Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, June 07, 2013

Austria pulls its UNDOF troops out of Syria

From AFP:

The UN force in the Golan Heights was thrown into disarray after Austria withdrew its troops and two peacekeepers were injured as Syrian government and rebel fighters battled for a border crossing.

Peacekeepers from the Philippines and India were wounded by mortar shrapnel as the Syrians fought for the strategic crossing, according to diplomats.

UN leaders held emergency talks to replace the 377 Austrian troops who make up more than a third of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which has monitored a ceasefire between Israel and Syria since 1974.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger called UN chief Ban Ki-moon to tell him of the withdrawal, said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

"The secretary general is concerned about the potential consequences of such a withdrawal on the peacekeeping operation and also on regional security, and in that regard, he regrets the decision that has been taken," Nesirky added.

That's the funny thing about UN "peacekeeping" troops: they only deter nations who want peace, and anyone who doesn't turns them effectively into human shields.

Remaining Christian schools in Gaza face closure by Hamas

From Catholic Herald:

Five schools in Gaza – two Catholic and three Christian – face closure if the Hamas government follows through on an order forbidding co-educational institutions, according to the director general of Latin Patriarchate Schools in Palestine and Israel.

Fr Faysal Hijazin said: “This will be a big problem. We hope they will not go through with it, but if they do, we will be in big trouble. We don’t have the space and we don’t have the money to divide our schools.”

In addition to finding additional space, he said, the schools face having to hire more teachers. Men and women teachers would not be allowed to teach classes of the opposite sex older than 10 under Islamic law.

“We will never accept this even if we have to close the schools,” Fr Hijazin said.

He said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem hoped to speak with Gaza’s prime minister, Ismail Haniya, to discuss the Church’s concerns.

The patriarchate administers the Latin Patriarchate School, with 370 students, and the Holy Family School, with 650 students. In addition, the Rosary Sisters operate their own school. The majority of the students enrolled in the schools are Muslim.

Four of Holy Family School’s recent graduates are Christian.

Fr Hijazin said that although the order did not specifically single out the Christian schools, the five are the only schools with mixed enrolment in Gaza.

What a coincidence that the only schools affected by Hamas' new rule are all Christian!

(h/t Benny)

Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Daniel Pipes: Happy Israel

Listen up, anti-Zionists and anti-Semites, Palestinians and Islamists, extreme right- and left-wingers: You are fighting a losing battle; the Jewish state is prevailing. As Inbar rightly concludes, "Time seems to be on Israel's side." Give up and find some other country to torment.

France's 1st gay married couple to attend TA Pride

The first gay couple to be legally wed in France will spend the upcoming weekend in Tel Aviv and will attend the city's Gay Pride Parade as part of their Honeymoon celebrations, a Tel Aviv Municipality spokesperson announced Thursday.
Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau were invited by Tel Aviv's Global & Tourism Company. Tel Aviv promotes gay rights as a pluralistic city and is happy to host the newly-wed couple, wishing them a big "mazal tov," the statement read.

CAMERA: Where's the Coverage? Gaza Youth Flee TO Israel

Surprising, then, that Al Monitor reports young men from Gaza are fleeing TO Israel, seeking the opportunities available in the Jewish state. Yes, fleeing to Israel, even knowing that they might be apprehended and detained.

The Secret Military Unit Behind Israel’s Stunning Six Day War Victory

One of the key factors which led to the success of the military operation in general, and the air strikes in particular, was the collection of data and information by Israel’s intelligence units in the years which preceded the war. One of the most intriguing episodes revealed here for the first time is related to unit 504 (then 154) of the Military Intelligence. The unit was and still is responsible for detecting, recruiting, and running agents – a tradecraft known as “humint”.

IDF Blog: 6 Photos From the 6-Day War You’ve Never Seen Before

In the Six-Day War (June 5-10, 1967), the IDF fought some of the defining battles of Israeli history and of the 20th Century. But what happened during preparation beforehand, and during those six days in between the battles? These are the people who fought for Israel’s freedom – some famous, some not – and six very heartfelt moments that happened behind the headlines.

Terror victim's father demands Norway take action against PA salaries to terrorists

Israeli Arnold Roth is on his way to Parliament to tell a story of terror. His daughter Malki never made it past her 15th year because a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in this pizza restaurant in Jerusalem in 2001. The person responsible for making the bomb - Abdullah Barghouti - is now in Israeli prison. Palestine honors hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many terrorists, with a monthly salary. Abdullah Barghouti receives every month 10,000 [Norwegian] kroners from Palestine.

CAMERA: What the Media Won't Tell You About Palestinian Prisoners

All too often, mainstream media outlets have whitewashed the terrorist acts and violent crimes of Palestinian prisoners by failing to mention the crimes at all or by falsely minimizing the degree of violence. In some cases, media outlets euphemistically refer to prisoners incarcerated since before 1994 as "political prisoners," covering up the atrocities they carried out. CAMERA is the first to publish a detailed list (below), obtained from Israel's Ministry of Justice, of 118 pre-Oslo Palestinian prisoners, including their names and violent crimes.

IDF Blog: 8 weapon seizures you didn’t hear about from May 2013

Every day of the year, the IDF works towards preventing terror and keeping the citizens of Israel safe. In May, IDF forces seized a large number of illegal weapons and apprehended the would-be terrorists in possession of them. Thanks to the work of the IDF, here are 8 weapon seizures you didn’t hear about from the month of May.

Arab Stone-Throwing Attacks on Jews are Daily Occurrence in East Jerusalem

Israel Defense Forces Maj. Gen. Kobi Dudian of the Jerusalem District Police told the Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Wednesday that 207 stone-throwing perpetrators have been arrested in eastern Jerusalem in 2013, the majority of whom were minors, and that only 47 of them were detained, pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings against them.

Group of teens attacks rabbi in Germany

A group of youths attacked a rabbi on Sunday evening in Offenbach, a city near Franfurt.
Six to eight “Mediterranean looking“ youths attacked the 39-year-old Rabbi Mendel Gurewitz. The youths pushed the rabbi and called him a “shitty Jew.

