Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 21, 2015

09/21 Links Pt1: Poll: Most Palestinians don't support 2 states, Iran ups funding to Hezbollah and Hamas

From Ian:

Dr. Mordechai Kedar: Solving the Middle East's Problems

The seething mass of problems that plague the Middle East have destroyed the region's' social, economic, political and normative infrastructure, leading to the waves of emigration to Europe that we are now witnessing. During the twentieth century, Europe tried to solve the myriad cultural problems that beset the Middle East by creating the Modern Arab State, cloning the Nation-State it had invented and that suited Europe's cultural needs. The European-style Modern Arab State is a colossal failure, because the Arab population has a Middle Eastern culture, with problems that Europe knows nothing about – tribalism on the one hand, and violence, extremism and a lack of national consciousness on the other.
A striking example of an egregiously mistaken belief held by the West is the naïve and unfounded faith that democracy can flourish in the Middle East. Western democracy is based on a social order stemming from European culture: the belief in equality for all religions and ethnic groups, women's liberation, minority rights and freedom of expression and thought. Add to that the right to choose alternative lifestyles, along with freedom of religion and from religion, a ban on violence and free elections and you have a list that is almost totally foreign to the Middle East. Most of these freedoms are opposed to the spirit of Islam or to tribal culture, but Middle Eastern societies hold "free" elections to create the impression that they have become democracies, although they have not adopted any of the other characteristics of a democracy. Elections are an easily adopted mechanism, but the other elements of democracy are substantive and are therefore difficult, or impossible, to embed in the Middle East.
Today Europe is being punished by a wave of refugees for the sins it committed in the Middle East, those it perpetrated on purpose while taking advantage of the Arab rulers' dependency on the West, as well as those it committed unintentionally.
During this period of soul-searching it is important that the West internalize the reasons behind the troubles that have fallen upon the Middle East. It can then deal with them properly, put aside its own interests, and find solutions that can work in the region – starting with the dismantling of the existing, non-legitimate states and continuing with the establishment of emirates with homogeneous populations on the ruins of those failed states. The Gulf Emirates, with the exception of Bahrain, serve as the model of a type of regime that suits the cultural characteristics of the area and it is imperative that they become the model that is implemented when attempting to solve the problems of the Middle East.
Best wishes for a happy new year.

Poll: Majority of Palestinians want Abbas to resign, no longer support two-state solution

More than half of Palestinians no longer support a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, a survey released on Monday showed, rejecting the goal that has underpinned four decades of international diplomacy.
The poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, a leading research group in the Palestinian territories, found that 51 percent of Palestinians oppose the two-state solution while 48 percent support it.
The figures were down from 51 percent support and 48 percent opposition three months ago. The survey was carried out on 1,270 people in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza from Sept. 17-19.
The two-state solution - an independent Palestine existing side-by-side with Israel - has been the broad objective of negotiations since the mid-1970s and the overriding focus of U.S.-led diplomacy for the past 20 years.

Arab push to pressurise Israel thwarted at U.N. nuclear watchdog

An Arab bid to pressurise Israel over its assumed nuclear arsenal failed on Thursday after Washington and other powers united to reject it at the U.N. atomic watchdog's annual gathering.
The extent of the rejection - with a larger number of 'no's than a similar vote last year - will reassure Israel, whose relationship with the United States and other traditional allies has been strained by their support for a nuclear settlement with its enemy Iran.
The Israeli Prime Minister's office described the rejection of the motion - which called on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear weapons pact - as a "great victory" for its diplomatic efforts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told world leaders before the vote: "There is no room for a debate of this sort while the main problem in the Middle East is Iran's attempts to arm itself with nuclear weapons and its clear declarations of its intention to destroy the state of Israel."
Nineteen predominantly Arab states wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency's member states to express concern over Israel's nuclear capabilities, call on it to join the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have the agency regularly report on Israel's nuclear programme.

Eugene Kontorovich: Legislative history and Congress’s increasingly strong case vs. sanctions relief

In this post, I will discuss how the legislative history of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 adds significant support to arguments that the President has not complied with its terms, and that sanctions on Iran cannot be suspended until he does. I will also show how a provision of the statute previously not discussed in this context adds further support to the view that the so called “side deal” with the IAEA is part of the “deal.”
Congressional Standing
The legislative history provides some support to my characterization of the constitutional nature of the injury suffered by Congress – nullification of their ability to vote. As Rep. Sherman explained about the bill: “this bill gives us the chance to have the vote.” Precluding that chance sounds like “vote nullification” as required by the Supreme Court for legislative standing.

Palestine Today reports that there were riots today in the vicinity of the "Bilal bin Rabah mosque," which is in fact the new name given to Rachel's Tomb. Presumably the attackers were targeting Jews who wanted to visit the holy site ahead of Yom Kippur. I did not see any Israeli media write about this as of this writing.

There were also riots outside Joseph's Tomb last night, with 60 Arabs hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails and rolling burning tires at a group of Jews visiting the site. One soldier was injured.

