NIS 450 million in tax revenues to PA

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed that he would hold back NIS 450 million to offset a NIS 800 million debt owed by the PA to the Israel Electric Corporation.

Hey fellow liberals, it’s time to let the facts get in your way

"Within their excuses and rationalizations for the Hamas regime’s abhorrent actions – such as the targeting of Israeli civilians and the employment of Palestinian human shields – ran a familiar argument: That all means are justified, since the Jewish State is legally and morally illegitimate."

Hamas: State needs armed struggle with Israel By Khaled Abu Toameh
Osama Hamdan says Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is an illusion, won't add anything for Palestinians.

"A Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is an illusion and won’t add anything for the Palestinians, top Hamas official Osama Hamdan was quoted Sunday as saying."

Haniyeh to EU: Remove Hamas from terror organization list
‘We have no problem with Jews worldwide,’ claims Gaza’s Islamist PM, calls Israel the world’s biggest terrorist state

CIF Watch: The Guardian approved malice of Joseph Massad

‘Comment is Free’ editors have granted space to Hamas members on several occasions, so it is not surprising that they published a piece by an ideological extremist who has characterized Jews as “supremacists”, a term popularized by Gilad Atzmon and David Duke. Nonetheless, the sheer volume of lies and the degree of malice in his CiF polemic are both staggering.

BBC Watch: Undiluted propaganda from the BBC’s Jon Donnison

"Once again, Donnison absolves the Palestinians of all responsibility, framing them solely as passive victims of Israeli actions.
"Donnison manages to produce a ‘report’ which does a pretty good impression of being taken straight from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign propaganda handbook rather than anything approaching the standard of informative, accurate and impartial reporting which the BBC is committed to providing for its audiences."

BBC whitewashes Jenny Tonge

"To describe Jenny Tonge as a “frequent critic of Israel” is therefore akin to portraying the BNP’s Nick Griffin as having a passing interest in demography.
It is incomprehensible why the BBC should choose to highlight Tonge’s malicious fringe agenda – whilst whitewashing her shameful racism in the process."

Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Publish Hamas Disinformation After it Has Been Exposed

"The correction of the piece was made after it had already been widely publicized in English and circulated to readers worldwide, all the while ignoring the public information about the false accusation against Israel of culpability for Sadallah’s death that was available for at least five days prior to the publication of Pfeffer’s original column."

Jew-hating United Church members pretending to be self-hating Jews

"Independent Jewish Voices' claim that they are members of the United Church who
happen to be Jews is about as valid as someone who says they are a Sunni Muslim who happens to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church."

Hungary holds landmark anti-Nazi protest, after far-right lawmaker called to ‘screen Jews’ as security risks
Budapest rally is ‘the most important demonstration since Hungary became a democracy,’ says Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel director

Egypt won’t enter rink with Israel

Sports Minister Amer Farouq threatened to pull funding from roller hockey club if it played against Jewish state
"The Egyptian national roller hockey team on Friday boycotted a world championship game against Israel, reportedly on orders of Sports Minister Amer Farouq, who said he didn’t recognize Israel as a state, Israel Sports 5 reported on Sunday."

Tel Aviv Bus Attack Heroes Feted for Saving Lives
Security staff from the Ministry of Justice in Tel Aviv received awards Sunday for saving lives, and capturing a terrorist.

Alanis Morissette lands in Israel
Canadian chanteuse set to perform her first gig in Israel since 2000

"Morissette decided to expedite her arrival so that her family could enjoy a few days in Israel, including a visit to Jerusalem’s Old City."

Iron Dome sparks interest from potential buyers around world

"South Korea, Singapore reportedly in talks to purchase the missile defense system following impressive interception rate in last conflict with Hamas Clinton: The Iron Dome system knocked rockets out of the sky like never before."

Top Australian company buys into Israeli natural gas
Woodside Petroleum will pay up to $2.5 billion for a 30% stake in the Leviathan offshore
field

"Reuters reported on Monday that Woodside’s agreement also allows the company to be involved in future offshore exploration, via two already extant Israeli offshore petroleum licences. CEO Coleman said that this aspect of the deal was “an exciting opportunity to grow our portfolio in the emerging Eastern Mediterranean basin.”

Plus: Essential Apps When Under Fire

Expert:"Iran behind DDoS attack on US banks"

The first six minutes of this video shows Mike McConnell, former Director of National Intelligence and now working at Booz Hamilton, directly saying that Iran was behind the denial of service attacks that some major US banks suffered last September.

The consensus is that Iran attacked the US in a semi-sophisticated cyber-terrorist attack. (The target is not military, but civilian infrastructure, so any way you look at it, this is terrorism.)

This was apparently already common knowledge in some circles in October:

Iranian hackers renewed a campaign of cyberattacks against U.S. banks this week, targeting Capital One Financial Corp. COF +0.36% and BB&T Corp. BBT +0.07% and openly defying U.S. warnings to halt, U.S. officials and others involved in the investigation into the attacks said.

The attacks, which disrupted the banks' websites, showed the ability of the Iranian group to sustain its cyberassault on the nation's largest banks for a fifth week, even as it announced its plans to attack in advance.

U.S. officials said the attacks against banks, and others against Middle Eastern energy companies, were sponsored by the Iranian government and approved at high levels as part of a low-grade cyberwar that officials warned could lead to retaliation.

Unclear is at what point attacks on individual banks constitute an assault on the overall financial system that would call for a forceful response from the U.S. military, which has formed a "Cyber Command" to help defend government computers and critical civilian networks.

"It is a fair question," said a senior U.S. official. "I am not sure I have the answer to it."

PalArab music video says it all

Seen on Palestine Today:

The translation - which, I understand, is very heavy on "Oh our Gaza, oh our (West) Bank, oh fire, oh volcano... Tel-Aviv is a token... We won, we won, we won" is not very important.

The part that is interesting to me is that the video - already with thousands of views in two days - does not distinguish between rockets towards Israeli civilians, Israeli women running to shelters, the bus bombing in Tel Aviv, dead Gaza babies - and Abbas' UN stunt.

All of those represent "victory."

Think about it. While the West tries mightily to distinguish between the "moderate" Palestinian Arabs who are supposedly aghast at terror and who really want peace, and the "tiny minority of extremists" who love violence, videos like this - which are a dime a dozen - show that there is really no distinction at all.

The goal is the same: the destruction of Israel. Rockets, they believe, further that goal, as do bus bombings.

But so do dead Gaza kids - because they help demonize Israel in the media.

And so does Abbas' UN stunt - because it pressures Israel to give up land.

Those are all tactics. But the goal is the same, whether in ten years or a hundred.

The people who made this video, and those who watch it, don't see any distinction between "moderate" and "extremist." The "moderates" in Ramallah cheered random rocket fire towards Israeli cities no less than the "extremists" in Hamas. The distinction is an artificial construct created by Westerners to justify pressuring Israel to give up more and more in the name of "peace."

The reality, however, is reflected in this video.

