Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Temptations performing songs from Fiddler on the Roof

Motown meets Anatevka.

The grooviness starts at 1:12:

(h/t Shalom Life)

Minister in Morsi gov't filmed beating 11 year old boy

From MEMRI:

My email to the EU about their use of "1967 borders"

As a followup to this post.

I notice that in a number of official EU documents regarding the Middle East, the phrase "1967 borders" or "pre-1967 borders" is used repeatedly. I am very surprised by this, since you undoubtedly know that there were no agreed borders for Israel before 1967, and they were only armistice lines from the 1948 war. Borders were always meant to be defined in the context of peace agreements between Israel and her neighbors, as indeed they eventually were with Egypt and Jordan.

Could you explain your use of a clearly incorrect term, and will you be correcting this error - both in the future and retroactively?

Thanks

This was sent through their website form. They say they respond to most queries within three working days.

7/21 Links: A Tour with J Street, PA Honors Dalal Mughrabi, UN Honors Che, Hezbollah Defends Pot

From Ian:

To Ramallah and back

A US college student’s perspective on Israeli security: The actions Israel has taken to keep citizens, tourists protected are invaluable.
This past month I went on a trip to Ramallah with J Street. I signed up for the trip with very little in terms of expectations – I was merely looking forward to a tour of Ramallah. Of course, I hoped the trip would be an educational experience. I expected to hear insight from Palestinians, activists and UN officials that I would disagree with. However, the most alarming encounters I was confronted with were from the American Jewish college students with whom I traveled.

Ex-PA minister: Abbas cowed by threat of US aid loss

“Abbas feels American pressure, and Arab [League] pressure,” said Abuzayyad, a former Palestinian legislator, cabinet minister and negotiator. “The Arab League is telling him, ‘You can’t be seen as responsible for Kerry’s failure.’”
Asked about reports that Abbas faced US threats to withdraw aid if he didn’t enter talks, Abuzayyad told Army Radio, “Of course there was a threat of economic sanctions, as much as $500 million per year. There was pressure related to the end of aid.”

1967 lines not the basis for new talks, report says

Contrary to Palestinian claims, the terms for restarting long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks do not include a reference to the pre-1967 lines, according to a Western official quoted by The New York Times late Saturday.

Hamas spokesman accuses US of deluding Palestinians

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Ma’an news agency Saturday that the negotiations are just a cover for the Israeli “agenda of Judaization” and that they threatened Palestinian reconciliation.
“Stopping political reconciliation [between Fatah and Hamas] for negotiations between the PA and Israel is very dangerous,” Barhoum said. “For Hamas, reconciliation is a strategy that must be implemented instantly in light of the current Arab and global situation and US and European collusion with Israel.”

PMW: PA TV: Terrorist Dalal Mughrabi is "a Palestinian and Arab symbol"

UN Watch: UNESCO honors executioner Che Guevara

Cuba held a ceremony on Friday to celebrate UNESCO’s despicable decision to include “The Life and Works of Ernesto Che Guevara” among 54 new additions to the Memory of the World Register, approved on June 18 by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

CiF Watch prompts correction to Guardian claim on Gaza construction material

We noted that Sherwood’s claim that ‘Israel only allows construction materials into Gaza which is destined for UN projects’ was not true – citing widely reported news in Dec. 2012 that Israel had expanded the legal passage of construction materials (which had previously only allowed materials for UN projects) to include such materials for private contractors, as well.
Shortly after contacting Guardian editors, the passage in question was revised to more accurately reflect Israeli policy vis-a-vis the import of construction material into Gaza.

European Sanctions on Israel Destroy Two-State Delusion

In a report that was recently presented to and ignored by members of the European Parliament, the reputable NGO Monitor details the damaging impact of highly secretive European Union funding for radical political advocacy Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). There is overwhelming evidence that these shadowy groups are involved in anti-Israel boycotts and violent demonstrations that undermine the EU’s stated efforts to secure peace in the Middle East.
Yet, it would be a mistake to interpret the European Union’s latest foray into Palestinian state building as a betrayal of high minded ideals. Rarely in the history of nations does such a clarifying, unifying event take place. The vast majority of the Israeli public has reacted with outrage to the EU’s heavy-handed attempt to placate their Islamist masters.
Like free men and women everywhere, Israelis will not accept external ultimatums related to matters inside their country’s borders. This Israeli-Palestinian conflict can and will only be resolved via direct negotiations between the parties.

Germany backs away from EU settlement directives

In a statement issued by MP Philipp Missfedler, the Bundestag spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and its coalition partner the Bavarian Christian Social Union, he stated the guidelines are “pure ideology and symbolic politics” and will not contribute to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

EU should stand up to Hezbollah

On July 16, France 24 held a roundtable discussion on the topic “Has the West forgotten about Syria?” Around 5,000 people are dying each month in Syria in a conflict that has claimed more than 80,000 lives. The death tolls have only risen since Hezbollah decided to intervene fully in the conflict by committing large numbers of terrorists to fight in the Battle of Qusair on June 5. Now is the time, with Hezbollah increasingly involved in human rights abuses, for the EU to label the organization a terrorist group, thus cutting off its funding sources and ensuring that fewer Syrians die at its hands.
EU terrorism experts have been meeting in the past month Lebanon but also the region through its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal policies.

Inside Israel’s Preparation for the Next Hezbollah Conflict

Much has been written about the tunnels in Gaza where goods and weapons are smuggled into the Islamist enclave, but Cohen confirmed that Hezbollah also has a huge amount of tunnels leading from village houses, mosques, and other buildings, and often leading outside the village. Hezbollah fighters try to use these tunnels to emerge behind their attackers. The tunnels are often built with cement reinforcements – sometimes two meters high, allowing the terrorists to dash back and forth, emerging from unexpected angles, and often giving the impression there are more of them than is actually the case. Even the tunnels have been recreated in the mock village.

Hezbollah Defending Cannabis Fields against Rebel Takeover

Hezbollah owns vast areas of thousands of acres of cannabis, both in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon and in the Alawite areas in Syria, and this, according to the Arab news website Almokhtsar.com, is the main reason for their exceptional loyalty to the Assad regime this days, a loyalty that so far has cost them at least 100 casualties. The most important goal for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is to keep those billion dollar assets from falling into rebel hands.

Twitter Data Shows How U.S. and Europe Treat Online Anti-Semitism

Stern believes that it is generally “more effective to have hateful speech marginalized than censored,” particularly by having high-ranking officials or politicians call it out. In 2005, Stern was part of a debate in the U.S. between Jewish groups on the issue of anti-Semitism online. One school of thought was in favor of removing anti-Semitic content, the other side believed such content “is a way to train kids in this new medium,” on how to distinguish hateful speech from benign speech, he said.
The bigger problem, Stern said, is when anti-Semitism, online or otherwise, is expressed as normal, polite dinner conversation. “I’ll be less worried if it’s half a dozen neo-Nazis with tattoos sitting in a bar someplace,” he said.