But there have been other riots in Bethlehem over the past couple of days - against the PA. Arutz-7 reports:

In Bethlehem just south of the Israeli capital, Palestinian Authority police are facing protests for very a very different reason, as a viral video showing their far less reserved tactics in dealing with rioters provoked protests outside PA police headquarters in the city.

The video was taken on Friday, and shows PA police attempting to arrest a youth, who just moments before was involved in a violent protest in solidarity with Muslim violence in Jerusalem. When the suspect starts to struggle, the police simply shove him to the ground, at which point some half-dozen officers proceed to kick and beat him repeatedly.

After footage went viral on social media an angry protest outside Bethlehem's PA security headquarters ensued, with demonstrators branding PA leader Mahmoud Abbas as a "collaborator."

From the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem website:

Statement from the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem

We, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, wish to express our serious concern regarding recent violent development on Haram al Sharif.

We condemn all threats of change to historical (Status Quo) situation in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Haram Asharif) and its courtyard, all buildings, and in the city of Jerusalem. Any threat to its continuity and integrity could easily lead to unpredictable consequences which would be most unwelcome in the present delicate political climate.

Muslims have the right to free access and worship to the Al Aqsa Mosque.

There is a great importance of the custody of the Hashemite kingdom on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. We believe that all Holy Sites need constant watchful protection so that reasonable access to them can be maintained according to the prevailing Status Quo of all three Abrahamic faiths.

We renew our call that the existing agreed Status Quo governing these sites needs to be fully respected for the sake of the whole community.

The Heads of churches in Jerusalem
+Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
+Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarchate
+Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate
+Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land
+Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem
+Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate
+Archbishop Aba Embakob, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate
+Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarchate
+Archbishop Mosa El-Hage, Maronite Patriarchal Exarchate
+Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East
+Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
+Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate
+Msgr. Georges Dankaye’, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

When they say "status quo," what do they mean?

Every few years, the Muslims have been changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.

From the Jerusalem Post last year:

There has been so much rhetoric about the “status quo” on the Temple Mount – but which status quo are we discussing? That of 1967? 1996? 2000? 2003? 2010? 2014? Each year saw a change in the previously accepted status-quo. Recent news had photos of MK Ahmed Tibi flying a Palestinian flag on the Mount – that is certainly a change in the status quo, if not a political provocation.

So let us be clear – There has not been a steady, continuous status quo on the Mount since the Israeli victory in June 1967. Rather, there have been constant changes in the status quo from the Arab Muslim side, and a continuous erosion and retreat of Jewish presence and rights, aided and mistakenly abetted by the Chief Rabbinate and Israel Police in their quest to maintain what they define as properly religious behavior and public order.

From 1967 until September 2000, Jews went up freely to the Temple Mount with prayer books and prayed silently at will with no police check and no Wakf employees following them. I know because I was one of them. No police searched for prayer books and absolutely no one checked whether silent prayer was being uttered. Several groups of distinguished rabbis in groups of 10 prayed together on a monthly basis.

But this letter goes beyond demanding the "status quo" on the Temple Mount. It demands the "status quo" for Jerusalem itself.

By invoking Jordanian custody of all holy sites in Jerusalem, these Palestinian church leaders are including the Kotel! They make clear what their status quo is - to turn the clock back to 1966 when Jordan controlled the Old City and no Jews were allowed to visit - even as tourists.

And Jordanian custody of the holy sites is a myth.

The phrase "status quo" being used by these church leaders is a code-word for "no Jewish rights to their holy sites in the Old City."

By the way, the Temple Mount is sacred to Christians as well, but Muslims want it to be Muslim only. It is unclear what these official dhimmis would say if the site was closed to them as their Muslim masters would demand.

And while these church leaders fall over each other to ingratiate themselves to their Muslim masters, the Muslims are telling them to go to hell:

(h/t Irene)

Elliott Abrams on @StateDept whitewash of @UNRWA

I had missed this last week from Elliott Abrams at the Council on Foreign Relations

Here is what the Department had to say, in a tweet retweeted by Matt Lee of AP:

The role United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) plays in providing critical humanitarian assistance to more than 5 million Palestinian refugees is indispensable. All sides must respect the humanitarian role of UNRWA, and we expect UNRWA personnel to observe the strictest decorum and uphold its stated policy of neutrality so that it can carry out its critical mandate.

Our commitment to overseeing UNRWA’s neutrality is long-standing, and the State Department takes its responsibility for oversight of UNRWA very seriously. Our oversight is more than an annual checklist exercise; the State Department closely engages with UNRWA throughout the course of the year on all facets of UNRWA’s programs, including issues related to the neutrality of UNRWA staff, operations, and facilities.

We are aware the UNRWA is undertaking internal investigations into allegations that UNRWA staff posted discriminatory messages on social media accounts. We have asked UNRWA to keep the United States informed of the findings of its investigation.

For any additional details regarding investigations, we refer you to UNRWA.

This is an amazing statement.