(h/t Al Gharqad)

Leila Khaled, one of the most notorious terrorists from the early days of Palestinian Arab nationalism, is set to visit Gaza tomorrow.

Khaled was involved in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 on its way from Rome to Athens in 1969, diverting the Boeing 707 to Damascus and then blowing up the plane after the passengers had been taken off. She also attempted to hijack El Al Flight 219 from Amsterdam to New York City in 1970 as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings, carried out by the PFLP, but she was foiled and ended up in a British prison for less than a month, as the British gave her up in a PFLP prisoner exchange.

Israel-haters have latched on to her iconic image, romanticizing her violence (she was caught carrying two hand grenades and her partner shot a member of the flight crew.)

The unrepentant terrorist will arrive from Jordan and enter through Egypt. She will be honored at a number of ceremonies by the PFLP and other terror groups in Gaza.

A match made in hell.

Hamas, Fatah and Israeli priorities (Zvi)

From Zvi:

The following juxtaposition says pretty much everything.

What's important to Hamas
Hamas' Osama Hamdan: Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is worthless

He also reiterated Hamas’s commitment to the armed struggle against Israel. He said that his movement would continue to seek the “liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”

What's important to Fatah
Incitement against Israel in PA is getting worse

This section also included a Facebook page of an elementary school in Kalkilya where the sentence “I hate Israel” was written in 16 different languages, and another Facebook page from a high school in Tulkarm that included a picture of Adolf Hitler over the words, “I could have killed all the Jews in the world, but I left some of them so you will know why I killed them.”

What's important to Israel

More than a million people – especially pregnant women and children up to the age of five – die each year of malaria... .

Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have figured out how the most dangerous strain “tricks” the immune system, paving the way for the development of new approaches to cure this acute infection.

Dr. Ron Dzikowski and research student Inbar Avraham revealed for the first time the genetic mechanism that enables a parasite to selectively express one protein while hiding other proteins from the immune system.

By combining bioinformation and genetic methods, the researchers identified a unique DNA sequence found in the regulatory regions of the gene family that encode for these surface proteins."

This is a huge breakthrough in the global war against malaria - brought to you by Israeli researchers.

Any questions?

The truth about E-1

Many articles in the past 48 hours have included breathless statements like this one:

Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said: "If we build in E1 the two-state vision will truly be history ... it is a strategic point that if built, will prevent the Palestinians from having a normal state."

The usual keyword is "viable":

...[E]ven friendly European countries are fed up with Israel’s continuing illegal settlement of areas the Palestinians will need if they are to have a viable state...

Palestinians bitterly oppose the project, as it would effectively cut the occupied West Bank in two, north to south, and sever it from Jerusalem, and make the creation of a viable Palestinian state even more problematic.

That announcement included 3,000 new settler homes and sped up plans for building a settlement in an area vital for a viable Palestinian state, connecting the West Bank with East Jerusalem, known as E-1.

Once again, anti-Israel activists repeat a mantra that lazy journalists pick up on and accept as the truth.

And once again, the Israeli government is not helping matters; no one is explaining that the viability of a Palestinian Arab state is not affected by building in E1.

If you are interested in the facts, the JCPA published a good article on this very issue - in 2009:

The E-1 area is a part of the Israeli city of Maale Adumim, located immediately adjacent to Jerusalem. There is an E-1 construction plan that was devised in order to link Maale Adumim and its 36,000 residents to Jerusalem. Every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has supported the plan. The E-1 site covers an area of largely uninhabited, state-owned land.

Without control of the E-1 area, Israel is apprehensive about a Palestinian belt of construction that will threaten Jerusalem from the east, block the city’s development eastward, and undermine Israel’s control of the Jerusalem-Jericho road. This major artery is of paramount strategic importance for Israel in order to transport troops and equipment eastward and northward via the Jordan Rift Valley in time of war.

Contrary to reports, the completion of E-1 would not cut the West Bank in half and undermine Palestinian contiguity. Israel has planned a new road that would allow Palestinian traffic coming from the south to pass eastward of Maale Adumim and continue northward to connect with the cities in the northern West Bank. This Palestinian bypass road would actually reduce the time for Palestinian drivers traveling in a north-south direction who would encounter no Israeli roadblocks.

The main threat to Israel’s future contiguity comes from encroachments on E-1 made by illegal Palestinian construction. Israeli and Palestinian construction in the West Bank has been governed by the legal terms of the Oslo II Interim Agreement from September 28, 1995. The area around E-1 is within Area C, where, according to Oslo II, Israel retained the powers of zoning and planning. As a result, much of the recently completed Palestinian construction there is illegal. In contrast, none of the Oslo Agreements prohibited Israeli settlement activity, though Israel undertook unilateral limitations upon itself in this area in recent years.

Israeli construction of E-1 will not undermine Palestinian contiguity, but were Israel to lose control of E-1, the contiguity of Israel would be severely compromised.

...The Israeli interest, one that tends to be ignored by the international community, is to bring E-1 to fruition by establishing contiguity between Jerusalem in the west and Maale Adumim as well as the approaches to the Dead Sea in the east, as part of a security belt of Jewish communities surrounding Israel’s capital. Without control of the E-1 area, Israel is apprehensive about a Palestinian belt of construction that will threaten Jerusalem from the east, block the city’s development eastward, and undermine Israel’s control of the Jerusalem-Jericho road. This major artery is of paramount strategic importance for Israel in order to transport troops and equipment eastward and northward via the Jordan Rift Valley in time of war, and this road is already subject to growing pressure from unchecked Palestinian building.

...With a view toward consolidating Jerusalem’s status as the capital of Israel, successive Israeli governments planned and built a chain of neighborhoods and satellite towns around the city. Maale Adumim to the east, Givat Zeev to the north, and Efrat in the Etzion Bloc to the south were all established back in 1982. Beitar, southwest of Jerusalem, was established in 1990. Surrounding these satellite towns are dozens of additional communities. Israel views these satellite towns as part of a single Jerusalem metropolitan area.2 All Israeli governments have conceived this settlement bloc, akin to the other major settlement blocs established in the West Bank relatively close to the “green line,” as destined to remain within the area of the State of Israel and to be annexed to it in the framework of a permanent peace agreement.3

On April 14, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush sent a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in this vein. In the letter, Bush declared that the U.S. position was that in any final Israeli-Palestinian arrangement, the demographic reality that was created on the ground since the Six-Day War should be taken into account, and that Israel could not be expected to withdraw totally from all areas of the West Bank.4 Sharon viewed the letter from President Bush as an Israeli achievement that derived from the decision by his government to approve the Gaza-Northern Samaria disengagement plan.

The route of the West Bank separation fence was plotted on the basis of the principle of eventually incorporating the major settlement blocs within Israel. Some 220,000 of the 290,000 settlers reside within these major settlement blocs. In general, Israel’s High Court of Justice has upheld the principle of including the settlement blocs west of the security fence.