Facebook Removes Page of Racist Hungarian Website After ADL Complaint, Replacement Page Posted Next Day

APF’s Bodnar said Kuruc is indicative of a greater problem in Hungary: “The quality of Hungarian public speech is deteriorating day by day. The anti-Semitic utterances in Parliament are the representatives of employers and with a proud voice, and you hear their racist, anti-Semitic speeches blight the public thinking, destroying the quality of public discourse.”

TAU Scientists Improve Transplants with a ‘Heart of Gold’

Scientists at Tel Aviv University are integrating cardiac cells with nanofibers made of gold particles to create engineered cardiac tissues for transplants and post-attack therapies.
Heart tissue cells cannot multiply or regenerate, and cardiac muscle contains few stem cells, making it impossible for the tissue to repair itself.

EcoStream beats boycotters

EcoStream, which sells SodaStream recyclable bottles made in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumim, is picketed every Saturday afternoon by anti-Israel activists.
But despite the protesters’ efforts, the shop has seen an increase in sales, expanded its product-line and this week launched its website.
EcoStream manager Steve Bannatyne said: “A few of weeks ago, we saw a 38 per cent increase in trade. And it’s stayed steady from there on.” (h/t Rabbi Andrea Zanardo)

Asian-American Congresswoman Meng Chides Asian Studies Organization for Adopting BDS Resolution

Meng told The Algemeiner in an email that she couldn’t sit by idly as the AAAS tried to harm Israel.
“This is an unprecedented action for an academic organization, let alone for an Asian American group, so I chose to voice opposition to it,” she said.
She added she has “always been sympathetic to Zionism,” and that a trip to Israel in 2010 “deepened my understanding of the Jewish state. It also provided context to what I already knew about the unique historical persecution of the Jewish people and the great achievements of the Jewish State.”

IDF Blog: Meet the Bedouin Soldier Who Enlisted in the IDF Against His Father’s Wishes

When Ibrahim graduated high school with honors, his father urged him to forgo on the army draft and direct his potential towards academic studies. When he enlisted regardless, his father banished him from the house. Now, upon completion of his officer’s course, Ibrahim describes the pride he holds for his country, the obligation he felt to enlist in the IDF, and the friends he met on his way to completing his dream of serving in the IDF.

Hamas terrorists mourn Helen Thomas

From Hamas' Qassam Brigades English website, in one of the rotating headlines:

They also proudly show the video where she recommends ethnically cleansing Jews from the Middle East. This is the "stand" they are referring to.

Al Ghad writes about Jordanian markets selling Israeli carrots, but labeling them as coming from Syria or Turkey.

"Citizens" complained of the presence of large amounts of Israeli carrots in the local vegetable markets since the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

They say that the sellers of vegetables hide the origin of the product, claiming that they are imported from Syria.

The article says that due to the reluctance of many Jordanian citizens to buy Israeli products those traders are resorting to removing the labels and putting them on display racks.

The article claims that Israel "flooded the markets" these carrots, which are of high quality.

The agriculture minister admits importing vegetables from Israel to meet demand as necessary, but insists that they do not originate in the territories.

(h/t Khaled Abu Toameh)

Hamas, complaining about "humanitarian disaster," asks Israel for more fuel

Here's an unusual article on Hamas' Qassam Brigades (English) website.

Instead of its usual Israel-bashing, Hamas is trying to arouse world opinion against Egypt's crackdown on smuggling tunnels, specifically fuel smuggling. (This article is not on their Arabic site, so this is only meant for English-speaking readers.)

The Gaza Strip is living a nightmare about a life-sapping blockade looming, with Egypt’s army having or destroyed or shut hundreds of underground border tunnels with Gaza, the lifeline for the Gazans after Hamas won 2006 elections, and the following Israeli border blockade.

The unraveling question haunting Gazans’ minds is whether Egypt’s political unrest would continue to affect their access to life basics, particularly fuel, which no longer could reach the Gaza tunnels.

Fuel shortages have seen Gaza environment, health, and transport sectors remarkably crippled, worsening the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 1.7 million used to opt for the cheaper Egyptian fuel. However, head of the government’s petroleum directorate Abdul Nasser Muahnna said last week “Gaza’s gas station syndicate which had reduced its dependency on Israeli supplies of fuel in the past, has now asked Israel for fuel provisions to head off the shortage,”

Remember, Egypt's fuel that was smuggled to Gaza was subsidized by Egypt for her own citizens, which then sold them to Gaza at a discount. Hamas is pretending that they have a right to subsidized fuel from Egypt that Egyptians themselves cannot spare.

For years, Israel has had capacity to pump more fuel into Gaza. Hamas had refused.

Now comes the sob story:

Gaza municipal councils announced a few days ago that the continued fuel crisis would affect vital sectors and subsequently cause an imminent humanitarian disaster.

Spokesman of the councils said that “since the power generators running the Gaza’s 57 sewage pumps highly depend on diesel fuel, it would not be working as far as the fuel crisis didn’t defuse,”

Moreover, water wells which amount to 190 and constitute Gazans’ main source of water for drinking, agricultural and domestic use basically depend on diesel-powered generators.

While solid waste collection services have also disrupted due to the flaring fuel problem. Head of Gaza Municipality’s Health and Environment Department Abdel Rahim Abu Qumbuz said that “50% of solid waste collection vehicles that transport more than 1,500 tons of waste daily from the neighborhoods and streets of the Gaza Strip to landfills have suspended work.

“The accumulated thousands of tons of harmful waste shall ensure spread of many infectious diseases provoked by rodents and flies,” he followed.

Minister of Local Government Mohammed al-Farra warned Thursday that an environmental disaster may surface in the near future as United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has recently stopped to sponsor Gaza municipal councils with diesel for waste collection vehicles.

Alongside the diesel fuel crisis that faced by the ministry, what is aggravating the problem, Al-Farra added, is that the International donors reneged on its commitment to supporting the hygiene sector, and halted its support for the drivers and street cleaners,.

“As an alternative to the diesel-powered vehicles, we’re seeking to recruit 1,000 cleaners provided that 50% of them have four-wheeled carts, in order that municipalities continue to work in raising the level of cleanliness in the Gaza Strip.

The health sector has been squarely affected by the fuel crisis. Ministry of Health warned against the acute shortage in the quantities of fuel to run the power generators supplying hospitals, blood banks, medical centers, public health laboratories in the Gaza Strip.