ZOA Opposes Samantha Power's Nomination as UN Ambassador

“As her own words show, Ms. Power indulges in astonishing false equivalence between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). She clearly has difficulty in appreciating the distinction between a law-based, free society and democracy like Israel that is defending itself from those who seek its elimination, and a terror-sponsoring, terrorist-glorifying, violence-inculcating PA that has neither signed peace with Israel nor recognized Israel as a Jewish state,” he said.

Melanie Phillips: A perfect match

And despite her advocacy of attack or invasion to prevent threatened genocides, she has sneered at concerns about the race to build a nuclear bomb by Iran, which has repeatedly threatened genocide against the Jews of Israel, as a figment of the war-mongering Republican imagination.
Samantha Power and the UN are thus a perfect match.

SodaStream Continues Uptick,Take That! BDSM Advocates

SodaStream is an Israeli company which has shaken up the soft drink business. Because its competitors are Coke and Pepsi, it has to take its business seriously. But because it is made in Israel, of course the organized world of Israel haters and those who support them have targeted SodaStream for boycotts and other economic mayhem.
But that is okay, because despite the efforts of the BDSM – anti-Israel economic and political warfare movement of Boycotts of, Divestment from and Sanctions Against Israel – to strangle SodaStream, the company’s profits just keep on growing.

Divestment from Israel Resolution Defeated at UC Santa Cruz

“We are pleased that a divestment resolution was once again defeated, this time at UC Santa Cruz. We applaud UCSC’s student senate for recognizing the complexity of the conflict and the bigotry in this resolution… Hopefully, next year, students who are obsessed with condemning Israel while they cover up the terrorism of Palestinian groups like Hamas, will consider more constructive actions and resolutions,” said Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs.

Keshet, Northern Pictures launch Australian joint venture

Israeli producer-distributor Keshet International is teaming up former Fox Networks Group president David Haslingden to launch a local production outfit, Keshet Australia.
The company will be jointly owned by Keshet International and Haslingden’s indie Northern Pictures, and will bring the Israeli producer’s slate of 50 scripted and unscripted TV properties to the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Grow cooperation with us, says Indian pol during Israel visit

Add India to that list, too, says Dr. Arvind Gupta, the head of technology affairs in India’s BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), the largest opposition party in the country. Although Israeli tech and business deals with other Asian countries — especially China — seem to grab most of the headlines, there is considerable trade between Israel and India. India is the largest purchaser of Israeli military equipment, and Israel is the second-largest military partner of India after Russia. In 2009, that business was was worth about $9 billion.

Israeli ‘bubble tech’ to help keep UK’s water clean

Mapal systems have been installed in Israel, as well as in Brazil, South Africa and India for a total of 30 locations worldwide. Now, the company has its first European contract, closing a deal with the UK’s Anglian Water to deploy its solution for a water company serving 4 million customers. Mapal’s bubble-spreaders will be installed in as many as 400 of Anglian’s 1,100 wastewater treatment facilities, the company said, adding that it is in “advanced talks” with other UK water treatment companies.

Israel Daily Picture: In Memory of Robert F. Kennedy on the 45th Anniversary of his Assassination

We leave our regular historical features to pay tribute to Robert Kennedy who was murdered on this day in 1968.
Several special features about Kennedy make this posting very appropriate for this site today:

Today's antisemitism from Palestine News Network

This op-ed tries really had to pretend to be only against Zionists, but its illustrative photo indicates its true target:

Yes, it is time for the (haredi) Jews to take over the Arab world again!

Zionism is the problem of this era, a cancer of the Islamic nation, ...(whose policy is) mostly based on the demolition and weakening the Arab and Islamic worlds. Allah Almighty says of them "Every time they [the Jews] kindled the fire of war [against you], Allah extinguished it. And they strive throughout the land [causing] corruption, and Allah does not like corrupters."(Table 64)

A Koranic quote about how evil Jews are is always a nice touch.

The Zionist enemy seeks to create economic and political crises to many countries with different interests, specifically Egypt. We will find there are serious problems that threaten the security and stability and growth of Egypt, and these problems of the dam which is located in Ethiopia located on the Blue Nile, which is still under construction and upon completion of its establishment will become the largest hydroelectric dam in the African continent, and the world's tenth largest dams for electricity production.

The question that arises here, this poor country which does not have the financial capabilities available for the establishment of such a large project, which is considered one of the world's poorest countries, where does it get such financial support? What is the purpose of supporting a country as Ethiopia?

...The Zionist enemy follows the policy of successful economic warfare I've previously discussed, and showed them that the Islamic world in general and Palestinians in particular follow the same economic policy if they want progress and growth. There are large-scale projects in most countries of the world from the cultivation of cotton in Uzbekistan to water in Ethiopia, and here the Zionist enemy is trying to use economic strength to wear down economic powers of neighboring countries.

[next few paragraphs on how Israel is using Ethiopia to divert the waters of the Nile away from Egypt to help destroy that country.]

Finally, after trying mightily to avoid saying the J-word, the writer can't stop himself any more:

We ask God Almighty to foil their evil schemes against the Islamic nation, (as there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,) and [we ask Allah to] cleanse the land of Palestine from defiled Jews and their supporters, and to support the mujahideen everywhere in Burma, Syria, Palestine, ...and may this century herald the era of the beginning of Islamic Renaissance, God willing.

I want to once again stress that the existence of Jew-hatred in the mainstream Palestinian Arab media every once in a while is not necessarily such a problem - if other Arabs would be upset. The problem is the complete absence of a counter-narrative in the Arab world - virtually never does one see any comments or talkbacks that say, "hey, you do know you are advocating genocide against Jews, which is just a slight violation of human rights, don't you?"

While the entire Arab world might not be as explicit in their goals as this writer, they are simply not exposed to anything positive about Jews, except in the nostalgic sense of remembering how nice the Jews who were ethnically cleansed from their countries 60 years ago were.

As I have been emphasizing recently, Arab antisemitism is a human rights issue, yet it has been completely ignored by the major human rights organizations. If you haven't done it yet, please sign the petition I set up to pressure Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to fulfill their own mandates and condemn an upcoming blockbuster antisemitic TV series that will potentially reach hundreds of millions of Arabs.

A new twist on "honor killing," and how it relates to peace

From Ma'an:

Israeli police on Wednesday identified a 19-year-old Palestinian as the main suspect in the murder of a woman from Jerusalem.

Police spokeswoman Luba al-Samari said 19-year-old Mohammad Shweiki was suspected of choking Minas Qasim to death because her family rejected his marriage proposal.