...In a Knesset discussion on October 5, 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared: “United Jerusalem would also encompass Maale Adumim as well as Givat Zeev as the capital of Israel under Israeli sovereignty.” Six months previously, in April, Rabin handed over the annexation documents of the E-1 area to Maale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel.14 On March 13, 1996, Prime Minister Shimon Peres reaffirmed the government’s position that Israel will demand applying Israeli sovereignty over Maale Adumim in the framework of a permanent peace agreement.

...The main threat to Israel’s future contiguity comes from encroachments on E-1 made by illegal Palestinian construction. Israeli and Palestinian construction in the West Bank has been governed by the legal terms of the Oslo II Interim Agreement from September 28, 1995. Oslo II divided the West Bank into three different jurisdictions: Areas A, B, and C. In Area C, according to Oslo II, Israel retained the powers of zoning and planning (Annex III, Protocol Concerning Civil Affairs, Article 27). The area around E-1 is within Area C and much of the recently completed Palestinian construction there did not receive Israeli approval and, as a result, is illegal. In contrast, none of the Oslo Agreements prohibited Israeli settlement activity, which was considered an issue for permanent status negotiations in the future. Despite the absence of an Israeli settlement freeze, Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo II Interim Agreement, which covered the West Bank, nonetheless.

The real issue is not "Palestinian contiguity" - any glance at a map shows that to be a lie, something reporters cannot be bothered to do - but Jerusalem. Palestinian Arabs, against all historical evidence, say that Jerusalem is "Palestinian" and an essential part of their hoped-for state. There is actually no reason a Palestinian Arab state must include parts of Jerusalem - right now, the PA is headquartered in Ramallah and functioning normally.

The reason they want Jerusalem is not because of historic or legal ties. It is because they know that Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people and they want to wrench that away. Once they weaken Israel's hold on the holy city they weaken Israel's very existence. All the other arguments are simply obfuscations around that simple fact.

Israelis know this, and so do Palestinian Arabs. The world media has yet not figured out this essential fact though, and parrot the lie that a Palestinian Arab state depends on Jerusalem. It doesn't, any more than Jordan depended on Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967.

Arafat death investigation already looking like a sham

If you thought that the exhumation of Arafat was completely transparent, think again:

Around 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium, a Swiss newspaper reported Sunday, quoting a lead investigator.

The samples were distributed among three teams doing separate analyses eight years after Arafat's death in a French hospital, Patrice Mangin told Le Matin Dimanche.

A Palestinian pathologist was the only person allowed to touch the body when Arafat's grave was opened on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He was able to "take all the samples that were wanted, around 60 in total," said Mangin, the director of the Swiss University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne.

OK, that's the second irregularity around this investigation.

The first one was why are Russians involved in the investigation, together with the Swiss (who did the initial testing on Arafat's personal items) and the French (since Arafat died in Paris.) What do the Russians have to do with it - except for the fact that they happen to live where polonium is most available?

Is it possible that the Russians instructed the Arab pathologist how he could brush trace amounts of polonium on Arafat's tissue samples before he gave them to the team? (Could the same have happened with Suha, which would explain why such abnormally large amounts of polonium were found - amounts that would have indicated Arafat had ingested enough to have been killed within hours, not weeks?)

I can see no valid reason to stop the Swiss and French from taking the tissue samples directly. the unfortunate fact is that any Palestinian Arab involved in the investigation is automatically suspect - because the PLO has publicly called Arafat's death a "murder" for years.

Hamas tells Europeans they aren't terrorists; their website says otherwise

From Ma'an:

Hamas and other Palestinian factions should be removed from international lists of designated terrorist groups, Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday.

"It is time to remove Palestinian resistance movements, that resist under international law, from the list of international terrorist groups," Haniyeh said during a meeting with a European delegation of politicians, academics and lawmakers.

"Hamas and other Palestinian factions are national liberation movements operating inside Palestine."

Besides the fact that Hamas brags about shooting rockets indiscriminately towards Israeli civilians, which is the very definition of terror, its Al Qassam Brigades website routinely praises past terrorists on their homepage.

Today, they are praising the terror attack in the village of Adora, on April 27, 2002. As described by the Jewish Virtual Library:

Apr 27, 2002 - Danielle Shefi, 5; Arik Becker, 22; Katrina (Katya) Greenberg, 45; and Ya'acov Katz, 51, all of Adora, were killed when terrorists dressed in IDF uniforms and combat gear cut through the settlement's defensive perimeter fence and entered Adora, west of Hebron. Seven other people were injured, one seriously. The terrorists entered several homes, firing on people in their bedrooms. Both Hamas and the PFLP claimed responsibility for the attack.

But they speak so moderately when they are speaking to Westerners! Shouldn't we reward them for their wonderful, soothing words?

Sunday linkdump

From Ian:

Alan Dershowitz: Legal Implication of the United Nations Resolution on Palestine

"Nor was this Resolution a recognition of the two-state solution, since a considerable number of states who voted for it have refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist. What they were looking for was a one state resolution—that one state being yet another Islamic country that voted for Hamas in the last election and that is likely to be governed by Sharia Law that will not allow Jews or Christians equal rights."

Expert: Israel Should Let the PA Collapse

Prof.Efraim Inbar says Israel should not be responsible for PA, particularly after their UN move. And perhaps it should leave that body.
"If I understand what you’re saying, you are supporting the remarks of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, that the Israeli response to the Palestinian move at the UN should be the collapse of Abbas’s rule.
"We do not need to help him. That's all. He will fall apart on his own. We should not help our enemies."Meanwhile, we do exactly the opposite.
"Yes. We give him money, safeguard him from Hamas, and what does he give in return? We need to change our mindset. And if the world wants to send them money for them to waste on Abbas’s sons, in order to make them wealthier, let it go ahead…”

Analysis: Merkel’s flip-flop on Israel

Despite her government’s vote against an PLO upgrade at the UNESCO in Paris last year, she chose to abstain at the UN.
"From Israel’s perspective, Merkel’s stances on PLO statehood measures, which seek to bypass direct negotiations with Israel, along with her wobbly positions in UN international forums and when handling party deputies in the Bundestag that bash Israel, have represented a marked lack of consistency."

Wall Street Journal News Page Pushes Pro-Palestinian Narrative

"And here’s the subtle way the Journal backs the Palestinian narrative. The Palestinians have convinced the world that Hamas and the PA are mortal enemies. Thus, the Journal reports breathlessly that there was “a groundswell of support for the Palestinian Authority and its U.N. upgrade gained ground because the recent eight-day war in Gaza politically strengthened Hamas at the expense of the more pro-Western Palestinian Authority.”
This, of course, is ridiculous. Hamas and the PA have the same agenda: destroying Israel. Hamas plays bad cop while the PA plays good cop. But lest anyone forget, the terrorists who were suicide bombers for years came from the PA, not Hamas."