Spokesman of the ministry Ashraf al-Qidra said that “the overall health services are directly harmed by the current crisis; the public hospitals, medical clinics, laboratories and blood banks need a monthly amount of nearly 10,000 liters of diesel to run, a monthly of 150,000 liters of gasoline to run transport vehicles, ambulances,”

“We have rescheduled the movement of ambulances and transport services in general to be at the minimum and work only during emergencies; we are afraid of the consequences on the Palestinian patients if the crisis continued to exist, as there is 579 patients, including 15 children, with renal failure who undergo 1,800 dialysis sessions per week, 110 infants lying in incubators,” the official said.

Ministry of Transport and Communications said Tuesday “in light of the inaccessibility of petroleum products to the Gaza Strip through the border tunnels, more than 70,000 taxi drivers have been jobless,”

Spokesman of the ministry Khalil Zayan said at a press conference held Thursday in Gaza that “about 20,000 public service vehicles, and 30,000 private vehicles have been disrupted,”

The only fuel that Hamas has been getting regularly from Israel is cooking gas.

But as I have shown, Israel had provided diesel for their fuel plants in the past. Hamas regularly manipulates the amount of fuel arriving from Israel to create these regular "humanitarian crises".

Hamas can find the money for importing rockets, anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank weapons they can aim at schoolbuses. But to pay market rates for fuel is simply not acceptable for this terrorist organization that is holding 1.5 million people hostage.

There are some unusual countries participating in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

One is Morocco, which may be the first time an Arab country participated since 1935. They sent one athlete, a swimmer.

Turkey, on the other hand, sent 48 athletes, in swimming, futsal, basketball, table tennis, track & field, tennis and archery.

Other countries sending delegations where one would not expect to find Jewish athletes include Mauritius (with 4 athletes), Botswana, Guinea-Bissau (10 athletes), and Cuba with 55 participants.

UPDATE: Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan also have delegations (h/t Jean V)

Egypt restricts fishing boats next to Gaza. Guess why?

There have been years of negative articles about Israel restricting Gaza boats for security reasons.

Which makes this article from Ma'an so interesting:

Egypt has prohibited fishing off the coast of northern Sinai as a security measure to stop militants entering the peninsula by sea.

Egyptian security officials told Ma'an that the decision aims to prevent Palestinians and members of militant groups from entering Egyptian territory.

The ban will continue indefinitely, officials said, and will affect fishermen in El-Arish, Rafah and other northern coastal areas.

Since a crackdown on smuggling tunnels two months ago, people have increasingly begun entering Egypt using fishing boats, usually at night.

Egyptian coast guards recently intercepted a boat carrying 10 Palestinians, six of whom managed to escape.

Four of the men arrested were said to belong to a militant Jihadist group in Gaza, officials said.

Hold on - you mean that terrorists do use boats to try to move in and out of Gaza?

Who knew?

Apparently, Israel did - but you wouldn't know that from the NGOs slamming Israel for protecting itself off the coast of Gaza.

7/20 Links: Kerry’s Pyrrhic Victory, Haniyeh Loves Zionist Yogurt, Schindler’s List on eBay

From Ian:

The High Price of Kerry’s Pyrrhic Victory

As much as Israel wants and needs peace, the conflict is at a stage when the best can be hoped for is that it be managed in such a way as to minimize violence and encourage Palestinian development. Though Kerry is offering the PA lots of cash, there is little chance it will be used appropriately or get the desired result.
Next week’s talks may be heralded as an unprecedented opportunity for peace, but the odds are, we will look back on this moment the way we do foolhardy efforts such as President Clinton’s Camp David summit in 2000 that set the stage for a bloody intifada that cost the lives of over a thousand Jews and far more Palestinians. The agreement to talk about talking is a pyrrhic victory for Kerry. Those who cheer this effort should think hard about who will bear the responsibility for the bloodshed that could result from Kerry’s folly.

New Palestinian precondition: Airport in Ramallah

The sources added that the Palestinians' bid to increase tourism revenues would also apply to the Dead Sea, meaning that Israel would have to reassign lands under exclusive Israeli control (C) to lands under Israeli military control and Palestinian civil control (B), so as to allow Palestinians to build hotels on coast of the Dead Sea.
In the preliminary talks, the sources reported, the Palestinians further asked that Israel allow them to search for natural gas in front of Gaza shores in the strip's territorial waters.
Regarding additional issues, the Palestinians requested that they be granted more visas into and work permits in Israeli territories.

Hamas: No Negotiating with the 'Occupation'

"Hamas rejects Kerry's announcement of a return to talks and considers the Palestinian Authority's return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Friday, after Kerry announced at a press conference in Amman that negotiators from both sides will be meeting in Washington next week.

Senior Hamas Official: The Resistance Is Entitled To Attack Israel's Embassies, Interests, And Officials Worldwide – And The Interests Of Its Allies, Headed By The U.S.

In an article published July 16, 2013 on Felesteen ps, a website affiliated with Hamas, Hamas Refugee Affairs Department head Dr 'Issam 'Adwan argued that Hamas had the right to attack Israeli embassies and interests as well as senior Israeli officials anywhere in the world. He added that the resistance is also entitled to harm the interests of Israel's allies, headed by the U.S.
In his article, 'Adwan called for opening Hamas liaison offices in the Arab and Islamic countries "in order to recruit support, material and moral assistance, and even manpower assistance." Hinting at the Palestinian Authority, he stated that the resistance "has the right to smite with an iron fist any hand that seeks to rip apart the [Palestinian] people's unity and [cause it to] abandon its rights."

Lapid slams EU funding ban: ‘It will serve extremists’

Lapid went on to state that besides endangering the peace process, The EU’s motion would strengthen factions opposed to the Palestinian Authority and may even serve as a catalyst for terrorist activities against Israel.
“In one fell swoop, they have emboldened the extremists, allowing them to triumphantly claim to Mr. Abbas, ‘You see, we were right all along. You must not negotiate. We don’t have to do anything. The international community will do our job for us’,” the Finance Minister concluded.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Calls on World Trade Organization to Condemn EU ‘Earthquake’ Anti-Israel Directive

In a letter, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, called on WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, “to condemn the European Union for these discriminatory and anti free-trade measures against one of your member-states. Our Center urges the WTO to press Brussels to announce their cancellation forthwith.”
Samuels said this “is another building block of an EU discriminatory policy against the State of Israel.”

Danny Ayalon: An open letter to Her Excellency Angela Merkel

The fate of Europe, Israel and other Western democracies are intertwined in the common fight against international terrorism and extremism. We have always viewed Europe as a role model, objective and fair, that can bring both sides together, rather than driving them apart. Europe should encourage a peaceful solution and not perpetuate the conflict.
This unilateral and brutal move planned by the European Commission is not only morally unjust and politically illogical, but it undermines the trust and confidence of Israel in its allies in Europe.