The body of Qasim, 21, was found near a dump in East Jerusalem's al-Eizariya area on May 6, three days after she disappeared on her way home from work. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangling.

Police found Qasim's belongings at the suspect's home, including a necklace and her mobile phone, al-Samari said in a statement.

Is there any difference between "family honor" and the "honor" of a spurned beau?

Not really. In both cases, men decide that when they are embarrassed by a woman for whatever reason, she must be killed. Saying it is to defend "honor" is a deflection, but one that gullible observers swallow.

After all, one major reason there is no Palestinian Arab state now is, indeed, "honor."

Compromise, to an extent, involves swallowing one's pride for the greater good. Since "everyone knows" that Arabs value their honor more than Israeli Jews, it seems logical to push the Israelis to make concessions while justifying Arab intransigence. It is a cultural thing, and to decry Arab culture seems vaguely colonialist.

The same logic that allows Arab nations to minimize punishments for "honor crimes" allows Western nations to give them a free pass for prioritizing "honor" over peace.

Thursday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Rearranging the Middle East

Rearranging the Middle East’s map would be costly in terms of material resources, with people resettling from one area to another, but, in the long run, it will save lives and reduce injustices. The U.S.’s insistence on keeping the artificial and troublesome states of Iraq and Syria whole is incomprehensible since it betrays the cherished ideals of freedom of choice. Given the hodgepodge composition of Iraq and Syria, the natural inclination of the minority groups would be for self-determination. The oppressed minorities have long awaited self-rule. The Kurdish, Christian, Druze, and Alawi states will also diminish the intensity of the Arab-Israeli conflict by serving as a barrier between the Sunni-Arab state and Israel. The civil war in Syria and Iraq creates a perfect opportunity for America to support the right thing.

Improbable new pact shows Iran’s ally in Baghdad is losing power

Pro-Western Iraqi Kurdistan, with ties to US and Israel, has squeezed concessions out of Iraq’s weakened Shiite PM Maliki. He may not intend to honor the deal, but the fact that he signed it speaks volumes

Barry Rubin: Kerry's Embarrassing "Peace Process" Obsession

A case can be made for Kerry showing himself as working hard for peace in order to defuse any possible effect on events elsewhere in the region. But by working too hard, spending too much of his time on the issue, and making absurd claims that he is going to succeed, Kerry is setting himself up for an embarrassing fall.

Netanyahu to Abbas: Give Peace a Chance

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to “give peace a chance.”
Speaking at a Knesset session called by the opposition and which dealt with the peace process, Netanyahu said that Abbas should give up his preconditions and come to the negotiating table.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas: No peace without J'lem as Palestinian capital

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared Wednesday that there would be no peace or a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as the capital of that state.
"We won't accept any city other than Jerusalem as our capital," Abbas said during a speech at a conference on Jerusalem in Ramallah.

Hamas Slams ‘Illegal’ New PA Government

Abbas’ move “proves that the Fatah leadership is willing to maintain and prolong the state of disagreement,” read a Hamas statement printed by Maan news.
Hamas sources noted that they have no objections to Hamdallah in particular. Their objection is over the fact that a new government does not include Hamas and was created unilaterally, they said.

UN Watch: Why the UN's Falk is Lobbying to Silence UN Watch

Douglas Murray: "Debating" Beheading

People who believe in the murder of British troops abroad are trying to pretend that they can find a way to oppose their murder on British streets. Those who believe in the murder of two-year old Israeli children are trying to find a way to explain why the murder of a British man in his twenties is wrong. How can those who claim that killing "infidel" warriors in war zones is a good thing hope people will believe them when they say that killing an "infidel" soldier in London is a bad thing?

Jordan Islamist delegation enters Gaza via tunnels

A delegation of Jordanian politicians entered the Gaza Strip this week via smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, Egyptian security officials said Wednesday.
Members from Jordan's Islamist Freedom and Justice party spent two days in Gaza, and reportedly met with Hamas officials.

Al-Qaeda Syrian Rebel Group Now Sitting on Israeli Border

The IDF verified reports Thursday morning that Syrian rebel forces had conquered parts of the Golan city of Kuneitra, placing them directly on the border with Israel. IDF officials said that the takeover of the area by rebel forces was a “significant development.”

Al-Qaida leader calls for Jihad against Israel

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Syrians to unite to bring down President Bashar Assad and thwart what he said were US plans to set up a client state in Syria to safeguard Israel's security.
In a 22-minute recording, posted on Islamist websites on Thursday to mark 65 years since Israel's founding, Zawahri also said the only way to solve the Palestinian problem was through Jihad (Islamic holy war).

'Anti-Semitism Pervades Al Qaeda Magazine'

In an ongoing effort to recruit and attract jihadists, Al Qaeda’s “Inspire” magazine continues to promote anti-Semitic narratives, depicting Jews as being at war with Islam and calling for the destruction of Israel,” according to an analysis by the Anti-Defamation League.

Arab League condemns Hezbollah's role in Syria

The Arab League on Wednesday condemned the military intervention in Syria by the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said.

Report: Iran, Hizbullah to 'Fight to the Death' for Assad

Iran and Hizbullah are doing everything they can to keep Bashar Assad in power in Syria, said a special report by the The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), an independent organization that keeps track of terror groups and activities in the Middle East and around the world. “For Iran and Hizbullah, the preservation of Bashar Assad's regime is of supreme strategic importance,” ITIC says in its latest report.

Hollande wins UNESCO peace prize for Mali intervention

Francois Hollande was awarded the annual Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize by Unesco at a ceremony in Paris.
The president of the jury praised Mr Hollande for the "solidarity shown by France to the peoples of Africa".
The decision was criticised by some human rights groups, who noted the continuing unrest in Mali. (h/t MTB)

Defiance: Host of Turkish Scrabble-Like Quiz Show Crafts 70 Questions Whose Answers Discomfort the Government

One guy, a game show host (of all things!), decided to defy the complete ban on mentioning what everyone could see outside their windows by writing 70 questions for his show for which all answers related to the protests and provoked the government -- and not in a playful way, either.
Literally every question/answer defied the ban, but I'm just quoting the edgier ones.