Western Media Ignore Terrorists Using Journalists as Human Shields

"These questions are important, and every western news outlet should be forced to answer to them. Why do western journalists feel it's perfectly OK for terrorists to pretend they are journalists and endanger them all by hiding amongst them?"
"But, I guess when the western media sees nothing wrong with using propaganda videos, presenting them as real news, perhaps that answers our question. Western journalists apparently care less about their craft than they do about choosing sides and throwing in with terrorists."

Christiane Amanpour to Host Series on History of Israel

"In an affront to religious Jews and religious Christians everywhere, ABC News has chosen vehemently anti-Israel and anti-Christian journalist Christiane Amanpour to host a two-part primetime special about the history of the land of Israel that will air December 21 and 28. According to ABC, “Back to the Beginning” will feature Amanpour, who will “explore the powerful stories from Genesis to the Birth of Jesus.”

CIF Watch: An update on Chris McGreal and that Gaza “sports stadium”

"Evidently, McGreal’s ‘Just War Theory’ would require that the IDF avoid targeting an enemy rocket launching site which has been used to attack Israeli civilians until the exact moment when another rocket is being fired from the location – not a second before and not a second after.
Chris McGreal’s rhetorical obfuscations in service of a desired narrative are truly works of beauty."

Muslim Brotherhood 'paying gangs to go out and rape women and beat men protesting in Egypt'

If Iran tries to attack, Israel will reportedly target its missiles before they get off the ground
With the help of the US-made X-band radar, Eitan drones stationed in Azerbaijan will attempt to hit the missiles ‘the moment their engines are ignited,’ Sunday Times reports
[That Sunday Times reporter has a less than stellar record on accuracy - EoZ]

Iran stations defense staff at N. Korea site
Japanese news agency: Iran stationed staff in N. Korea in an effort to strengthen cooperation in missile, nuclear development.

Turkey Importing Oil from Iran
The latest trade data quoted by Iranian news media indicates Turkey imported more than 75,000 barrels of oil daily in October from Iran.

Senate votes to tighten sanctions on Iran
Ignoring White House opposition spelled out just hours earlier, US Senate votes 94-0 for package of punitive measures that will end sales, transactions with various Iranian domestic industries

Thousands of miles from Iran, and still in danger
Since fleeing for Europe, poet and professor Afshin Ellian has become a staunch critic of the Muslim world — which he says should emulate Israel

"Among his many talents, Afshin Ellian has a knack for making people want to kill him.
It’s a trait he demonstrated as a fugitive in his native Iran after the Islamic Revolution; then as a refugee in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he angered secular Stalinists; and finally in Holland, where he lives under 24-hour police protection because of his criticisms of Islam."

The Argentinian and Iranian tango
One can’t help but ask why, after 18 years of mishandled investigations, corruption charges and coverups, talks on the 1994 Buenos Aires terror attack are taking place now.

Bahrain: MP torches Israeli flag in parliament
"... even though he could have burned the place down, not enough lawmakers could be persuaded to vote for punitive action against him -- apparently their Islamic Jew-hatred outweighed their concern for safety."

At Harvard, ‘Jews need not apply’
Students receive offensive invitation to join ‘The Pigeon, Harvard’s Newest Finals Club’

“Even if intended as satirical in nature, they are hurtful and offensive to many students, faculty and staff, and do not demonstrate the level of thoughtfulness and respect we expect at Harvard when engaging difficult issues within our community.”

‘My name is Jihad and I am a bomb’

"A French woman is slated to face charges of “apologie de crime,” which can be translated as advocating violence, after sending her 3-year-old son, Jihad, to kindergarten dressed in a T-shirt bearing the inscriptions “I am a bomb” on the front and “Jihad. Born September 11″ on the back."

Not the Typical IDF Soldier’s Mom: Muslim Arab Mother Whose Son Serves in the IDF Speaks Out

During Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, Haskia did not just sit worrying over what may happen to her son—the proud mom did her share to help Israel as well. “Over 12 years, Hamas has been firing rockets at Israeli civilians and all you see are photos of Gaza in the media. Some of those photos are fakes,” Haskia pointed out.

Students help Jews who came from Arab countries document their stories

"High school students from northern Israel take part in the "Tell Your Children" project which records the stories of veteran olim in Israel who immigrated from Arab countries • Project to be displayed in special event in 2013, marking the 60th anniversary of Migdal Haemek."

Also:

The legal impossibility of limited Palestinian statehood at the U.N. (WaPo)

CAMERA: E-1 Contiguity Fallacy Returns

Also CAMERA: West Bank and Gaza Residents Experience Among the Longest Life Spans in the Middle East

Houthi logo says "Damn the Jews"

A reporter for a Yemen newspaper notes that he saw dozens of spray-painted slogans in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, saying "God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews, Power to Islam," indicating the growing Houthi influence there. One example:

It turns out that this is the actual Houthi logo, as noted by Wikipedia:

Yes, the Shi'ite opposition in Yemen makes anti-semitism an official part of its platform.

Must be the occupation.

Israeli science innovation linkdump

From NoCamels:

The Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD) has approved a grant of NIS 640,000 (about $165,000) for the development of a tablet application which will help autistic children deal with everyday tasks.

The joint project is being developed by the Center for Educational Technology (CET) on the Israeli side, and by Singaporean organization Dynamics Speech, which specializes in therapy for children with communication difficulties and in finding technological solutions for them

Using the power of the sun and ultrathin films of iron oxide (commonly known as rust), researchers at the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology, have found a novel way to split water molecules to hydrogen and oxygen. The breakthrough, published this week in the scientific journal Nature Materials, could lead to less expensive, more efficient ways to store solar energy in the form of hydrogen-based fuels. This could be a major step forward in the development of viable replacements for fossil fuels.

Six Israeli teenagers won a $5,000 prize at an international competition at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last summer for their FreezeStick invention, designed to keep food and medicine in a cooler at the right temperature for an extended period. The Israelis beat out 250 other teams at the event.

(They are better scientists than they are actors.)

A seven-year-old girl with aplastic anemia, a 54-year-old woman with lymphoma and a 45-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia all walked out the doors of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center in the past several months after receiving an experimental treatment with an Israeli placenta-based cell therapy to beef up their bone marrow.

Nearly a century ago Jewish chemist Chaim Weizmann invented a method of producing acetone for explosives – helping the British army with its WWI efforts. The British went on to win the great war alongside their allies and Weizmann moved to Israel to become the first president of the independent Jewish state.

Now, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have found a way to utilize the same formula in order to generate a “greener” version of diesel fuel made from plants.

Damaged spinal discs cause a great deal of trouble for people with chronic back problems, and a burden on the economy due to absenteeism from work and financial costs of treatment.

But some scientists are trying to find ways to alleviate the problem of damaged discs. Dr. Sarit Sivan of the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology’s biomedical faculty is one of the three winners of the European Commission’s new Marie Curie Prize for outstanding achievement in spinal disc research, announced at a ceremony in Nicosia, Cyprus. She won the prize in the “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” category.