Prominent Black Feminist Author Compares George Zimmerman to Che Guevara’s Killer

Walker posits that “if we are dealing with descendants of the Chitauri (See Credo Mutwa’s informative teaching on the subject of cold blooded reptilian ancestry of some humans) then we can expect more of what we are experiencing.”
To arrive at the suggestion that Zimmerman could potentially be grouped with the “cold blooded reptilian ancestry of some humans,” Walker points to Credo Mutwa, a South African shaman who claimed to be abducted by “reptile-like” alien creatures when he was looking for herbs in Zimbabwe.

The Christians who do not fit into the BBC’s Middle East narrative

Notably, the BBC only seems to recognize the existence of one genre of Palestinian Christian – the type involved in anti-Israel campaigning. The others – the ones who are persecuted by their fellow Palestinians – cannot rely on the BBC to tell their stories or grant exposure to their point of view. And there are other Middle East Christians ignored by the BBC too.
In the only country in the Middle East in which the Christian population is growing and thriving, a months-long story of persecution has been completely overlooked. A Greek Orthodox priest from Yafia, near Nazareth, has been threatened by his own church and subjected to incitement by Arab members of the ‘Balad’ party for supporting service in the Israeli army by Christian Israelis.

Alleged Islamic Jihad Terrorist Charged with Attempted Murder of Dozens of IDF Soldiers

Wael Abu Rida, accused of being a member of terror organization Islamic Jihad, was charged in a court in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba with scores of offenses, including attempted murder, belonging to a terrorist group and liaising with hostile foreign agents.
According to Channel 2, court documents also revealed Abu Rida is charged with attempted murder of dozens of IDF soldiers, training Palestinians to carry out suicide attacks, and obtaining anti-aircraft missiles he planned to use to shoot down IDF aircraft.

Israelly Cool: BDS Fail Of The Day

Chief Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh caught helping feed kids eating Zionist yogurt

Saudi Arabian Airlines Defends Discrimination Against Israelis

Two years ago, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) asked Delta Air Lines to end a 'Sky Team' alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines, saying it would lead to discriminatory practices against Jewish travelers. The request was made after it was reported that Jews and Israelis or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith would not be able to fly code-share flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under the partnership.
Delta later issued an official statement saying that it does not support discriminatory policies based on race, religion, gender, nationality, or age.

Atheist Group Seeks to Block Star of David on Holocaust Memorial

In a June 14 letter to Richard H. Finan, chairman of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, two FFRF officials said they have no objections to a Holocaust memorial at the statehouse, but claimed that the cut-out version of the six-pointed Star of David would be a violation of the separation of church and state as provided for in the Constitution.

Interview: The French ambassador who loves Israel

After seven years and two separate tours of duty in Israel – including four years as ambassador – Christophe Bigot will be returning to Paris next month to take up a senior appointment in his country’s Foreign Ministry.
For Bigot, Israel has been more than just another assignment. He has genuinely taken Israel into his heart.
Speaking of the relationship between France and Israel, he said: “Sometimes it can be passionate, but there is no indifference.

For First Time, Maccabiah Games Welcomes Cuban Delegation

In fact, there are 21 countries participating for the first time in this 19th Maccabiah, including newcomers such as Mongolia, Curaçao and Ecuador. But Cuba is especially notable because of previous restrictions set by the Communist regime running the small Caribbean island on citizens traveling abroad.
56 Jewish Cuban athletes and coaches from the nation’s roughly 1,500 Jews marched Thursday night in the Maccabiah’s opening ceremony, The Times reports.

Original Schindler’s List to be sold on eBay for $3 million

A list of names of 801 Jews rescued by German industrialist Oskar Schindler are set to be auctioned off on eBay.
The New York Post on Friday reported that the 14 pages containing the original Schindler’s List will be auctioned off Friday by California collectors Gary Zimet and Eric Gazin, who set the reserve price at $3 million but are hoping to sell it for $5 million.

7/19 Links Part 2: LATMA Flock Builder reports from the field, Burgas Terror Attack Anniversary

From Ian:

LATMA: Flock Builder reports from the field and Johan Phlegmat on the EU boycott

Palestinian minister afraid of Ramadan flirting:

The Palestinian Authority minister for religious affairs, Mahmoud al-Habbash, lashed out at his compatriots for preferring the bars and beaches of Tel Aviv to worshipful prayer. Habbash explained [Hebrew] to Israel’s Maariv newspaper:
“On the Ramadan holiday, when we’re supposed to be growing closer to Allah, they obtain permits [to enter Israel] and go to the beach to flirt with immodest women.”
“No one said it’s forbidden to go to the beach or on vacation. We believe it’s possible to pray, fast and believe in Allah while also living normal, enjoyable lives,” he said, but added a caveat: “Everything has a limit. It’s not written anywhere that young people in their 20s are allowed to take advantage of their freedom to go to the bars of Tel Aviv, to dance and drink, to go to the beach and flirt with Jewish or non-Jewish girls, and to do things they will later regret.”

Anne Bayefsky: Expect Samantha Power to continue Obama's disastrous U.N. policy

So where does Samantha Power fit in this sorry state of affairs? In general, Power will parrot the Obama/Rice mantra that it’s all about issuing in “a new era of engagement to the United Nations.”
In fact, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, Ben Rhodes informs us that Power has already been hard at work applying the “engagement” agenda. The specifics reveal a troubling record on Israel, a subject which has become a touchstone for her appointment.

"Antisemitic" British MP Disciplined over anti-Israel Tweet

But a spokesperson for Stand for Peace - a British counter-extremism group - told Arutz Sheva that the decision to suspend Ward "did not go far enough," noting that the period for which he will be "suspended" falls over the summer recess, when parliament is not in session.
"Time after time antisemites are using anti-Israel sentiment as a means to further their agenda. It is with dismay that we note the withdrawing the whip is for the summer recess only.
"If David Ward had made these comments about any other minority, I suspect he would have been expelled from the party."

Irwin Cotler: Why Hezbollah is a terrorist organization

As the late US senator Henry Jackson put it: “The idea that one person’s terrorist is another person’s ‘freedom fighter’ cannot be sanctioned. Freedom fighters don’t blow up buses containing noncombatants; terrorist murderers do. Freedom fighters don’t set out to capture and slaughter schoolchildren; terrorist murders do.... It is a disgrace that democracies would allow the treasured word ‘freedom’ to be associated with acts of terrorists.”
Simply put, and this is something that the EU must act upon, there must be a zero tolerance principle for transnational terrorism just as there is a zero tolerance principle for racism.