Would there be a Palestinian Arab state today on the West Bank and Gaza?
Would Israel's Arab neighbors consider the 1949 armistice lines as "borders" today?
Would Jews would be allowed to visit their holy places in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and elsewhere today?
Would Israelis in the Galilee be safe from fire coming from the Golan Heights today?
Would there have not have been another war of aggression mounted against Israel since then?
Would the Middle East would be a safer place today?
Would worldwide terror today be lessened?
Would the Palestinian Arab "refugee" problem have been solved by now?
Would Israel-haters hate Israel any less?

If the answers to all of these are "no," and they almost certainly are, then why does anyone think that Israel turning the clock back to early 1967 would improve things - today?

Palestinians in Lebanon torch Hezbollah aid

From Daily Star (Lebanon):

Some 1,500 packages of food aid donated by Hezbollah were burned by Palestinian refugees from Syria and local residents in the Bekaa Wednesday, the second such incident in a week. Omar Halabi, the head of the Saadnayel Youth League, told The Daily Star that a truck with boxes of aid was unloaded in the morning at the offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Halabi said when the aid was distributed, the refugees noticed the labels attached to each package explaining that the aid was a gift from the “Islamic Resistance in Lebanon to our brethren, the displaced Palestinians from Syria.”

“When the refugees realized that the aid was from the same party which is killing their people in Qusair and in other places, they, with dozens of locals, took the boxes from the Palestinian Cultural Center and burned them,” Halabi said.

The DFLP is politically affiliated with the Syrian regime, and its leader, Nayef Hawatmeh, lives in Syria.

Last Thursday, Palestinian refugees from Syria set fire to humanitarian aid donated by Hezbollah in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, citing their anger over the party’s role fighting alongside the Syrian regime.

Refugees gathered in front of the camp’s Kifah School holding banners explaining their decision to destroy the aid, which the party is distributing across a number of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Certainly over the past few months, the hatred between Shi'ites and Sunnis in the Middle East has become a predominant theme in the Arab media - and as much as both groups hate Jews, they hate each other more. The Syria crisis just brought the hatreds to the fore.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Intra-Hamas split reportedly widening

Palestine Press Agency is reporting that the split between Hamas' political wing of Khaled Meshal and its Qassam Brigades is getting deeper.

According to the report, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is trying to fix the rift, caused by the Qassam Brigades wanting to ally with Iran and Hezbollah while Meshal wants to be on the side of the Islamists in Syria.

Hezbollah has reportedly expelled Hamas from Lebanon because of Meshal's position.

Muhammad Badi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and his deputy Khairat Al-Shater tried and failed to achieve a consensus between the two groups, which led to the postponement of the Hamas Shura Council meeting that had been scheduled to take place last Monday in Cairo.

Hamas leaders fear that the split will become public, which could account for the meeting being postponed indefinitely. No official reason was given for the postponement.

It looks like not only is unity impossible between Hamas and Fatah, but also between Hamas and Hamas.

Paris museum to exhibit pro-terrorist "art"

The Jeu de Paume Museum in Paris is scheduled to show an "art" exhibit by Ahlam Shibli, purportedly to explore the concept of "home."

The description of the exhibition:

It deals with the loss of land and the fight against this expropriation, but restrictions and limitations that the idea of land imposes on individuals and communities affected by a criminal identity-politics groups. Among the places affected by this problem, we include the occupied Palestinian territories; monuments honoring both the French resistance fighters who opposed the Nazis and the French fighters in colonial wars against the people who wanted to turn their independence. In recent years, the photographic arena of Shibli has expanded to other questions around social exclusion across the situation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people from Eastern countries and communities of children in Polish orphanages . Death, the latest round of Shibli specially designed for the occasion, shows the efforts of the Palestinian society to preserve the presence of those who lost their lives fighting the occupier. This series gives a large place to their absence through photographs, posters, and graffiti graves, presented as a form of resistance to colonial rule.

Here are some of the photos being exhibited of Palestinian Arabs honoring suicide bombers and other terrorists:

The exhibit pamphlet also shows that he has photos of Bedouin soldiers in the IDF, but the idea that they are there because of loyalty to Israel is dismissed:

Trackers series conducted in 2005, focuses on Palestinians of Bedouin origin who have served or still serve as volunteers in the army Israeli. This project questions the price that colonized minority is obliged to pay to a majority composed of settlers, perhaps to be accept, perhaps changing identity, perhaps to survive, perhaps for all these reasons and others.

There is a protest planned as well as an online petition against this "art" that glorifies murderers and demonizes Israel.

(h/t Irene)

It's only graffiti, right?

From the Belfast Telegraph:

The half-finished former headquarters of the Anglo Irish Bank has been defaced with anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic graffiti.

Gardai and the Central Bank, which last year bought the eight-storey shell in the Dublin docklands, have launched separate probes into the vandalism, which happened early on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Several messages - including "Zionist engineered global financial holocaust", "Jewish supremacist destruction of indigenous Europeans", "Zionist global financial terrorism" and "Jewish financial terrorism" - have been scrawled in large red letters in the skeleton-like building.

From La Repubblica (Italian):

Two swastikas, a Star of David and the word "Juden" have been painted with black spray paint on the facade of the Synagogue of Verona. The anti-Semitic action the other night was done by some hooded people, videoed by surveillance cameras that have provided the police the first evidence to start an investigation. It's not the first time such events happened in Verona: over the years and in recent months swastikas had been painted on Jewish cemetery, but never on the facade of the synagogue in the city center.

The incident happened to coincide with an important Jewish religious ceremony, the 150th anniversary of the [dedication of?] Sefer Torah, a scroll that contains the sacred writings of the Jews.

Sufis insult Muslim Brotherhood in the worst possible way

Now, this is an insult.

Egyptian Sufi leader Abdul Halim said that the Muslim Brotherhood was celebrating today, the anniversary of the beginning of the Six Day War.

According to Halim, the Brotherhood in Egypt hated Nasser so much that they wanted Egypt to lose the war and for the Jews to take over the Al Aqsa Mosque.

He said that the Brotherhood was joyful together with the Jews and acted as agents of Israel.

Arab insults don't get any nastier than that.