Recent research by Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel has revealed that extracts from the yellow water-lily’s roots and leaves show promising results in improving chemotherapy treatment for cancer. The yellow water-lily (nuphar lutea) is a plant that can be found on the Yarkon stream and other water reservoirs in Israel’s Galilee.

Israeli Arab students in Jordan become more - Zionist!

A very interesting article in The Forward:

At first, the young man’s story sounds familiar: Tall, green-eyed, he walks the corridors of his university and his peers often shout at him, “Jew, go back to where you came from!” But we are not in Eastern Europe in 1881, and the student, Mohand, is not Jewish — he is an Arab Israeli studying in Jordan. His story is not exceptional. Although most, if not all, Arab Israelis in the country face some sort of hostility because of their nationality, the reaction of students like Mohand is unexpected: “Coming to Jordan” he told me, “not only did I not embrace the anti-Israeli attitude people freely express here, but being here actually strengthens my pride of being Israeli.” Yet the reality Mohand reveals is more complex than this one sentence might convey.

In recent years, Jordan has become a magnet for Arab Israelis who want to study abroad. This past decade, their number has quadrupled to more than 6,000. The students I spoke with testify that being in Jordan has helped shape their identity — strengthening its Israeli component. Here they acquire a new and more complex perspective on life in the Arab world. Whether at the university or on the street, they often face hostility that isolates them. Comparing their lives in Israel with their lives in Jordan, they suddenly feel more connected to the land lying west of the Jordan River than they did before.

“The first difficulty we come across,” said Saleh Ghanem, a round-faced and kind-looking student from a village near Akko, “is when presenting ourselves. One must not say ‘Israel’ here,” he explained. When asked, he answered that he is a “48er,” a neutral term meaning that his family was in Israeli territory since its beginning and that his family members are citizens.

“Once, while riding in a cab,” he continued, “I mentioned Tel Aviv by mistake. The driver, who overheard me, started screaming, telling me never to say Tel Aviv, only Yaffo.” But even when presenting themselves as 48ers they do not feel accepted, and it is difficult for them to blend in with the Jordanians of Palestinian descent, who make up the majority of Amman’s population.

As a response, they create their own exclusive culture. They live, party, eat and study almost entirely with other Arab Israelis; very few of them mingle with students from other Arab countries. In Ghanem’s building, for instance, almost all the apartments are occupied by students from Sakhnin, Haifa or Nazareth.

Mohand tried to explain the cultural barrier between Israelis and Arabs: “On many levels we are much alike; at the same, time their way of thinking is almost foreign to us.” When asked to articulate this difference, however, he struggled with his words, admitting, “I do not have Jordanian friends. They are not as free as we are.”

“Freedom” is a leitmotif in conversations with Arab Israelis here; many of them mention it as the reason for preferring Israel to Jordan. Although relatively modern, life in the Jordanian monarchy requires one to be careful; one can get arrested for using the king’s name in an offensive way. Coming from a country in which it is more common to criticize the government than to talk about the weather, they feel oppressed. But these Arab Israelis outsmart the system: They use Hebrew words that no one else understands, or code names; the king, for instance, they call “Tamer,” a common name for a male. Why Tamer? If there was ever a reason it was long forgotten.

Universities in Jordan are appreciated in the Arab and Muslim world and draw students from Bahrain to Pakistan. For Yusuf, a Christian dentistry student from Nazareth, meeting people from all over the Arab world is the most interesting part of living here. “Did that strengthen your sense of belonging to the larger Arab world?” I asked him. “No,” he answered firmly. “If anything, it shows me how distant we are.”

The rejection and isolation that 48ers feel, and their comparison of Jordan with Israel, leads them to feel more Israeli, but it also helps them shape their unique Arab-Israeli identity. In Israel they all come from different places, south and north. Some are Christian, some are Muslim. These differences, important in Israel, are much less significant here: They have an opportunity to make region- and religion-crossing friendships.

(h/t Ishai)

Today's fake PCHR "civilian"

From PCHR:

At approximately 21:00 [November 16], an Israeli warplane attacked a motorcycle on which Khaled Khalil Ali al-Shaer, 25, was traveling near Saladin Street. He was killed and 2 persons were wounded.

Once again, PCHR does not identify the casualty as a "militant" as they do with some of the others. Meaning that they counted him as one of the supposed "civilians" killed in Gaza.

And once again, they are lying.

The Al Qassam Brigades website notes that Shaer joined Hamas in high school and joined the Qassam Brigades in 2006, where he was a camp leader. He also attended the "Abu Bara Military Academy" of the Qassam Brigades, taking several military courses. He also fought during Cast Lead.

Other fake civilians can be seen on this tag.

Rockets cost Gaza farmers NIS 500,000

According to Palestine Press Agency, today is the first day of Gaza exporting strawberries and cherry tomatoes to the European market for the season.

Some of the goods, which will be sent through the Kerem Shalom crossing, will be using a Palestinian Arab company - "Harvest Export" to handle all the export paperwork and logistics. As far as I know, up until now the Gaza crops have all gone through Israeli exporters.

Interestingly, the Harvest website notes with pride that "Palestinian farmers learn from long-term relationships with their Israeli counterparts in the use of modern agricultural techniques and methods."

The export season was supposed to start two weeks ago - but Islamic Jihad decided to shoot mortars to the Kerem Shalom crossing, forcing it to be closed, despite Israeli efforts to keep humanitarian aid flowing.

Gaza farm officials estimate that they lost some half a million shekels because of the fighting, selling strawberries internally for 5 shekels/kg instead of getting 25 shekels/kg in Europe.

Maybe they can sue Islamic Jihad for their shortfall? Certainly the judicial system in Gaza will treat them fairly, no?

Juan's ProtoColes

Anti-Israel pseudo-intellectual Juan Cole wrote a typically stupid article for Arab American News last week, with some howling lies like "In fact, Israel has refused to cease colonizing and stealing Palestinian land long enough to engage in fruitful negotiations with them" (besides the absurd language, Israel did cease building for ten months, and the PLO refused to negotiate until month 10, and then only under tremendous pressure and only cosmetically. Oh, and the PLO only added this precondition around 2007.)

One of his points, however, seem to place the professor in the same company as anti-semites:

Israeli hawks represent their war of aggression as in ‘self-defense.’ But the UK Israeli chief rabbi admitted on camera that that the Gaza attack actually ‘had something to do with Iran.’

First of all, let's get the pesky facts out of the way. The Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, thought he was off the air on BBC Radio - not televised - when the presenter asked him about his opinion of the fighting in Gaza, and he answered "‘I think it’s got to do with Iran, actually" before he was told he was still on live.

Sacks is not Israeli. He was born in London. He is not a member of the Israeli government, and as far as I know he doesn't advise them nor is he privy to their own discussions.

But let us put aside Cole's lack of basic knowledge, and see what he is really trying to say.