Dividing Hezbollah: Canada, Israel and US vs the EU

The rift between the full terror designation favored by the US, Canada, and Israel, and the opposition from the EU, will continue to be a source of friction for counterterrorism experts.
The game changer might very well be Hezbollah’s invasion of Syria to wipe out rebel forces seeking to overthrow the regime of President Bashar Assad. Hezbollah has stoked volatility in the region. Stability in the Middle East remains the chief priority for the EU.

Bulgaria calls for EU to blacklist Hezbollah

Bulgaria’s prime minister has called for a consensus decision by the EU on blacklisting Hezbollah’s military wing.
Speaking Thursday at a memorial ceremony for the victims of last year’s bomb attack at the Burgas airport, in which five Israeli tourists and a bus driver died, Plamen Oresharski said cooperation with all political parties in Lebanon should continue.

Bulgaria, Israel mark Burgas terror attack anniversary

The attack targeted 42 Israeli tourists, causing injuries to 32 people. Bulgaria’s former foreign minister Nikolay Mladenov, who navigated the diplomatic process surrounding the Burgas attack, told The Jerusalem Post that Europe must be “uncompromising” toward terrorists.
“Once it became apparent that people connected to Hezbollah’s military wing organized the attack at Sarafovo Airport, it became inevitable that sanctions will be put in place,” Mladenov wrote in an email.

IDF Blog: A Year after Burgas Tragedy, IDF Officer Remembers Helping Israeli Victims of Terror

One year ago today, a Hezbollah terrorist killed five Israelis and injured 32 others vacationing in the Bulgarian city of Burgas. As the tourists prepared to depart the airport for their hotel, a suicide bomber boarded their tour bus and detonated an explosive. Moments after learning of the attack, the Israel Air Force’s International Squadron deployed to Bulgaria to provide medical care to injured survivors.
The International Squadron, one of the IAF’s most distinguished units, flies missions overseas to provide humanitarian aid to countries requiring medical assistance. Special missions have taken the squadron across the globe – everywhere from Japan and Haiti to Ghana and Mexico. During last year’s rare emergency, the crew flew to a foreign country to care for their own.

Justice Elusive on the Anniversary of AMIA Bombing

Thursday marks the 19th anniversary of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded many more. What happened that day remains unresolved and Argentine Jewish officials spoke out against the government today for “dealing with Iran in ways they fear will only guarantee more impunity for those responsible,” according to the New York Times.

Nazi-themed cafe sparks uproar in Indonesia

Authorities in central Indonesia will ask a restaurant owner to explain his reasons for opening a Nazi-themed cafe that has sparked controversy among locals and tourists, an official said Thursday.
Soldatenkaffee includes a red wall of Nazi-related memorabilia, including a large flag with the swastika and a giant picture of Adolf Hitler. Its wait staff dresses in SS, or Schutzstaffel, military uniforms, and can be seen posing in front of the cafe on its Facebook page.

IRS in Court Friday, its Documents Prove Z STREET’s Claims

But the 14 IRS documents do reveal, and they do it categorically, and they constitute an admission on the part of the IRS, that the Service was looking at certain “Israel connected” organizations and making a distinction based upon the organization’s political/ideological viewpoint. And that is the very claim made by Z STREET in its lawsuit brought against the IRS in August, 2010, and in which there is a hearing in federal district court in Washington, D.C. this Friday.

New Book Reveals "Long Lost" Holocaust Films

Nearly a dozen “long-lost, rarely seen” Soviet films and scores of screenplays that were never produced about the persecution of Jews during World War II have been revived and are featured in “The Phantom Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and Jewish Catastrophe,” a new book released by Rutgers University Press this week.
“Those films have been pretty much just erased from history, really,” said the book’s author, Olga Gershenson, an associate professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Google Israel chief: Waze won't be the last Israeli acquisition

"I am sure that Waze will not be the last acquisition in Israel," said Google Israel, Africa and Greece managing director Meir Brand at the "Globes" MAD (Media Advertising Digital) conference in Tel Aviv today. "They should be saluted. It's an amazing company."
Asked whether Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) would acquire more Israeli companies, Brand said, "Even if I had the answer, I wouldn’t reply. Israel is incomparable outside of Silicon Valley. There's an amazing world of innovation here. Google likes working in this world."

Arab Valedictorian at Israel’s Technion University is a ‘Stereotype-Buster’

This year’s valedictorian at the Technion University, known as “the MIT of Israel,” would likely displease those intent on framing Israel in the most unflattering of terms, writes Diana Bletter for The Huffington Post.
That’s because the Valedictorian is an Islamic woman named Mais Ali-Saleh who grew up in a small Arab village outside of Nazareth, in Israel’s Galilee. (h/t Zvi)

Hurray! Pointless negotiations! (ElderToon)

YNet:

US State Secretary John Kerry announced an agreement has been reached on the resumption of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a press conference in Jordan's capital Amman, after a series of meetings in Jordan and Ramallah with Palestinian officials.

Tzipi Livni, the minister in charge of the negotiation on the Israeli side, the prime minister's emissary Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat are expected to meet in Washington as early as next week for the beginning of the talks.

Yay!

See also Barry Rubin, a little before this announcement.

Israel's 24-hour news network launches; Arabs notice

Al Arabiya has a story about its newest Middle East news competitor:

Israel’s first global 24-hour broadcaster seeks to challenge established global networks on Middle Eastern news and fight “negative” stereotypes about the Jewish state by airing programs simultaneously in Arabic, French and English.

The channel, which has 250 employees, including 150 journalists drawn mainly from the United States and Europe, is headquartered in Luxembourg with studios in the Israeli port city of Jaffa.

The I24 officially launched last Wednesday and is “the brainchild of former French diplomat Frank Melloul with financing from French-Israeli entrepreneur Patrick Drahi,” according to a report by ANSAmed, which is part of the Italian news agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.

Drahi is a Franco-Israeli businessman and telecommunications mogul.

“We want to add a new regional voice besides Al Jazeera, France24, the BBC and CNN,'” the report quoted Melloul as saying.

It remains unclear whether audiences, particularly in the Arab world, will tune in in large numbers to the Israeli channel.

Magda Abu-Fadil, a Lebanon-based media specialist and commentator, said local cable providers and even regional television satellites, such as Arabsat and Nilesat, are unlikely to carry Israel’s I24.

Abu-Fadil noted how in Lebanon some cable providers do not even carry channels belonging to rival political blocs, let alone carry a station that belongs to Israel.

Most Arab viewers who are interested in watching the channel may opt to watch it online, said Abu-Fadil.

..Israel’s I24 will reportedly receive no funding from the Israeli government and seeks to “debunk anti-Israeli prejudice by offering new perspectives,” according to ANSAmed.

A statement by I24 directors said the channel will not act as a “spokesman” for the Israeli government, according to the report.