First, it gives you its general take: UNRWA is “indispensable.” That gives a nice clue about where we’re heading here.

Then, State says it is deadly serious about oversight of UNRWA. It says this four times in this short tweet: we expect UNRWA personnel to behave, we are committed to overseeing UNRWA, we take this responsibility very seriously, and we closely engage with UNRWA all the time.

So what exactly is State doing now in the face of serious charges of anti-Semitic and violent statements by UNRWA officials? How will its oversight be exercised, given that we closely engage and that we take this responsibility so seriously? What happens now?

Nothing. Nothing at all. To be precise,”We have asked UNRWA to keep the United States informed of the findings of its investigation.” If there were any seriousness at State at all, there would at a minimum be a call for an independent investigation. Instead, State is entirely happy with whatever internal investigation–which will almost certainly be a cover up–UNRWA has in mind.

Proof of that is in the tweet’s last line: “For any additional details regarding investigations, we refer you to UNRWA.” In other words, don’t bother us again with this stuff. We’re busy. Go call UNRWA, and sign up for their tweets.

The message is clear: we do not want to hear about vicious anti-Semitic activity at UNRWA. Go away, or go tell UNRWA.

How about this for the statement of which State is incapable both in policy terms and because the Department cannot speak in English:

“If these charges are true this is disgusting anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric. It’s intolerable. We need to find someone independent who’ll look into it, doing a real investigation. Until that’s agreed, we’re suspending our flow of funds to UNRWA and we’re taking this up with Ban ki-Moon immediately. UNRWA provides some important services for Palestinians so let’s get this going fast.”

See here for recent, official Palestinian Authority support for rock throwing.

09/20 Links: Huge rock barely misses baby in car, PA and Fatah officials behind Jerusalem terror, anti-Israel rallies in Jordan

Links from EoZ as we anxiously await the return of the master Ian:

From Twitter:

#RocksKill: This huge rock was thrown through an Israeli family's car windshield today, narrowly missing the baby. pic.twitter.com/mgEXdGFcY9
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) September 20, 2015

The Israeli family's car windshield after the Palestinian rock attack this morning. Incredible nobody was killed. pic.twitter.com/7Q1JF9dgKG
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) September 20, 2015

Sorry, couldn't find an English-language news story about this as of this writing.

PA and Fatah officials behind Jerusalem terror

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah have been the driving force behind the ongoing riots in Jerusalem that peaked during the Jewish New Year with the murder of Alexander Levlovitch, whose car was hit by rocks thrown by Palestinians. Senior Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders close to Mahmoud Abbas have called for violence to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest religious site.
The following are some of these statements:
"Official Fatah Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan called on 'all Palestinian bodies and national and Islamic factions in all regions of the homeland to enlist and go to the areas of conflict in order to 'explode' in front of the occupier and its assistants because of its repeated actions and attacks against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].'

Why has the brutal beating of two Palestinian teens been ignored by the UK media?

A short video, filmed during clashes on Friday in Bethlehem, which shows PA security forces brutally beating Mahmoud Hamamra, 16, and his brother Ahmad Hamamra, 18, has gone viral within the Palestinian social media.
According to reports, after the beating seen in the clip, the two teens were then taken to a another location where they were again assaulted. Finally, they were taken to a police station where they were allegedly further brutalized. The brothers were reportedly hit with batons and cords, and punched and kicked by officers. PA police also reportedly used tasers all over their bodies. The older teen’s arm was broken as a result of the beating.
Thus far, the UK media has ignored the story.

Just imagine how much coverage the story would have received if, for example, the two Palestinian youths were beaten by Israeli forces.

Not only UK media - all Western media and "human rights" NGOs ignored this story.

‘Brazilian president rejects settler leader as Israeli envoy’

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has told Israel that she is unhappy with the appointment of former settler leader Dani Dayan as ambassador to her country, the Ynet news site reported Sunday.
Rousseff is worried that accepting Dayan as ambassador would be understood as support of Israeli settlements, the report said.
The communique reportedly came as part of back-channel messages between Rio de Janeiro and Jerusalem in an attempt to warn Prime Minister Netanyahu not to go ahead with the appointment. While the rejection of an ambassador by a host country is rare, governments sometimes encourage the withdrawal of certain appointments to avoid diplomatic confrontations.

Rouhani: Don't Take 'Death to America' Chants Personally

When Iranian crowds chant “Death to America” during rallies in Tehran, Americans shouldn’t take it personally, according to Iran's president Hassan Rouhani.
Speaking in an interview with 60 Minutes due to be broadcast on Sunday, Rouhani explained that the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran.
Despite the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, many in the United States are still convinced that Iran, which is ultimately led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains bent on their country's destruction.
Opponents have often cited the regular appearance of chanting anti-American crowds as evidence of Tehran's true intentions, but Rouhani attempted to reassure his CBS interviewer Steve Kroft and the wider audience.
"This slogan that is chanted is not a slogan against the American people. Our people respect the American people," he insisted, according to AFP.