Juan Cole apparently believes that a Chief Rabbi must be a member of the Elders of Zion, and his offhand statement - almost certainly regarding the arming of Hamas and Islamic Jihad with medium-range Iranian rockets - was not merely conjecture from thousands of miles away from Israel, but an admission of how the other Elders of the Jewish people are really thinking in our super-secret discussions.

Cole cannot distinguish between Israeli politicians - and a British Jewish religious figure.

What kind of twisted, bigoted thinking would cause someone to make such an assumption that all worldwide Jewry is speaking with the same ("hawkish") voice?

The rest of Cole's essay also betrays a bizarre, paranoid, conspiracy-theorist way of thinking. For example, he says "the military action against the people of Gaza is a diversion tactic; the real goal is Greater Israel, an assertion of Israeli sovereignty over all the territory once held by the British Mandate of Palestine." Really? Israel started a mini-war to divert the world's attention from settlements? I would have thought that Syria was doing a better job at that.

I guess those scheming Jews were bombing Gaza just to divert attention from the West Bank, and they also have secret meetings with chief rabbis who stupidly reveal their plans, which have something to do with Iran and not the settlements.

I know it is all very confusing. You need a third-rate academic like Juan Cole, who believes in conspiracy theories where Jews control everything, to explain it all.

Saturday night links

From Ian:

UN Legitimizes Palestinian Terror Regimes in Judea/Samaria/Gaza

"Abbas insisted, citing UNGA’s 1949 resolution 194 (rejected by all Arab states at the time), on the legally baseless so-called ‘right of return’ of Palestinian refugees of the 1948-9 war and their millions of descendants to Israel, which would end Israel as a Jewish state.
The horrid irony is that Abbas’ cause fits the lurid description he applied to Israel. His Fatah party still calls in its Constitution for the destruction of Israel (Article 13) and the use of terrorism as an essential element in the struggle to achieve that goal (Article 19). Indeed, Fatah’s emblem depicts the whole of Israel re-labelled ‘Palestine,’ flanked by images of a Kalashnikov rifle and arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat. Hamas, which controls Gaza, a portion of the territory Abbas is claiming or statehood, calls in its Charter for the destruction of Israel (Article 15) and the murder of Jews (Article 7)."

Dore Gold: The United Nations Does Not Create States

“... Abbas has not created a state. He has not yet changed the legal status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. If he actually declared a state and sought to place the entire West Bank under Palestinian jurisdiction, then Israel would have to respond forcefully and immediately annex vital areas like IDF security zones, settlement blocs, and points of national-religious significance to the Jewish people. For now, Israel will have to take measured steps to deter Abbas from going further down the path of unilateralism.”

European Nations 'Capitulated' in Approving PA Bid at UN
ADL: European nations acted “without courage" and "capitulat[ed] to Arab intimidation" during PA's bid for upgraded UN status.

CNN Ron Prosor: I heard a speech 'full of hate' VIDEO (warning Piers Morgan also appears.)

John Bolton says Obama failed to take Palestinian UN vote seriously, also Israel making big mistakes too VIDEO

What U.N. Recognition of Palestine Really Means By Anne Bayefsky

"No wonder the outcome was met by the loud applause of a room full of the representatives of dictators and thugs (the majority of U.N. members are not full democracies), and NGO/“civil society” hacks who had been brought in by the U.N. Division for Palestinian Rights. (A letter of Division Director Wolfgang Grieger states that he had personally reserved at least 100 spots in the gallery.) Sitting in the gallery myself, I noticed that during Abbas’s lengthy speech the outbursts of clapping across the gallery would commence before the translation of Arabic sentences into other languages had finished. It was an exercise in what one might call Benghazi-style spontaneity.
The only question that remains, therefore, is this. Now that decades of Palestinian intransigence and belligerence have been richly rewarded by the U.N. majority, how soon will Palestinians start targeting and harming Israeli Jews with impunity again?"

Palestinians Still Embrace Spirit of 1947

"So long as Palestinian nationalism is based on the negation of Israel rather than a positive vision for themselves, peace is impossible. While the UN vote won’t change much of anything on the ground, there should be no mistake about the basic continuity between the Arab positions of 1947 and today."

Abbas Wastes No Time Humiliating His Western Supporters

"...Abbas is threatening not to come back to the negotiating table, which would debunk these supporters’ claims that the UN move would be good for the peace process. They may be tempted to push Netanyahu to accept Abbas’s preconditions–but that is the reason for the impasse in the first place. And they shouldn’t forget the can of worms they opened when they supported preconditions last time: every time Netanyahu appeared willing to consider preconditions, Abbas added to them, because the preconditions are designed to disrupt and prevent negotiations, not enable them."

Abbas says Palestine now ‘a country under occupation’
PA president says he’s not ready to turn to the ICC yet

"He told Ramallah-based media outlet Al-Ayyam that Palestinian rights to the land on pre-1967 borders was proven at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, and that nobody can build on that land at will."

In Ramallah, UN vote brings little jubilation
‘We don’t want ’67,’ says a young university graduate. ‘We want all of Palestine’

'Canada will not let the Jews or Israel stand alone'
Canadian foreign minister says Abbas should have used the support he received to reach out to Israel for peace talks.

On Why the Czechs Voted With Israel Examining the unlikely alliance

"That the Czechs sided with Israel and the United States demonstrates the importance that Prague attaches to the transatlantic alliance, as it was willing to buck its fellow EU members and side with Washington on a controversial issue. The vote also shows the affinity that the Czech Republic has long felt for Israel, an affinity that dates at least from the visit that Tomas Masaryk, the first President of independent Czechoslovakia, made to Palestine in 1927, "

Sarah Honig: Another Tack: Murdoch’s cogent question
Murdoch essentially wasn’t far off the mark, even if he didn’t word his Tweet carefully enough.

“Of course they care. Passionately. They are, if anything, political creatures. Did they not kick a god-awful fuss over news magnate Rupert Murdoch’s stirring defense of Israel during the latest Gazan round?
Did they not let him have it? Is that apathy? Did they not rush to pillory Murdoch for asking on Twitter: “Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?”
Wow, they came out punching! It wasn’t the actual negligible matter of Israel’s ongoing struggle which stirred them. Siding with Israel or welcoming Murdoch’s warm support of Israel wasn’t what aroused their emotions. Nor were they moved by the issue of anti-Israeli media bias. Far from it. This is just the sort of preoccupation that leaves them cold and consistently condescending."

CAMERA: Memo to the Media: Check Those Civilian Casualty Claims

"This time around, the media has been more circumspect about civilian casualty claims. Nevertheless there are still examples where the figures provided by PCHR and others are simply reported without qualification. Just like in 2009, it will take time for the terrorist connections to emerge of some of those described as civilians or not labeled. And similar to what happened in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, when an accurate picture of the fatalities finally does emerge, the media will mostly have moved on. Still, it is important to establish accurate casualty figures for the historical record to rebut future accusations."

West Bank and Gaza Residents Experience Among the Longest Life Spans in the Middle East

"Palestinians in the West Bank have greater longevity (and other favorable health metrics) than the majority of the world's population and yet have been among the largest recipients of humanitarian aid in the world for two decades."