The station hired Arab-Israeli reporters Suleiman a-Shafi and Lucy Ahrish who have experience in the Israeli commercial television networks.

ANSAmed quoted Shafi as saying that the station’s ambition “is to broaden the range of opinions and make room for human rights and positions both on the right and the left, as well as liberal ideas.”

I watched i24News for a while today. The production quality so far is about on par with what I would expect from a local news channel in a medium-sized market. There are lots of small mistakes, with the news presenters seeming hesitant, stuttering and a little lost at times. The graphics don't always match the story and I saw a misspelling in a caption.

In general, though, the content isn't bad, with interesting stories in the programs I watched. (There was a show called "Bloggers" scheduled for 5:10 PM Israel time today, but instead a show called "Defense" was shown.)

Unlike Jewish News 1, another 24-hour news channel, i24News is not aimed at Jews or even Zionists. Instead, it is meant to be watched by the world at large. As such it has many general programs on pop culture, high tech and so on.

All together, it is a worthy effort. I have no idea how it could possibly break even, but lets hope it survives.

Israel Academia Most Embarrassing Moment Contest 2013

Im Tirtzu put together a list of the worst examples of anti-Zionist activities in Israeli academia for people to vote on. Their sarcastic descriptions are well done. For example:

Story 1: Accepting the Other and the Different: ″No Entrance to Jews″, Tel Aviv UniversityOn a winter's night in January, ″Ikra″, Tel Aviv University’s enlightened student group held an event to award scholarships. Participating in the event was the deputy leader of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, who is known – as his religion requires – as a man of peace and love towards his fellow man, who, in a devout display of humanism, declared that Jews are ″fleas trying to harm Al-Aqsa″, and throughout an hour of pure, undiluted good will explained that Israel is ″a flea nesting in the body of the Islamic world and sucking its blood″. His great tolerance was even spread to the masses when he shared his message of solidarity with a police officer who came from Ethiopia: ″An Ethiopian-Negro police officer will not arrest a Muslim!″ Well, in preparation for the arrival of such a tolerant man of religion, Im Tirtzu members wished to see this humanist wonder with their own eyes. The members were overjoyed and filled with happiness and glee to discover that an atmosphere of equality had spread over the event: Jews were forbidden to enter.

Story 2: Award for Ideological Pluralism: Prof. Shifra Sagi and Prof. Hanna Yablonka, Ben-Gurion UniversityAgainst all odds, the administration at Ben-Gurion University invited MK Haneen Zoabi to appear at a convention titled ″Talks about being Israeli″. Her presence must have been extremely necessary, so much so that despite repeated requests, pleas and appeals from the audience, the administration proved admirably resistant. Indeed, how else can the subject of being Israeli be discussed without the official spokesperson of the position claiming that ″the Jewish people have no right to live safely in the State of Israel″? In a show of pluralistic solidarity, Prof. Shifra Sagi and Prof Hanna Yablonka praised the guest of honor for ″having the courage to come to the university″, and in a display of sheer, authentic, intellectual openness, it was made clear to students that whoever argues or responds to Mk Zoabi’s words would win a valuable prize: a special summons to the university’s discipline board.

Story 4: Award for Interdisciplinary Studies: Dr. Ma'ayan Agmon, School of Nursing and Nakba, Haifa UniversityThis year it was proven that one could get around the well- known saying ″there is nothing to revive because everything has already been revived″, an incredibly popular concept among nursing experts. In an amazing display of extraordinary control of current historiographical dialogue, Dr. Agmon succeeded in asserting the presence the paralyzed memory of the Nakba even in an intellectual field that until now was ruled by denial: Nursing studies. In her lessons in the course ″Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology″, for the first time in recorded science, Agmon compared the Jewish ″Holocaust″ and the Palestinian Nakba. Due to the fact that she was ahead of her time, Agmon was forced to spend the rest of the lecture trying to enlighten her reactionary students regarding the nature of the innovation: ″You need to accept that they also went through a holocaust, and you had better respect that″.

Story 5: Award for community involvement: Admissions Process in the Academy of Art and Design, BetzalelOn a spring day in Jerusalem, a young lady who wished to study in the Betzalel Academy of Art and Design arrived for an admissions interview, and who had prepared by learning the best classics in the history of art. However, the Betzalel Academy of Art and Design is not content with such technical and popular knowledge. After all, questions about art are so eighties. Instead of such vulgarity, the interviewer chose to discuss a heavyweight yet abstract concept in the field of the Philosophy of Art: ″Is the Gilo neighborhood part of Jerusalem?″ After the young interviewee composed her thoughts, she replied that indeed, it was. Of course, after such a serious mistake, the interviewer would have been remiss were she not to immediately and totally disqualify the interviewee from any contact whatsoever with any art studies in such an august institute as Betzalel.

Story 6: Award for Contribution to National Security: Hebrew University in JerusalemAfter security forces captured Adel Hadmi in 1992 and sentenced him to a prison sentence following his membership in a terror organization, the Shin Bet faced a hopeless situation. Indeed, they succeeded in capturing the dangerous terrorist, but something in his academic education was still missing. Thankfully, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem came to his aid, stepped up to face the national mission and accepted Hadmi to academic studies in the Chemistry Department. But the university insisted on shouldering even more of the burden. In 2002, already a doctoral student, and in accordance with the universal scientific ethos, Hadmi assisted in planning and organizing suicide bombings in Jerusalem. The scientific effort to blow up Jews was foiled thanks to the involvement of Zionist anti-scientific elements, and Hadmi was again forced to suspend his studies in favor of another visit to prison. It was only three years later when the scientist once again saw the light of freedom, and availed himself to diligently complete his scientific research on ″Throwing Compressed Nitroglycerin on Live Tissue″. It was only this past June when the security forces' anti-scientific farce was put on hold, and Adel Hadmi was finally granted the vaunted title of ″Doctor″.

Story 7: Solidarity and Coherence: Bala″d and Chadas″h operatives in Haifa UniversityMany Arab students in Haifa University are known as ″Peace, Love and Brotherhood″ activists. The majority of them, in solidarity with their Hamas brethren, chose to hold a moment of silence during Operation Pillar of Defense in memory of arch-terrorist Ahmed Jabari, the organization's former military commander. The students merely wished to express their ire over the Zionist aggressor's brazen interference with Hamas operatives' right to exercise their national culture - which included throwing exploding objects at Israeli citizens - and against the Zionists’ murderous terror operation that harmed the legitimate rights of many terrorists....