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Syrian Refugees Quietly Treated by Israel while UN Makes Latest ‘Parody of Itself’

The script reads like this: Israel treats wounded Syrian refugees in its own hospitals. Syria produces a report alleging an “acute shortage of primary and tertiary health care services” in the Golan Heights region. A United Nations agency, citing the Syrian report rather than acknowledging Israel’s actions, condemns Israel.
On the surface, this storyline contains several plot twists, but it is not surprising for Dr. Daniel Pipes, president and founder of the Middle East Forum.

Alan Dershowitz: Syria Shows Why Israel Must Remain Strong

The hatred directed against Jews in general and Israel in particular by Israel’s enemies is far more malignant than the animosity between Sunni and Shia Muslims or between Muslim and Christian Arabs. It is taught in schools, preached in mosques and repeated in the media. There would be no mercy shown. Israeli armies would not be allowed to surrender and be repatriated, as the Egyptian army was when it was trapped in Sinai at the end of the 1973 war.
Israeli civilians would be targeted as they already have been by Hamas and Hezbollah rockets fired in the direction of large population centers. The goal of the first war against Israel, as expressed by one of its leaders, was “this will be a war of extermination.” The desire for revenge has only grown over the course of further warfare and more defeats.

Radical Islam Arrives in Ramallah by Khaled Abu Toameh

Palestinian Authority officials have not offered an explanation as to why Hizb-ut-Tahrir, whose members are frequently targeted by Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, was given permission to hold a rally in favor of jihad [holy war] against Israel.
Some Palestinians, however, said that the decision to allow the fundamentalists to hold a rally in Ramallah was aimed at sending a message to Kerry about the challenges and threats facing the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority leadership, according to this theory, is using the Muslim radicals to scare Western donors into continuing, or perhaps increasing, their financial aid to the Palestinian government in the West Bank.

PA Arabs Fete 'New Mahdi," Establishment of Calpihate

Thousands of PA Arabs participated in a mass rally in Ramallah earlier this week calling for the establishment of the Muslim Caliphate – the worldwide Islamist government that will “bring the coming of the Mahdi.” the Muslim messiah.

Muslim Zionist, Christian Arab Explain Islamic Hatred of Israel

Two Zionist, one a Pakistani Muslim and the other an Egyptian Christian Reverend, explained to Arutz Sheva why “anti-Zionist” has become the new code word for anti-Semitism in the Muslim world.
History shows that Muslim anti-Semitism predated the state of Israel, Zionist Muslim Kasim Hafeez said. However, he explained, it is now called anti-Zionism because the term has become acceptable in the Western world.

Belgian lawmaker tramples Israeli flag at pro-Assad rally

A Belgian lawmaker trampled the Israeli flag at a support rally for Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar Assad held in front of Israel’s embassy in Brussels.
Laurent Louis, an independent member of the lower house of Belgium’s Federal Parliament, posed for pictures while standing on an Israeli flag on June 2.

"The Jeu de Paume Honours Killers Of Jews"

The Jeu de Paume a well known museum in the world subsidized by The French Ministry of Culture has since May 28 to September 1, 2013 offered visitors, an exhibition of Palestinian photographer Ahlam Shibli.
This "Phantom home" exhibition consists of 68 photographs of portraits of Palestinian terrorists, all members of the brigades of Al Aqsa Martyrs, ranked terrorist organization by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union

Arabs, Not Jews, Worst-Hit by EU Labeling Scheme

The labeling of products made by Jews in Judea and Samaria would damage Israel, a report by the Foreign Ministry said – but it would damage PA Arabs even more.
According to the report, some 22,500 PA Arabs are employed inside Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria. These Arabs are among the highest paid laborers in the PA. The report said that on average, PA Arabs working in Jewish-owned business in Judea and Samaria earned 88% more than those working in Arab towns. In addition, they have social rights, including health benefits and pension rights, that are usually unavailable to PA Arabs.

Bi-Partisan Call: Move US Embassy to J’slm, but Obama Renews Waiver

On Tuesday, June 4, a bi-partisan congressional call went out for the United States government to move its Embassy from Tel Aviv, to the capital of Israel, in Jerusalem.
The call went out from the congressional Israel Allies Caucus at an event marking Israel Reunification Day, the day in 1967 that Jerusalem was reunified as the result of Israel’s defeat of the Jordanian army. Israel acquired the land by defeating Jordan which attacked Israel as part of the 1967 war, despite Israel’s repeated pleas to Jordan to stay out of the hostilities.

Ray LaHood's son sentenced to jail in Egypt in absentia over pro-democracy dispute

The son of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was among 16 Americans sentenced to jail in absentia by a court in Egypt Tuesday, part of a diplomatic dispute over the activities and funding of U.S.-backed pro-democracy groups.
Sam LaHood was given a five-year sentence and fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($143).

Feting Jerusalem

As we mark the 46th anniversary of the outbreak of the Six Day War, it is fitting to be humbled by the tremendous challenges we face and the obstacles to peace that remain to be overcome. But we should also be proud of our tremendous achievements.
Today, 46 years after reunification, Jerusalem is Israel’s largest city with a population of over 800,000. Once referred to by writer Cynthia Ozick as a “phoenix city” with a “history of histories” where “no one is a stranger” – Jerusalem has never before in its long life flourished so astoundingly.
Never have so many Jews lived in Jerusalem in relative harmony and security alongside a diverse non-Jewish population. And never before have the religious rights of all been so carefully protected.
Israelis are rightly wary of endangering all this.

Apple to Inaugurate High School Development Center in Northern Israel

Apple Inc. will inaugurate the first entrepreneurship development center of its kind at a High School in Hadera next week, Globes is reporting.
The center at Amal High School was established with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education. The students will learn application development and marketing and will develop iOS-based apps for iPads and iPhones. Apple will provide instructors to train the center’s teachers and students.

'Extinct' Frog Appears in Israel

The first amphibian to have been officially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been rediscovered in the north of Israel after some 60 years and turns out to be a unique “living fossil,” without close relatives among other living frogs, according to researchers at Hebrew University.
The Hula painted frog was catalogued within the Discoglossus group when it was first discovered in the Hula Valley of Israel in the early 1940s. The frog was thought to have disappeared following the drying up of the Hula Lake at the end of the 1950s, and was declared extinct by the IUCN in 1996. As a result, the opportunity to discover more about this species’ history, biology and ecology was thought to have disappeared. (h/t Phil)

From a Hamas prisoner to a globetrotting Israel emissary

Former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit has been receiving rock star receptions around the world as the United Israel Appeal’s (UIA) newest fundraiser.
Filling reception halls from Buenos Aires to Melbourne, the former tank gunner, who spent five years in captivity in Gaza after being abducted in 2006, is now an effective crowd drawer, raising millions for the state by sharing his story with Jewish audiences, Channel 2 reported Tuesday.