Does the same apply to "Death to Israel?"

Sadly, I no longer read much fiction.

When I was a kid I sat up an entire night reading The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It was like watching a movie in my head long before Peter Jackson did his remarkable job with those films. The next morning I implored my parents to take me to the book store to pick up The Return of the King.

And while Dark Waters is, of course, no Lord of the Rings, it did manage to transport me into reading a book like I am watching a movie mode.

As a writer and blog-owner I am often offered advance copies of all sorts of books, both fiction and non-fiction... even graphic novels concerning the overthrow of Iran in Operation Ajax under Kermit Roosevelt, if you can imagine. My typical response to the agent is to say, "Sure. Send me what you have and I will take a look and if I have anything to say about it, I will do so."

Usually, I do not.

Dark Waters, by Chris Goff, however, is great fun. As someone stewed in the ongoing misery that is the Arab-Israel conflict, reading an action-packed thriller set in Israel was a welcome change of pace.

The reason that I agreed to do this review is because it is one of the first novels in a long time that has dragged me out of my historically-minded, sociologically-minded, politically-minded head for awhile in a work of fiction very much grounded in history, sociology, and politics.

Dark Waters is the first of Goff's Raisa Jordan novels.

Raisa, or Rae, is an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service in Israel endeavoring to protect American Judge Ben Taylor and his daughter, Lucy, from Palestinian terrorists intent on retrieving vital data for their operations in a cell phone they believe is accidentally held by the Judge and his daughter. The Israeli government wants Taylor and his daughter out of Israel, where they can be better protected in the United States. But Lucy is sick and Taylor is hell-bent on getting her the alternative medical procedure that he believes she must have to save her life and that means they must stay in Tel Aviv.

When I picked up Dark Waters one of my first thoughts was that this novel was going to make Alan Dershowitz jealous. Other than his support for an Obama second term, I have nothing against Dershowitz. On the contrary, I very much admire his stalwart support for the Jewish State of Israel, as well as his works of fiction, but his thrillers set in Israel have nothing on Chris Goff.

The book is taut and includes the character of Batya Ganani, a kick-ass ninja-like female Jewish Israeli operative that reminded me of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (Natalia Romanova) in Marvel's Avengers franchise... until Rae Jordan takes her down hard.

Ganani of Shabak is not Natalia Romanova, but I would not want to face her in a dark alley, either.

One thing that should be noted is the book's political balance. One of the difficulties that writers have, if they wish to write fiction set in Israel, is just how sensitive people can be on the topic... particularly among those of us who happen to be Jewish pro-Israel advocates.

Is she being fair to Israel? Is she being fair to the Jews? The IDF? This is treacherous ground, politically, and it takes a balanced writer to tread that ground if she is writing a thriller of international intrigue set in Israel. In my opinion Goff did a good job... which would probably indicate to my colleagues on the other side that this is a pro-Israel novel.

Well, it is a pro-Israel novel in the sense that Israel is not castigated, but it is certainly not an anti-Palestinian one, either.

At one point, early in the book, Goff refers to some in the IDF as something akin to "a pack of wolves."

If that sounds harsh, do not worry, it is. This is not a novel that sentimentalizes the Palestinian national movement, either. Quite the contrary. Nor is Goff a big fan of Neturei Karta, but who is?

The book, ultimately, is born from Goff's personal experience taking care of her own daughter in Israel.

As Goff wrote at Israel Thrives:

When I visited Israel in 2001, the circumstances were stressful. We were there getting alternative medical therapy for our eleven year-old daughter, who at the time was extremely sick. Originally there for six weeks, we ended up staying two months. Our time there served as the catalyst for my international thriller, DARK WATERS. As my daughter began to get stronger, we explored Tel Aviv, then moved outside to visit Haifa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Masada, Tiberias and the Dead Sea. Venturing out took a lot of resolve. In 2001, Israel experienced over 40 suicide bombings, including a car bombing in Tiberias involving a vehicle we had parked close to when visiting the marketplace that morning. It was the first time I had ever been afraid to leave the house, go to the movies, eat at a restaurant or ride a city bus.

But it was out of such experience that Dark Waters was eventually born. I will look forward to the next Raisa Jordan novel.

Michael Lumish is a blogger at the Israel Thrives blog as well as a regular contributor/blogger at Times of Israel and Jews Down Under.

Morning storming (video)

Palestine Today reports that

A group of settlers on Sunday stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the occupying forces.

Eyewitnesses reported that 43 settlers and an element of occupation intelligence stormed into the al-Aqsa mosque.

In the same context, Israeli occupation forces prevented women in front of the Chain Gate from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as they have been addressing and cheering at them.

So how do these Jews look as they are rampaging through the Al Aqsa Mosque with no women to stop them?

Here they are this morning:

Look how they are defiling the holy spot with their filthy feet!

UNRWA assistant director (and future leader) wants to ignite a new Intifada

Meet Reema Shalabi, an assistant director at UNRWA.