(h/t Uri)

7/19 Links Part 1: The PA Miss Another Opportunity, BSD Fails at TIAA-CREF Again, The Teachers of Hate

From Ian:

Analysis: PA’s hesitance to jump at Kerry deal reveals Arab League’s loss of clout

The well-intentioned Kerry invested a lot of time and effort getting the Arab League on board and behind his initiative. He invited representatives of that body to Washington in April and made much of their willingness to adjust their 2002 peace initiative to include “moderate” land swaps.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Kerry gambled, would only move if he had backing, and who better to give that backing than the 22-member Arab League.
But that was yesterday’s thinking, or rather thinking from the last decade.
The “Arab Spring,” and the convulsions shaking the Arab world, have stripped the Arab League of its power and influence.

‘Palestinians will resume talks if US specifies goal is state based on ’67 lines’

Channel 2 news said Thursday evening that the Palestinians were dismayed that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s current framework for talks did not specify negotiations on the basis of the pre-67 lines or require a settlement freeze. The report added, however, that a possible path of compromise could involve Kerry inviting the parties to talks on the basis of principles set out by the US but not necessarily accepted by the two sides.

Palestinian media: Most PLO factions oppose new talks

Most Palestinian factions oppose the resumption of negotiations with Israel under the conditions outlined by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Palestinian news sources reported Thursday evening.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas debriefed Palestinian factions belonging to the PLO in Ramallah, as well as Fatah’s Central Committee on the content of his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Amman Wednesday.

US bill threatens to cut PA funding if UN grants statehood

Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry can limit American funding if the PA doesn’t demonstrate “a firm commitment to peaceful co-existence with the State of Israel” or is not “taking appropriate measures to counter terrorism and terrorist financing in the West Bank and Gaza, including the dismantling of terrorist infrastructures, and is cooperating with appropriate Israeli and other appropriate security organizations.”
In addition, the bill puts new restrictions on aid if the Palestinians try to pursue actions against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

CAMERA: Teachers of Hate Obstruct Peace

The intoxicated anti-Zionist rants of Rachel Shabi

In addition to her dangerous flirtation with antisemitic narratives of so-called ‘Jewish Supremacism‘, the final passage represents the ultimate projection, and anti-Zionist leftist critics’ most pronounced deceit: their belief that they are uniquely equipped with the penetrating moral intelligence necessary to see through the racism which informs Israelis’ “belief” in their state’s moral advantages over reactionary Islamist extremists. Jewish anti-Zionist agitprop artists like Shabi, inebriated by post-colonial ideology, fancy themselves more sophisticated and politically enlightened than Israeli Jews, whose obtuse nationalism and ethnocentric loyalties, it is suggested, blind them to the dangerous folly of their path.

Misguided EU

Sites in Jerusalem’s Old City such as the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest place, would have to be recognized as territories not belonging to Israel.
The absurdity of the European position, and its complete failure to make distinctions based on demographics, religious significance – even Palestinian statements acknowledging that many Jewish neighborhoods built after 1967 in Jerusalem are here to stay – is made all the more untenable by the inclusion of the Golan Heights as territory illegally “occupied” by Israel.

EU restrictions will likely change nothing on the ground

“The European Union and its important members have been very careful not to invest or incentivize what they regard as Israeli settlements,” a senior Israel diplomat told JTA. “Territorial clauses exist in virtually all contracts between Israel and the union.”
The diplomat added, “This whole thing is much ado about nothing. I don’t know why they are making so much noise about it in Jerusalem.”
The Israeli outburst over the relatively marginal issue of grants is even more inexplicable considering the silence with which Netanyahu’s office has greeted similar and seemingly more consequential EU resolutions.

Gotta love that European Union

The EU is perfectly happy to continue lavishing funds on the most viciously anti-Israel “human rights” groups, including Al-Haq, LAW, Adallah, the Committee against House Demolitions, the Palestinian Jerusalem Media Communications Center (the PA’s main propaganda conduit to foreign journalists), and an outfit called the Middle East Center for Legal and Economic Research, which has received hundreds of thousands of euros “to identify and appraise Palestinian refugee real estate holdings in Israel.”
But don’t worry, the EU has crystal-clear ethical standards. It is determined not to indirectly fund any more scientific research or productive commercial activity by Israelis who live or work over the Green Line.

TIAA-CREF: Divestment from Israel Dismissed, Again

For the fourth year in a row, the TIAA-CREF Board refused to put divestment from Israel to a vote at its annual share holders’ meeting. TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization was supported by a recent ruling of the Securities and Exchange Commission in chosing not to plunge its four million investors into the controversial geopolitical issue of sovereignty of disputed areas in the West Bank/ Judea Samaria.

Gaza Terrorists Fire Two Rockets at Southern Israel

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired two Qassam rockets at southern Israel on Thursday evening.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m., residents of the Eshkol Regional Council heard the “Red Alert” siren, before the rockets exploded in the region.
The two rockets exploded in open areas, causing no physical injuries or damages.

Iron Dome battery deployed in Eilat

As tensions continued to rise in the Sinai Peninsula, the IDF on Friday deployed an Iron Dome air defense battery in Eilat, boosting the southern city’s protection for fear of rocket attacks.
The last-minute deployment was spurred by developments in Egypt, where the military continued its offensive against terrorist activities in the porous Sinai area, which borders the Gaza Strip.

Angry Refugees Tell Kerry: Impose No-Fly Zone

Angry refugees confronted US Secretary of State John Kerry during his landmark visit to the Zaatari camp in Jordan on Thursday, AFP reported.
The refugees demanded that Washington do more to end the war in Syria, and urged a no-fly zone to protect areas along the border and those held by rebel forces. (h/t MTB)

Russia eyeing Cyprus bases

RUSSIA appears to be inching closer to gaining a long-coveted military foothold in Cyprus, as the future of their naval port in Syria looks increasingly shaky.
The past fortnight has seen a surge in diplomatic activity between Nicosia and Moscow over Russian requests for military use of the Andreas Papandreou airbase in Paphos and Limassol port.

Cyprus to buy Israeli warships, reports local daily

The paper reports that the warships will cost 100 million euros, payable over a 17-year period. The agreement regarding purchase was taken during the term of the last government the paper adds.

"Khaybar" is a flop in the ratings

The number of articles in Arabic pushing "Khaybar" over the past couple of days made me wonder whether the producers were desperately trying to jack up the ratings of the expensive antisemitic series.

The Wall Street Journal seems to say that the series is not doing well against its competition. And in a series/soap opera like this, if people don't watch from the beginning, they aren't likely to pick up on it in the middle.

A traditional mainstay of Ramadan TV has been programming depicting Jews as hook-nosed spillers of blood who want to enslave the world, starting with Muslims. Perhaps most memorably, the 2001 Ramadan show "Faris Bila Jawad" (Horseman Without a Horse) told the story of Israel's founding as a nation on the premise that the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were real and not, as they were, a vicious anti-Semitic forgery by the Russian secret police.