Hanan Ashrawi lies at ‘Comment is Free’ about homes for ‘Jews only’ in Jerusalem

“In fact, the Muslim population of Jerusalem increased roughly 5 fold from 1967 (when Israel unified the city) to 2009, from 58,000 to over 278,000, while the Jewish population increased by a factor of only 2.8, from 196,000 to 480,000.”

Denmark: Pro-Hamas demonstration erupts in violence

"Pro-palestinian "Allah-u-Akbar" Christmas choir, Leftists demonstrating for "Global intifada", t-shirts promoting sharia 'Only God can judge me', flags with machine guns and hand grenade and red socialist flags -- and stoning of secular law's representatives. As usual: No arrests..."

New Islamist Constitution Brings Back Slavery to Egypt

"Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.
Isn’t it ironic, that the first black man in the Oval Office has helped bring to an end the ban on trading African slaves in Egypt?"

Report says Egypt denied Iranian official entry to Gaza
Ali Larijani, Iran’s speaker of parliament wasn’t allowed through the Rafah crossing; country’s FM also awaiting permission from Cairo

Pat Condell: Ha Ha Islamophobia

With ‘a heavy heart,’ Stevie Wonder pulls out of Friends of the IDF concert
Singer says UN recommended he cancel because he is an official ‘Messenger for Peace’; he received online petitions from pro-Palestinian groups

Boycotters target Alanis Morissette over Israel show

"The singer, who is touring to promote her new album "Havoc and Bright Lights," is also being targeted by followers on Facebook and Twitter. One fan, responding to the comments about her Israel performance, wrote: "Please don't be bullied by the anti Israel sentiment. Go to Israel and see for yourself."

Poles release first film admitting responsibility for infamous anti-Jewish massacre
‘Aftermath,’ a drama inspired by the mass killings at Jedwabne, elicits praise and anger by examining Poles’ role in the bloodshed

"KRAKOW — The first Polish film to portray the country’s gentiles committing crimes against their Jewish neighbors has hit movie theaters, generating both enthusiastic praise and threats of violence against one of the stars."

'Shoah' Director to be Honored at International Berlin Film Fest
French filmmaker, known for 1985 documentary "Shoah", will be honored with lifetime achievement award at Berlin International Film Festival.

Israel Daily Picture: A Collection of 150-Year-Old Pictures of Jerusalem
"Many of the photos were taken from the British Ordinance Survey of Jerusalem of 1865 led by Captain Charles W. Wilson. He and Captain Charles Warren led extensive archaeological excavations near the Temple Mount ("Wilson's Arch" and "Warren's Shaft" are well-known to visitors to Jerusalem)."

Today's fake PCHR "civilians"

From PCHR:

At approximately 08:00 (November 17th) , Israeli warplanes attacked a number of 3 young men in al-Maghazi refugee camp, killing them: Ali Abdul Halim al-Manaama, 24; Ussama Mousa Abdul Jawad, 27; and Ashraf Hassan Darwish, 22.

PCHR does not identify them as "militants," but all three were terrorists.

The obituary for Darwish explains that he joined the Qassam Brigades in 2007, after attending UNRWA schools. Here he is:

The other two have not yet been memorialized at the Qassam site, but Qassam Brigades memorial posters for them have already been published:

Manaama

Jawad

And another:

At approximately 19:50, Israeli warplanes attacked a number of young men who were sitting near a house belonging to Ahmed Mohammed Jaddou Abu Jalal, 43, a member of an armed group, in al-Maghazi refugee camp. He was killed together with 3 civilians, including his brother: Amjad Mohammed Jaddou Abu Jalal, 33 .

Amjad was no civilian. His obituary at the Al Qassam site notes he joined the terror group in 2005, where is is praised for firing Qassam rockets and mortars at "settlements," as well as for working on weapons tunnels and for fighting during Cast Lead.

The city of gold

In Saturday's Daf Yomi, the Talmud explains various laws that center around various types of jewelry and the Sabbath. One of those items mentioned is called a "City of Gold," which is a piece of gold jewelry that Jewish women would wear that is shaped to represent Jerusalem.

As described by Rav Adin Steinsaltz:

What is the meaning of: With a city of gold? Rabba bar bar Ĥana said that Rabbi Yoĥanan said: Jerusalem of Gold, a gold tiara engraved with a depiction of the city of Jerusalem, like the one that Rabbi Akiva made for his wife.

Rabbi Akiva, who lived just after the destruction of the Second Temple, was one of the greatest of the tannaim [Mishnaic rabbis.] Unlettered until the age of 40, Akiva was encouraged by his wife Rachel to devote himself to the study of Torah. After years of study under the tutelage of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Yehoshua ben Hanania and others, he returned with thousands of students and established his own academy in Bene Brak.

The "city of gold" ornament that Rabbi Akiva made for his wife is mentioned several times throughout the Talmud. The Gemara relates that when they lived in abject poverty they resided in a hayloft. When he saw that the hay got into his wife’s hair, Rabbi Akiva told her that if he ever became wealthy he would make her a "city of gold" ornament. Eventually, he kept his promise. In the Jerusalem Talmud, it is told that the wife of the Nasi, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, complained to him that she does not have so expensive an ornament. He asked her: Would you have done for me what Rabbi Akiva’s wife did for him? Rabbi Akiva’s wife sold the braids of her hair so that he could study Torah and she earned that ornament.

According to the descriptions of the Sages, the "city of gold" was a tiara on which the form of a city and its walls were depicted in gold. The Jerusalem of Gold specifically depicted the walls of Jerusalem. Apparently, this ornament was quite expensive and only a very limited number of aristocratic women wore it.

Jewish women were adorning themselves with jewelry depicting their love for Jerusalem some six centuries before Islam was born (and probably earlier than that.)

Just something to keep in mind as people show anger at Jews building houses in the suburbs of that same city today.

Tunisia leader says Arab world inevitably going Islamist

From Reuters:

The leader of the Tunisian Islamist party that rose to power after the first Arab Spring uprising last year said this week that Islamist movements would eventually emerge triumphant throughout the Arab world after a difficult transition period.

Rached al-Ghannouchi, whose Ennahda party governs with two junior leftist partners, said secular groups should join forces with Islamists to manage the first phase after autocratic rulers were removed.

But in the end, Islam will be the “reference point.”

“The Arab world is going through a transition phase which needs coalitions to govern, which brings together Islamist and secular trends,” Ghannouchi said in an interview during a trip to London where he spoke at Chatham House.

“These coalitions will lead to eventual rapprochement between the Islamists and the secularists.”

However, he added Islamists would have the upper hand.

“There’s a true way that Islam represents the common ground for everyone … Eventually Islam becomes a reference point for everyone,” he said.

Sort of like in Egypt's latest version of the draft constitution:

Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic its official language. Principles of Islamic Sharia are the principal source of legislation.  