She passed an UNRWA course in "Leading for the Future:"

She is a big advocate of Palestinian kids having the "Right to Play:"

And here is the type of play she has in mind for teenage boys:

The text says "Ignite it and don't remain silent | #Third_Intifada"

Sounds like this UNRWA employee is advocating violence.

Since UNRWA claims to take these sorts of reports very seriously, and it would be hard to deny that Reema is an UNRWA employee this time, we'll see if anything is done about this.

Some of the previous postings I had found are no longer up on Facebook. Maybe the State Department message got UNRWA scared and they are considering my reports more "credible" than before.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

Abbas can say anything and the media will never criticize him (poster)

Why doesn't any reporter ever confront Mahmoud Abbas with his bigoted and often ridiculous statements?

Last year I published a list of questions reporters never asked Mahmoud Abbas:

1. What, specifically, have you done to prepare your people for peace with Israel?

2. Followup: Twenty years after Oslo, 60% of your people say the five year goal of the PA should be the destruction of Israel. Isn't this from your own state-run media and school curricula?

3. Why does the PA name institutions after terrorists who targeted innocent civilians? Isn't that inconsistent with the message you are giving to the West?

4. Why is there still daily incitement on PA TV against Israel?

5. Do you believe, as Arafat did, that there was never a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem? Do you realize that this position is at odds with what Muslims said openly before 1967?

6. Describe your position on "normalization" with Israelis today. Can Israeli pro-peace groups visit Ramallah? Would you allow an Palestinian-Israeli sports camp?

7. Why did you threaten your citizens who dared to shop in a Jewish-owned supermarket that has low prices?

8. Recently you said that you believe that the Holocaust occurred. You wrote a book that claimed that it was exaggerated.Were you lying then, or are you lying now?

9. Do you really believe that Jews are raising dogs and wild boars and training them to attack Arab farms, as you have stated?

10. Do you really believe that Hamas would accept Israel's existence if you reconcile with them? Do you believe that Hamas still subscribes to its charter? Why or why not?

11. As leader of Fatah, why do the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group still exist? How do they get funded? Why didn't you denounce their shooting hundreds of rockets to Israeli civilians? Aren't you against that?

12. If they do not report to you, then why do you not distance yourself from them? And why did you say they were dismantled when they clearly weren't? Why did you allow them to hold an armed parade recently in Ramallah?

13. Do you agree with the Fatah platform that terrorism is legal under international law?

14. Why does some 6% of the PA budget go towards terrorist prisoners and released terrorists?

15. Do you consider the Mufti of Jerusalem who collaborated with Hitler to be a hero?

16. If you are so interested in peace, why did you go out of your way to meet with child-murderer Samir Kuntar?

17. You have publicly praised terrorists released from Israeli prisons, even embracing murderers.How do you reconcile that with your claims to be against terror?

18. Why did you, in September 2014, praise a terrorist who targeted Jewish children at a circus?

19. What percentage of the PA budget goes, directly or indirectly, to Hamas?

20. Can you explain your statement in 2013 that "it's better [Syrian Palestinians] die in Syria than give up their right of return"? How many Syrian Palestinians have died because of that position?

21. Do you support the rights of Lebanese Palestinians, if they choose, to become citizens of Lebanon? Why or why not?

22. Why are there still Palestinian "refugee" camps in the West Bank? Do you not consider their residents to be full citizens of Palestine? Are you keeping them away from having permanent homes in your country for a reason?

23. In 1950, Israel told UNRWA that it would be insulted to have an outside organization be the primary support for refugees, and it mainstreamed Arabs into becoming full citizens within a couple of years, negating their need for perpetual UN support. Do you disagree with that sentiment?

We can add more:

24. Do you really believe that Israel has engaged in genocide in Gaza, as you claimed in 2014?
25. When you say you don't want Israelis on the Temple Mount, are you including Israeli Arabs or only Jews? Would you allow non-Israeli Jews to go to the Mount and silently pray? Why or why not?
26. Would you allow Jewish settlers to remain in their homes if they agree to become Palestinian citizens?

Mahmoud Abbas will be in New York to address the General assembly this month. At some point he will almost certainly meet with reporters. If the past is any guide, none of them will ask any of these questions, and instead toss him softballs to give him a reason to rail against Israel.

The fact that no one asks these questions reveals two things: Reporters are not interested in opposing the false meme of a moderate Abbas going against a hawkish Israeli government, and that they do next to no research on their own and rely on their own circle of other like-minded reporters as providing them with the only facts worth knowing.

Every question I wrote here is backed by research and facts. But you won't find most of them ever reported in the mainstream media.

And that is the real scandal.

09/19 Links: Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott (for now), more Palestinian attacks, Saudis to head UN human rights panel

A quick post-Shabbat linkdump from EoZ:

IDF strikes in Gaza after rocket fire

The IAF struck three terror targets in northern Gaza overnight as a direct response to the rocket fire emanating from the territory last night. Two rockets were fired from Gaza, with one being intercepted by the Iron Dome system which was recently deployed to south on the backdrop of tensions over Jerusalem.
One rocket fired from Gaza fell in an open area inside the city of Sderot in a residential area, damaging a bus and a home Friday night before a second round of code red sirens was heard in the south, this time in the city of Ashkelon.
One rocket were shot down over Ashkelon just after 11:30pm by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, just three hours after the rocket strike on Sderot.