Anne Frank’s tree now grows in Boston

A sapling taken from Anne Frank’s solace-giving chestnut tree put roots down in the heart of Boston on Tuesday.
More than 200 community members and schoolchildren gathered in a corner of historic Boston Common to witness the ceremonial planting of one of eleven saplings taken from the tree in 2009. At the time of its demise in 2010, the white horse chestnut tree located behind Anne Frank’s “Secret Annex” was more than 170 years old.

Joke of the day: PLO says they support Kerry plan (ElderToon)

From Ma'an:

No one loses more than the Palestinians if US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to restart peace talks fail, the PLO's top negotiator said Tuesday.

"The failure of Kerry's peace plan is not an option. Everyone who believes in two states should help Kerry to succeed," Saeb Erekat told reporters in the West Bank a day after Kerry issued a stark warning to Israel and the Palestinians to resume long-stalled talks.

Look how interested the PLO is in negotiating all of a sudden! Just a couple of small caveats:

In another joke, Abbas yet again threatens to dissolve the PA if he doesn't get what he demands.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Riots in Turkey and Tens of Thousands Dead in Syria, Caused by West Bank Settlements

If this is the beginning of another Middle East revolution, one wonders what the new map of the Middle East will look like even 2 years from now. Amazing how times change – only five years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to mediate peace negotiations with Syria. That wouldn’t have ended well – and today, reports indicate that up to 100,000 people have been slaughtered in Syria.
For the sake of peace, many say Israel should offer concessions to Assad in Syria who has killed tens of thousands of his own people. They also say that Israel should be more conciliatory towards Turkey, where the police force abuses fellow citizens regularly.
These people talk foolishly of Israeli settlements, or Israel’s “aggressive nature in the Middle East” that leads to violence. Could it be something else? Pigs can’t fly, and the Israelis are not the people who bring violence to the Middle East.

Fatah Central Committee member urges destruction of Israel, advocates turning a blind-eye to terrorists

Watch as a representative of Israel's so-called "partner for peace" Fatah, calls for the end of Israel, and for the Palestinian people to turn a blind eye to terrorist attacks on the Jewish State.

Soft BBC portrait of new PA prime minister

The BBC also chooses to ignore the fact that under Hamdallah’s presidency, students at An Najar University staged an exhibition glorifying suicide bombers in September 2001 (described by the BBC at the time as an “art show” in a report placed in its website’s ”entertainment: arts” section) which included a gory representation of the Sbarro pizza restaurant where fifteen civilians – many of them women and children – had been murdered only six weeks previously.

Abbas threatens to dismantle PA if talks don’t start

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to dismantle the PA should US Secretary of State John Kerry fail to “salvage the peace process,” a senior PA official said Tuesday.

PMW: Compilation of 5 versions of a Palestinian song presenting Israeli cities as part of "Palestine"

Five church schools in Gaza face closure after Hamas order

Five schools in Gaza – two Catholic and three Christian – face closure if the Hamas government follows through on an order forbidding co-educational institutions, according to the director general of Latin Patriarchate Schools in Palestine and Israel.

France, Britain confirm sarin gas used in Syria

France said Tuesday it has confirmed that the nerve gas sarin was used “multiple times and in a localized way” in Syria, including at least once by the regime. It was the most specific claim by any Western power about chemical weapons attacks in the 27-month-old conflict.
Britain later said that tests it conducted on samples taken from Syria also were positive for sarin.

EXCLUSIVE: How Israeli Intelligence Is Updating Its Knowledge of Syria’s Missile Arsenal

Israel has taken the opportunity to watch, study, and analyze the performance of the Syrian missiles. Among the most important discoveries is the detection and observation of the Scud D missile, which has a separating (detachable) warhead with cluster bombs. Israeli intelligence officials knew about the existence of this missile for at least ten years, and even got some information about it from Turkish counterparts when relations between the two countries were better. Israel is now updating its knowledge on its own.

MEMRI: Egyptian Blooper: Politicians, Unaware They Are on Air, Threaten Ethiopia over Dam Construction VIDEO

Signature campaign on Egyptian streets tests Morsi

Thousands of volunteers are hitting the pavement around Egypt, on streets, in metro stations, even in hospitals, passing out black-and-white forms to whoever will take them. The goal: To collect millions of signatures on a petition calling for the removal of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Thousands of Iranians chant to end dictatorship

Tens of thousands of Iranians chanted for the downfall of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, branding him a “dictator,” as they attended the funeral of a religious leader who opposed the current regime.
The protest took place during the funeral of Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri, who died at the age of 87 and was buried in Isfahan on Sunday. Taheri was known for openly opposing the Tehran government and its hardline religious leaders.

Diplomats say Iran nuclear reactor damaged by quake

Diplomats say countries monitoring Iran’s nuclear program have picked up information that the country’s only power-producing nuclear reactor was damaged by one or more recent earthquakes.
Two diplomats say long cracks have appeared in at least one section of the structure.

Wife of Imprisoned Iranian-American Pastor Pleas Before UN Human Rights Council

The wife of imprisoned Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini, Naghmeh, made an impassioned plea for the release of her husband before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

Claire Berlinski: Erdoğan Over the Edge

So no, the unrest roiling Turkey is not about Gezi Park, though it would have been poetic if it had been: the park was once an Armenian cemetery, appropriated by the government and transformed into a barracks after the Armenians “abandoned” it. The protests are about authoritarianism, plain and simple. What will happen now is anyone’s guess. The demonstrators are disorganized, and while they know what they don’t want, they aren’t sure what they do want. (h/t Silke)

Daniel Pipes: The good news in Turkey

This is excellent news. Turkey has been heading in the wrong direction under the AKP. Although a democracy, the AKP government has jailed more journalists than any other state in the world. Although secular, it has with growing urgency imposed arrays of Islamist regulations, including last week's rushed limitation on alcohol as well as warnings against public displays of affection.