This year, one Qatari-backed historical drama does fit that bigoted bill: "Khaybar"—airing on networks in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere—shows why a Jewish tribe in seventh-century Arabia deserved to be slaughtered by Muslims and recreates the carnage. Egyptian screenwriter Yusri al-Jundi made his feelings toward Jews clear when he told an Al Jazeera television interviewer: "The series shows how the Jews' . . . nature endures. Despite the fact that hundreds of years have passed, they still spread corruption wherever they live."

But early ratings show "Khaybar" to be a commercial flop, as well as an outlier. This year's most popular shows don't focus on an external enemy but on current intra-Arab issues.

The nightly comedy sitcom, "Abu Al Malayin" (Father of Millions), airing on the Saudi-backed network MBC1, is about two rich brothers' zany adventures in capitalism. In one episode, the siblings predict that the Arab revolutions will boost demand for "tools of repression," and start importing tear gas and police dogs. The brothers want to earn a bad reputation among Western human-rights groups, so that Arab states will be more likely to do business with them. When I asked screenwriter Khalaf al-Harbi why he thinks the show is a hit, he replied: "All year long Arabs have been crying—about Syria, about Iraq. They need to laugh more than ever."

...Part of the reason such programming is dominating the airwaves is that the Syrian TV industry, which has long been the source of the most anti-Semitic and politically toxic shows, has been virtually put out of commission by the civil war. Battle scenes in dramas like "Khaybar" are costly, and these days are difficult to shoot outdoors in Syria, where the other kind of shooting is rampant.

The Brotherhood, for its part, hasn't nurtured the creative talent necessary to staff its own ideological productions. One halting attempt was ridiculed by critics earlier this year for its conspicuous lack of female characters. Meanwhile, Shiite Hezbollah's annual TV epic spotlights a non-Jewish adversary this year—the Sunni Ottoman Empire—in an apparent nod to the region's sectarian strife. It hasn't attracted a substantial audience.

Shifting political circumstances have conspired to alter the menu of shows this season. But viewers' choices are a sign that Arabs may be eschewing the fixation on an external enemy in favor of more introspective, even self-critical fare—as well as plain old escapism.

It looks like the Arab world isn't in the mood to watch antisemitic historical series.

EU to decide Monday whether to blacklist (half of) Hizballah

From Now Lebanon:

European Union foreign ministers are set to decide Monday whether or not to add the military wing of Lebanon's Hezbollah to its black list of terrorist groups, diplomatic sources said Thursday.

A meeting of EU ambassadors broke up with no agreement on adding the powerful Shiite militia to the list as "a small number of member states" remained opposed, said an EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Ministers will discuss the issue on Monday," said the source, referring to scheduled talks in Brussels between the bloc's 28 foreign ministers.

Unanimity is required to add the Lebanese group to the dozen people and score of groups currently subject to an EU asset freeze -- including Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Colombia's FARC guerrillas.

Another diplomatic source told AFP that Ireland and Malta were holding out but that Austria appeared to have dropped objections to the push led by Britain, France and the Netherlands. The positions of the Czech Republic, which has changed government, and Slovakia were unclear.

"We are near a consensus," the source said.

This next sentence is telling:

Several countries have objected that it is difficult to separate Hezbollah's military and political wing, which is in government. They also fear destabilizing politically fragile Lebanon as the Syrian crisis across its border deteriorates.

Got that? Since it is obvious that Hezbollah is fully a terrorist organization, and that the distinction between "military" and "political" wings is nonsense, they are using that as a reason not to ban a terror group

Meanwhile, Lebanon is formally asking the EU not to place Hizballah on the terror list.

Lebanon President Michel Suleiman tasked caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to Ask the European Union not to name the Shiite militant Hezbollah group a terrorist organization.

The presidency described Hezbollah as “one of the main components of the Lebanese society.”

On Wednesday, Al-Arabiya reported that the EU is leaning towards “unanimously” approving putting the military wing of the Lebanese Shiite party on the international terrorist list , a move it has long avoided despite U.S pressure.

The move was bolstered by Germany’s policy change after long resisting calls to list Hezbollah for fear it could destabilize Lebanon.

Germany said it was pushed toward declaring Hezbollah a terror group by the 2012 attack in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in Bulgaria.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria’s interior minister said new evidence has bolstered its case implicating Hezbollah in the bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists, the bus driver and alleged attacker.

Now Lebanon has an excellent interactive web series that shows in detail Hizballah's terror activities worldwide.

Israel criticized - for allowing Palestinian Arabs to visit during Ramadan

If anyone has any doubt that hating Israel has nothing to do with any objective reality, check out this story from Ma'an:

Israel has granted thousands of Palestinians permits to enter Israel for the holy month of Ramadan, drawing shoppers away from West Bank markets, a Palestinian official said Thursday.

Palestinian youths were granted permits to enter Israel from Sunday to Thursday, but not on Fridays or Saturdays, even though worshipers seek to pray in Jerusalem on Fridays during the holy month.

West Bank markets have suffered as Palestinians head to Israel to go shopping.

Jamal Jawabreh, secretary-general of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the Palestinian economy was already suffering from a lack of liquidity, while salaries have dropped and the cost of living has increased.

Jawabreh said Israel was granting Palestinians access on all days except the days of prayer to encourage them to shop in Israel.

He said Israel was trying to counter its own deficit. The Chambers of Commerce has discussed the issue but is unable to stop Israel granting permits, he added.

Preventing PalArabs from entering Israel is a human rights crime. Allowing them to enter Israel is an economic crime.

The hypocrisy doesn't end there. From JPost:

A group of Palestinians from Ramallah and Jerusalem, along with Arab citizens of Israel from Haifa, Nazareth, Jaffa, and Acre have planned an awareness campaign to encourage Palestinians to buy from only Arab-owned shops. They are compiling a list of shops, restaurants and coffee-shops in Israel owned by Arab citizens of Israel.

A group member told The Media Line that they believe that Israel profits from the permits economically.

”The economy in the West Bank is very restricted and Israel decides what it allows into our markets,” Shoabi said. “With such a strong Israeli market and economy, it is already hard for our market to compete. So the least we can do is not help Israelis further especially in the holy month of Ramadan”, Shoaibi told The Media Line.

Aren't Arab Israelis - Israeli? Doesn't buying from them still help the Israeli economy?

What Shoabi is really saying is that they want to boycott Jews!

But those evil Jews have their own schemes to hurt the Palestinian Arabs:

“I heard that Israeli shops granted special discounts for West Bankers last year and I want to use them,” [Jamal] Diab said.

They are cunningly putting goods on sale to take advantage of the imprisoned Arabs!

Will the Israeli abuses never stop?

Oh, and how does Ma'an illustrate a story about Palestinian Arabs being allowed to enter Israel? Witha photo of the security barrier!