Weekend sees violent escalation

The weekend after Rosh Hashanah was marred by violence in Israel, with riots in the Shuafat refugee camp and in the At-Tur and Issawiya neighborhoods, Molotov cocktails that wounded border police fighters in Jabel Mukaber, Palestinians wounded and arrested, another attack on the Jerusalem light rail, and rocket fire in the south. This is a still incomplete litany of the violent incidents that rocked Israel this weekend (Friday and Saturday).

Jewish Lives Matter: Obama & World Silent as PA's Abbas Calls for Murder of "Filthy" Jews

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is calling on President Obama and other world and Jewish leaders to forcefully condemn the Palestinian Authority (PA) dictator Mahmoud Abbas' call to murder "filthy" Jews and "filthy" Christians to prevent them from "defiling" the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which are the holiest places in the Jewish and the Christians faiths). Abbas promised that those who attack Jews and Christians would be martyrs who will go to paradise. This is an immoral Nazi - like outrage. Jewish and Christian lives matter.

Reykjavik mayor withdraws Israel boycott

The capital of Iceland's decision to ban Israeli products is to be withdrawn, Reykjavik Mayor Dagur Eggertsson told the Icelandic Broadcasting Service RÚV on Saturday, according to Iceland Magazine.
he magazine quoted Eggertsson: “Yes, the decision was poorly prepared. In the past I have taken great pride in preparing all big decisions thoroughly. I’ll admit here and now that I am angry with myself for not doing that, and for not having prepared the decision as well as I would have liked to. This was very unfortunate.”
While the statement may seem like backtracking, the magazine noted that the mayor intends to draft a new proposal that is more specific in its wording.
He earlier explained that he had intended to call for a boycott only of goods made by Israel in the Palestinian territories, not a blanket boycott of all Israeli goods.

Sabbatical salutations/administrivia/open thread

It has been a busy week as I tried to post an extra two articles a day while Ian is absent. It has been hard. (About six years ago I used to easily post as many as 11 articles a day. Then again, I did it all while at work. Don't tell my old boss that.)

Next week I will post my quarterly appeal for donations. If you want to beat the rush, feel free to donate now by clicking here:
Shabbat Shalom!

From Aaron Magid writing for Ma'an:

Born in Jordan, 27-year-old Muhammad’s life hardly resembles a typical Jordanian's. Lacking any political or civil rights, Muhammad explained that he is forbidden from working in most jobs, even a teacher at a public school. Muhammad faces these rigorous restrictions because his parents fled to Jordan from Gaza following the 1967 War.

“Compared to other Jordanian citizens, I am nothing,” explained Muhammad, who declined to provide his last name. Sadly, Muhammad’s predicament is not unique. Approximately 140,000 Palestinian refugees from Gaza live in a similar limbo as Muhammad in Jordan: denied most rights and often forced into a life of harsh poverty.

Nearly 2.1 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 350,000 Palestinians fled to Jordan with the majority moving to the West Bank, then controlled by the Hashemite Kingdom. The Nationality Law of 1954 provided Palestinian residents of the West Bank with full Jordanian citizenship after King Abdullah I annexed the West Bank on April 24, 1950. However, when the new wave of Palestinian refugees arrived in Jordan escaping from Gaza in the 1967 War, Amman treated them differently than their West Bank countrymen, refusing to provide them with Jordanian nationality or civil rights.

...According to an extensive report sponsored by the European Commission and Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Palestinian refugees from Gaza are three times more likely to suffer from dire poverty living on less than $1.25 per day.

In addition to the economic restrictions, refugees from Gaza enjoy no political rights. Unlike Palestinian refugees from the West Bank in 1948, 1967 refugees from Gaza cannot vote in Jordanian elections or serve in the parliament. Gazan refugees are provided with a two-year temporary passport, without a national number.

By the way - these Gazans in Jordan are not refugees by any definition. They left Gaza voluntarily after the Six Day War simply because they didn't want to live under Jewish rule. They were not expelled, their villages were not destroyed, and they were not fleeing for fear of persecution (except for those who had terror ties.)

What I don't know is why they cannot move back to Gaza. Israel couldn't stop them if they go through Egypt, but I don't know if Jordan would allow them to go to Egypt or if Egypt would allow them in to begin with.

Jordan also bars Syrian refugees of Palestinian origin from entering the country.

Interestingly, some Syrian refugees have moved into Gaza through the remaining smuggling tunnels.

Another UNRWA teacher with "kill the Jew" cartoon on Facebook

Last month I showed that UNRWA teacher Mohammed Abu Staita posted this antisemitic cartoon on his Facebook page with the word bubble saying "Oh, Muslim, Oh, Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."