PA Foreign Affairs ministry calls J'lem light show "explicit call to religious war"

The fourth annual Jerusalem Festival of Light starts tonight, and I wish I was in Israel to see it!

Not everyone is happy about this, of course. In fact, according to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, it is nothing less than Israel's bid to start a regional war.

Al Jazeera (Arabic) reports:

Palestinians protested strongly on Tuesday ahead of planned Israeli celebrations in the municipality of Jerusalem scheduled tomorrow in the eastern part of the city to commemorate the occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the organization of the festival called "Lights" in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the old city tomorrow is "an explicit call to a religious war in the region as a whole."

The ministry warned, in a press release, the risk of grabbing the Al Aqsa Mosque and dividing it [between Muslims and Jews] temporally and spatially, in the wake of extremist Jewish organizations in Jerusalem yesterday calling to pray at the holy mosque.

The ministry assigned full responsibility to the Israeli government for the activities practiced by extremists against Islamic places of worship and Christianity, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular.

The PA foreign ministry's website is not functional and shows a default Linux test page, so I couldn't verify this with them directly. (They are also running an outdated version of Apache, if any Israeli hacker is looking for an easy target...)

What's Thomas Friedman smoking?

Today's fantasy of a better world, courtesy of Thomas Friedman:

With these iron-fisted leaders being toppled — and true, multisectarian democracies with effective governments yet to emerge in their place — Israel is potentially facing decades of unstable or no governments surrounding it. Only Jordan offers Israel a normal border. In the hinterlands beyond, Israel is looking at dysfunctional states that are either imploding (like Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Libya) or exploding (like Syria).

But here’s what’s worse: These iron-fisted leaders not only suppressed various political forces in their societies but also badly ignored their schools, environments, women’s empowerment and population explosions. Today, all these bills are coming due just when their governments are least able to handle them.

Therefore, the overarching theme for Israeli strategy in the coming years must be “resiliency” — how to maintain a relatively secure environment and thriving economy in a collapsing region.

So far, so good.

But then his 1990s-think takes over:

In my view, that makes resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more important than ever for three reasons: 1) to reverse the trend of international delegitimization closing in on Israel; 2) to disconnect Israel as much as possible from the regional conflicts around it; and 3) to offer a model.

There is no successful model of democratic governance in the Arab world at present — the Islamists are all failing. But Israel, if it partnered with the current moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, has a chance to create a modern, economically thriving, democratic, secular state where Christians and Muslims would live side by side — next to Jews. That would be a hugely valuable example, especially at a time when the Arab world lacks anything like it. And the world for the most part would not begrudge Israel keeping its forces on the Jordan River — as will be necessary given the instability beyond — if it ceded most of the West Bank and Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Together, Israelis and Palestinians actually have the power to model what a decent, postauthoritarian, multireligious Arab state could look like. Nothing would address both people’s long-term strategic needs better.

Let's take these one at a time:

1) The delegitimization movement Friedman refers to is not interested in a peace agreement. They want the destruction of Israel. Their basic demands include the insistence that Israel be forced to accept millions of Arab faux-"refugees" and end the Jewish state. They already regard the PA as a sell-out for not restarting the intifada. This is a variation of the "if/then" fallacy that has been fashionable for decades, but is still around thanks to so-called "experts" like Friedman. In this case the fallacy is that the Israel-haters would be weakened by Israeli concessions, but in fact it is the opposite.

2) Friedman thinks that an Israel whose border is in constant threat of being taken over by Islamists would "disconnect" it from the regional conflicts around it? It would ensure that Israel is surrounded by them! Friedman's bizarre assumption that a Palestinian Arab state would be inoculated from the chaos surrounding it has no basis in reality. Like so many other pseudo-experts on the region, Friedman cannot distinguish between his wishful thinking and the cold reality - in this case, that "Palestine" would be a peaceful, democratic, secular state, inoculated from the Islamist Spring.

Oh, and don't forget Friedman's other "if-then" fallacy here - that the world would allow Israel to keep the Jordan Valley as a buffer if only it would offer the Palestinian Arabs a state. Wasn't that already offered and rejected? The result was nothing less than a six year-long war on Israeli civilians. Again, Friedman is stuck in the 1990s.

3) It takes an amazing amount of willful blindness to ignore Gaza's Hamastan, to ignore the fact that there haven't been elections for so long, to ignore the daily incitement in the PA media, to ignore the fact that the PA's last two prime ministers that the West loved so much were not elected and have no support from the people, and to ignore the daily vitriol between Hamas and Fatah. Friedman's eyes can shut tightly enough to allow an occasional "Sure, there are problems..." right before ignoring them.

The PA has now been around for nearly two decades. Every real accomplishment it has made so far wasn't from its own initiative but from Western pressure. On its own, it would devolve back into a fragmented, corrupt dictatorship that it never truly escaped.

Besides that -the Islamists are winning. To them, democracy and freedom and human rights are not an end but a means. They are not remotely willing to give their political opponents the rights that they insist for themselves.

The hatred that Arabs have for Israel has nothing to do with "Palestine." Tom - Instead of relying on your Western-educated translators when you parachute into Egypt to pretend to do reporting, read their freaking newspapers in Arabic itself. Even the most liberal, secular Lebanese Christians despise Israel. The wealthy Arabs of Dubai, who don't really give a damn about Palestinians, all agree they hate Israel. Antisemitism - not anti-Zionism, but antisemitism - has been steadily increasing in Arabic media, especially in Egypt and the "new, improved" Iraq.

Their hate is not logical - it is pathological. And it is as much a part of Palestinian Arab society as it is in the fabric of the rest of the Arab world.

To even imagine that any Israeli actions could result in Israel being accepted by the Arabs is a breathtakingly stupid idea.

Luckily, usually Israel is smart enough not to make concessions based on what is literally a fantasy based on ignorance and dreams from deluded Pulitzer-winning "experts."

Report: Qassam Brigades chooses to side with Hezbollah and Iran after all

Al Quds al Arabi, the London-based pan-Arab newspaper, reports that the "military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, has decided to re-align itself with Hezbollah and Iran after bitter infighting over the direction the group should take.

Iran has made no secret of its displeasure at Hamas public statements against the Assad regime in Syria.

Apparently, the recent visit to Gaza by popular preacher Yusuf Qaradawi, where he said that he wanted the West to support the Syrian rebels, upset the militant Hamas leadership.