I have yet to figure out why a Jewish state is inherently racist but any state that defines itself as Islamic or Arab, isn't.

Friday linkdump

From Ian:

LATMA: Morsi's letter from Obama and the man who fled too much

Michael Oren: Falling for Hamas’s media manipulation

"Media naturally gravitate toward dramatic and highly visual stories. Reports of 5.5 million Israelis gathered nightly in bomb shelters scarcely compete with the Palestinian father interviewed after losing his son. Both are, of course, newsworthy, but the first tells a more complete story while the second stirs emotions.
This is precisely what Hamas wants. It seeks to instill a visceral disgust for any Israeli act of self-defense, even one taken after years of unprovoked aggression."

IDF Blog: How Hamas and Islamic Jihad Use Journalism as a Cover for Terrorism

"The terrorists thought that hiding in a civilian building and using international journalists as human shields would ensure their safety. Once IDF Intelligence learned of their location, the IDF surgically targeted their hiding place. A direct hit was confirmed."

Lt. Col. AVITAL LEIBOVICH: Terrorist or Journalist?

"The real question raised by Mr. Carr’s column is whether a station that is ideologically motivated and subsidized by a terrorist organization deserves the same treatment as CNN or The New York Times. Moreover, should a Hamas commander who painted the words “TV” on his car be considered a journalist?
Mr. Carr is quick to incriminate the Israel Defense Forces for targeting journalists, but he does not mention that terrorists are actively exploiting journalists as shields.Mr. Carr is worried about freedom of the press and rightly so. However, when terrorist organizations exploit reporters, either by posing as them or by hiding behind them, they are the immediate threat to freedom of the press.Such terrorists, who hold cameras and notebooks in their hands, are no different from their colleagues who fire rockets aimed at Israeli cities and cannot enjoy the rights and protection afforded to legitimate journalists."

BBC Staffer Who Lost Child During Israel-Hamas Conflict Blames “Jews,” Tied to Hamas (VIDEO)

"Prior to discovering the footage posted below, which shows the funeral of Ahmed, BBC Watch says they contacted the IDF who confirmed that he was a known terrorist. The blog also writes that the al-Qassam Brigades wrote of his death on their English-language website. Additionally, as you can see in the picture above, he is wrapped in a green Hamas flag at the funeral."

JPOST Editorial: Family reunion

There's no reason for surprise that TA bus bomb suspect is Palestinian given citizenship under "family reunion."
"There was no reason for the shocked reactions in Israel following the disclosure that the suspected perpetrator of the bus bombing in Tel Aviv last week was a Palestinian Arab who had been granted Israeli citizenship to facilitate a “family reunion.”

Anti-Terror Campaign Nets Weapons Warehouse

The latest anti-terror arrest in the Hevron region unveiled a weapons storehouse in a private home.
"The IDF has been stepping up its fight against Hamas in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) in wake of the recent open battle with Hamas in Gaza. Earlier this week troops went to arrest a terror suspect in Hevron and ended up finding a weapons warehouse in a private home."

CIF Watch: 65 years ago today: Guardian misses one key element of 1947 UN partition

Well, it seems that they failed to mention one quite significant element of the UN resolution (which passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent). Res. 181 not only called for the creation of a Jewish state, but the creation of an Arab one as well.

CST report on antisemitic discourse slams the Guardian: Singles out Orr and McGreal

"CST’s 2011 Report on Antisemitic Discourse clearly demonstrates the Guardian’s continuing antisemitic sins of ‘commission and, just as dangerous, ‘omission’: their silence in the face of clear evidence of antisemitism when covering a story. "

Surprise, surprise! Jon Donnison’s fauxtographic Tweet partner is a Guardian journalist

"Such journalist activists – whether they’re at the Guardian or the BBC – are risking more than their own reputations. If Guardian and BBC editors continually allow their journalists to make such egregious errors with impunity, and report the news in a manner resembling political advocacy rather than professional journalism, whatever remaining credibility they may have will continue to erode."

The Arab Atrocity Story Again, and Again, and Again

"When you hear Arab accounts of so-called Israeli “massacres” and “bestiality,” remember that the Arab foes of Israel have perfected a modern literary motif known as “the Arab atrocity story” which usually turns out to be a contrived work of fiction."

Syrian rebels using children in war: HRW

"Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad have sent children into combat and used boys as young as 14 to transport weapons and supplies, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday."

The Real Refugees: Children Die of Cold in Syrian Camps

Families on the run from violence in Syria face danger from the winter cold. UN continues to spend on Palestinian “refugees".

Syria shuts net as fighting rages

"The Syrian government has shut down the internet across the country and cut mobile phone services in select areas as rebels and government troops waged fierce battles near the capital's airport. International airlines were forced to suspend flights."

UN Soldiers Wounded in Syria Receive Treatment in Israel
Two Austrian soldiers who were wounded in Syria flown to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa for treatment.

Sharia status unchanged in Egypt draft constitution
Egypt's Constituent Assembly votes to keep principles of Islamic law as main source of legislation.

FIFA to Rebuild Gaza Soccer Stadium Used Against Israel by Hamas
"The soccer association, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), is pledging to rebuild the Gaza stadium that Israeli defense forces targeted after Hamas rockets were fired from it."

UN chief opens interfaith center sponsored by… Saudi Arabia
Speech focuses on need to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict; critics question Saudi promotion of religious pluralism

Norwegian youth leader seen encouraging anti-Semitic speech
"Aspiring Norwegian politician Khalid Haji Ahmed said he was only joking when he wished “best of luck eight times over” to activists who wrote on Facebook that they wished Adolf Hitler could kill more Jews."

Why I disagree with Arabic media’s demonization of Israel By AHMED ABDEL-RAHEEM

Let’s stop demonizing Israel. The new analogy I invite Arabs to use can be rendered: “Israel Is a Sister.”
"As a researcher in cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis, I can say that the reason bad analogies are so dangerous is that they can constrain and direct our policies. The above analogy, for example, highlights that Israel is a killer of innocence, suppressing the fact that Hamas fires rockets at innocent Israeli civilians. Importantly, depicting Israel as a demon implies that there can be no peace with it. If this were the case, how can Egypt play the role of peace broker between Israel and Palestine?"

Daphne Anson: An Irishman's Splendid Pro-Israel & Pro-Jewish Speech
(video)

"Here's Councillor Richard Humphreys (Labour) speaking on 25 November at a pro-Israel rally in Dublin. While by no means unsympatheti to the Palestinians, he calls for a more balanced approach in Ireland to the Middle East situation, and pays tribute not only to Israel but to the Jewish presence in Ireland."

Bright way to convert greenhouse gas to biofuel
Israel’s NewCO2Fuel poised to help Australia make its brown coal-burning industry into a greener enterprise.

NCR to buy software company Retalix for $650 million
Global ATM maker NCR Corp. said it would buy Israeli software company Retalix Ltd. for $650 million in a bid to expand its footprint in the retail sector.