He's not the only UNRWA employee who likes this cartoon.

UNRWA administrative assistant Basel Mohamed, who lives in Jerusalem, has the same cartoon on his Facebook page.

The cartoon is still on the other teacher's page, by the way.

9/18 links:Firebomb engulfs Israeli bus, Iran's 9/11 connection, Iceland FM denounces boycott

From Elder as we wait anxiously for Ian to fully recover:

Iceland’s Foreign Ministry renounces boycott on Israel

A day after the City Council in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, decided to impose a full boycott on Israeli products, the country’s Foreign Ministry clarified that it does not stand behind the local council’s decision. “The City Council’s decision does not represent Iceland’s relationship with Israel,” Iceland’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdóttir stated in a conversation with Channel 2 Online News.
“The City Council of Reykjavik is one of 74 local authorities in Iceland,” Gunnarsdóttir explained. “Like in other municipalities, the Reykjavik City Council is allowed to formulate a policy with regards to its local issues, including its purchasing policy, so long as it is in accordance with national legislation.”
The Spokeswoman added that the council’s decision “is not in line with Iceland’s foreign policy” and clarified that the capital’s decision should not be understood as a message to Israelis who wish to visit the country. “Israeli tourists and other visitors from Israel are of course welcome to Iceland, just as they have been up till now,” she explained.

Israeli bus set ablaze by firebomb

An Israeli bus was set on fire late Thursday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud after Palestinians hurled a firebomb at the vehicle, witnesses said.
Locals said that the bus went up in flames after youths targeted it while driving through the neighborhood. Israeli forces arrived in the area and cordoned off the scene of the incident.
Rocks were reportedly thrown at the vehicle before the firebomb, with no injuries reported.
Israeli media reported that the driver of the Egged bus was Palestinian, and fled the vehicle following the rock attacks.

Game-changer: Iran’s involvement with 9/11

The most remarkable aspect of this US surrender to Iran is that the Iranian regime is not some hypothetical threat. It has been perpetrating acts of war against Western interests for more than three decades – including playing a key role in the 9/11 attacks on America.
That’s not just my opinion. It’s the view of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In a judgment that has received virtually no attention, federal Judge George B. Daniels found in December 2011 that Iran, with the participation of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was directly and heavily involved in the 9/11 atrocities.
Some of the families of the 9/11 victims sought to enforce a measure of justice in the New York court against the atrocities’ perpetrators.
In 2011, Daniels agreed that Iran, Khamenei, former Iranian president Ali Rafsanjani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS), Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah and various Iranian government departments, government-owned companies and the central bank, had all provided direct and material aid and support to al-Qaida in carrying out the 9/11 attacks.

The Palestinians, 100 years of catastrophic mismanagement

It is 100 years since the Ottomans ruled the Middle East region, and today Israel is the single oasis of freedom in a bubbling regional mess. Anyone, who like I have, has grappled with the complex history of the Israel/Arab conflict, must have spent long periods attempting to unravel the events that were to bring about such suffering on both sides of the great divide. Like any journey in which the travellers become truly lost, there were many crossroads along the way, and some of the decisions made were to have a disastrous influence and carry long lasting irreversible consequences. The conflict as we know it today was not a forgone conclusion from the start, and given some strong and well-intended leadership, it could all have been very different. There have also been many ‘second chances’ , so these, in my opinion, are the 11 greatest mistakes made by the Arab leadership in and around Palestine.

PalArabs working in settlements increased over 61% since PA passed law AGAINST it

In 2010, the Palestinian Authority issued a law making it illegal for citizens to work in Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria.

I cannot find any statistics from before 2012, but in the first quarter of that year, 13,000 PA citizens were working in the settlements.

The latest report from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says:

The number of workers from the West Bank working in Israel and settlements is now 110,300 workers in the first quarter 2015 compared to 105,200 workers in the fourth quarter of 2014...

The number of employees in the Israeli settlements increased from 20,200 workers in the fourth quarter of 2014 to 20,900 workers in the first quarter 2015.

That is a 61% increase since the beginning of 2012, and the numbers since the law was enacted in 2010 are probably more dramatic - possibly as much as a 100% increase.

These are the highest numbers of both workers in Israel and in the settlements since the second intifada as far as I can tell.

The reason is easy to see. Israelis pay more than double the wages that Arabs do.

The report says that the average daily wage in the West Bank is 94.2 shekels, versus 196.4 shekels for those working for Israelis. And the ones in Israel average two fewer hours per week of work.

About one in nine West Bank workers is employed by an Israeli.

This means that close to 25% of all wages earned by West Bank Arabs comes from Israeli employers.

The boycott does not seem to be working very well. And if the law would be enforced against working in the settlements, the unemployment rate in the West Bank would rise by about two percentage points, which is significant.

The PA is trying to find Arab countries who can employ Palestinians, but with the wars in Yemen and Syria this is not working out too well for them either.

Blood libel, brought to you by Vodafone

Al Masalla bills itself as the first electronic travel and tourism portal in Arabic.