The report says that Brigades wrote a letter to the political leadership of Hamas demanding an alliance with Hezbollah. In the letter, the Qassam leadership stated that liberation will come from arms, not money, a reference to the cash that Qatar has been giving Gaza.

Mahmoud al Zahar, hawkish Hamas leader, apparently supports this initiative.

The Al Quds sources hinted that a Hamas delegation is currently visiting Iran, including Marwan Issa, the commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, in the framework of strengthening the alliance between the movement and Iran.

The message stressed by the delegation is that the "resistance" and the ability to fire rockets into Tel Aviv in the recent war was thanks to the alliance with Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and not because of Arab money, referring to the financial support of Qatar.

Miftah deliberately ignored PA incitement and delegitimization - and supported terrorists as heroes

Miftah, the Palestinian Arab NGO that has published a blood libel and has extolled terrorism (but deleted the offending articles when they were made public), has another initiative that has been dormant for a few years but is still very enlightening.

It is called the Media Monitoring Unit, and its goals are set forth as:

Monitoring Palestinian Media.

Research and advocacy activities aiming to reduce incitement, dehumanization and delegitimization of "the other"

Educating the public to become more critical media consumers

Fostering professionalism in the Palestinian media

In fact, Miftah teams with an Israeli organization, Keshev, an organization that monitors Israeli media from the Left. Keshev would look for bias and anti-Arab incitement in Israeli media and Miftah's unit would purportedly look for the same in Palestinian Arab media.

Miftah's part of the initiative seems to have only been active from 2008 to 2010, and some ten reports were written and released during that time period.

Amazingly, during those two years, Miftah could not find a single example of anti-Israel or antisemitic incitement in Palestinian Arab media. No delegitimization! No dehumanization!

While a couple of the reports would imply that newspaper use of the word "martyr" to describe suicide bombers is not strictly accurate, Miftah never said that this glorification of terrorism in the media reaches the level of incitement. Moreover, the many cases of pure antisemitism and maps that erase Israel in the print and broadcast media - well documented by Palestinian Media Watch - are uniformly ignored, by the very unit that is supposedly meant to search for it and fight against it!

If a map of "Palestine" that erases Israel is not an example of delegitimization, then what is?

The steering committee of the Media Monitoring Unit included Hanan Ashrawi and Joharah Baker.

In what can only be considered a massive waste of Western money, this unit was funded by the EU and the Ford Foundation.

Even worse, in the cases that incitement was found and publicized by Israeli sources, Miftah would tend to deny that any incitement existed, and would defend the PA's honoring of terrorists. Here is Miftah's Joharah Baker in an official Miftah editorial, "Let Us Honor Our Own":

When Palestinians named a square after Dalal Al Mughrabi, a Palestinian fighter who was killed during a military operation against Israel in 1978, Israel was up in arms, claiming the Palestinians should not be allowed to name streets or squares after “terrorists.” Israeli watchdog groups and the Israeli government play on the fact that Palestinians have named streets after Abu Jihad (Khalil Al Wazir) and Yehya Ayash. The prisoner stipends are just the latest episode in the drama.

...Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are a whole other ballgame. These men and women are not imprisoned for stealing cars, or for selling drugs. They are there because they are resisting a belligerent military occupation of their land, which has oppressed them and their people for decades. The PA’s allocations to prisoners and their families is in no way an endorsement of “terrorism and violence” but rather a means of helping mostly young men and women and their families to resume a life that has been interrupted by an occupying authority. Any other country would have done the same.

Besides, countries should not interfere in the internal affairs of others. If the Palestinians want to name a street after one of their national heroes, regardless of how this person is perceived by Israel, that is their business.

Instead of promoting peace and fighting incitement, Miftah defends incitement and supports the terrorists as national heroes. (Notice how even Dalal Mughrabi, responsible for the deaths of 13 children, is considered a heroine by Miftah.)

If Mughrabi is a national hero, then Miftah can' t be too serious about being upset that newspapers refer to terrorists as "martyrs." Indeed, their objection to that is seen to be more from the perspective of accuracy rather than incitement and nationalistic support of terrorist acts.

The media review unit seems to have run out of funding. Considering that it spent more time obfuscating Palestinian Arab incitement and dehumanizing Israelis rather than exposing it, this is probably a good thing.

When will the remaining funders of this NGO that promotes incitement against "the other" realize that their money is being used for the exact opposite of what they intended?

Hamas' reign of terror covered by - NPR!

A rare NPR piece that blames someone besides Israel for something in the Middle East:

Life was already grim in the Gaza Strip when fighting raged between Israel and Hamas last November. Then Khulud Badawi got unexpected bad news about her husband.

"I was at home when my son came in and said, 'Mom, they killed Dad.' I said, 'Who?' He said, 'Hamas.' I asked him, 'Where?' He said, 'Next to the gas station,'" she recalls.

Badawi's husband, Ribhi Badawi, was in prison in Gaza City. He was supposed to go to court that day for a final appeal of charges that he had collaborated with Israel against Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.

But Ribhi Badawi was taken from prison and executed in public, along with five other inmates. They were all accused of being collaborators, or informants, working for Israel.

"In this case, what was remarkable was that these men were not executed in anything resembling legislative authority or the penal authority of the Hamas government, but by armed men," says Sarah Leah Whitson, who directs the Middle East division of Human Rights Watch.

Wow - how could that have happened?

Hamas, which has been in control of Gaza since 2007, has executed people judged to be collaborators. But in the six deaths last Nov. 20, the Hamas-run government said it was not responsible.

"What happened was against the law," Islam Shawan, a spokesman for Gaza's Interior Ministry, says. "We had a high-level committee investigate, and it handed down tough punishments to security officials who failed to do their jobs."

Shawan won't name names, give ranks or offer any other information, but he claims that four people working in the prison system were punished. One was fired, one was transferred, one was jailed and one lost any chance at promotions.

He has no progress to report on tracking down the people who actually did the killings, but he does claim progress in cracking down on collaboration.

This puzzle gets harder and harder to solve. I mean, Hamas says they are working to find the people responsible for the murders, and the murderers haven't yet been caught, so they must be very, very smart.

For some reason I am reminded of OJ Simpson and his "investigation" into the murderer of his wife.

(h/t D)