Based in Egypt, it has many articles about current travel news geared towards Arabs.

One of their major advertisers is Vodafone, with a header ad on every single page of the site.

Last year, the site featured a purely antisemitic article about "secrets of the Jews." It includes the classic blood libel, saying that Jews kill Christian children to bake both Passover matzoh and Purim pancakes with their blood to appease their god who demands gentile blood from them.

It also says that Jews are commanded to rape gentile women because they are considered animals, and lots of other lovely "secrets" of the same type.

And on top of that page is, again Vodafone.

The company might want to know that their name is being associated with Jew-hatred.

(h/t Shawarma News)

Poll indicates that J-Street Jews are JINOs (Jews In Name Only)

The American Jewish Committee just released a poll of US Jews' opinions on many subjects, including the Iran deal.

It finds that a small majority of American Jews support the deal, although those with strong opinions were far more against it:

Recently, the U.S., along with five other countries, reached a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Do you approve or disapprove of this agreement?

Approve strongly
Approve somewhat
Disapprove somewhat
Disapprove strongly 16.4
34.2
19.8
27.4

But when asked about specifics, practically none felt that the deal would do what J-Street claims it would do:

How confident are you that this agreement will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons?

11. Will Israel’s security be more threatened or less threatened by the Iran nuclear deal?

More Threatened
Less Threatened
Stay the same 42.8
17.9
37.8

12. How confident are you about the ability of the U.S. and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to monitor Iran’s compliance?

Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not so confident
Not at all confident 6.1
37.8
28.2
26.1

- See more at: http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=7oJILSPwFfJSG&b=8479755&ct=14759049#sthash.PgPHBBvQ.dpuf

Here's the interesting part, though.

Support for the deal plummets among Jews in direct proportion to how much they care about Judaism and Israel.

As the AJC press release says:

While 51 percent of total respondents approve of the deal and 47 percent disapprove, there is a significant split within the community on the issue: those who consider being Jewish very important, those who view caring about Israel as a key part of their Jewish identity, and those belonging to the traditional denominations of Judaism are far more likely to oppose the deal than others. It may, in fact, be appropriate, in light of the data, to speak of two diverging Jewish sub-communities.

Among those who consider their being Jewish “very” important, 61 percent disapprove of the agreement (37 percent “strongly”), while 38 percent approve it (12 percent “strongly”). In contrast, 55 percent of those for whom being Jewish is “fairly” important approve the deal (15 percent “strongly”), as do 59 percent of those for whom being Jewish is not important (22 percent “strongly”).

Similarly, a majority—54 percent—of those for whom caring about Israel is an important component of their Jewish identity disapprove of the deal, 19 percent “strongly,” while 66 percent of those for whom caring about Israel is not an important component agree with the deal, 27 percent “strongly.”

Fully 67 percent of Orthodox and Conservative Jews disapprove of the agreement, 45 percent “strongly.” Yet 54 percent of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews approve of it (19 percent “strongly”), as do 69 percent of those who identify as “just Jewish” (24 percent “strongly”).

Unfortunately, there are many more American Jews who are Jewishly ignorant than those who care about Judaism and Israel. 74% of those surveyed identified with being Reform, Reconstructionist or "just Jewish" - a plurality of 37% for the latter category. (While there are certainly some Reform Jews with strong Jewish identities, most Jews who know nothing about their religion but go to synagogue twice a year will self-identify as Reform.)

So this is how you can find absurd results like the responses to these two questions:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “The goal of the Arabs is not a peaceful two-state agreement with Israel, but rather the destruction of Israel.”

Agree
Disagree 73.1
25.1

Do you favor or oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state?

Favor
Oppose 51.9
46.1

How can this be reconciled? Because so many Jews don't care about Israel.

And those are the Jews who support the Iran deal.

When J-Street claims to be representing the majority of American Jews, they are still lying - as the poll shows, a plurality of American Jews feel that the deal is dangerous and practically none buy into J-Street's argument that the Iran deal is actually good. But the Jews who most strongly support the deal are the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel or Judaism - Jews In Name Only, or JINOs.

And the Jews who don't give a damn about Israel and Judaism - the ignorant Jews or the Jews who are hostile towards Israel - are the ones who support J-Street's positions.

Gulf News feature on Jerusalem filled with anti-Jewish lies

Gulf News created a slick, multimedia feature article about Jerusalem that is filled with absurd anti-Jewish lies.

Jerusalem was illegally annexed by Israel after it conquered the city in 1967. Almost 50 years later, the 350,000 Palestinian residents of Jerusalem still live under a brutal Israeli occupation that ignores their rights, and they have no realistic hope of any change.

They have every right to become Israeli citizens and enjoy the same rights as any other Israeli citizen. And many have done so.

The Israelis are strangling Jerusalem’s unique Arab culture which must rely on its own powerful heritage to give itself what strength it can find.

Um...no, they're not. Even the Israel Museum includes plenty about Muslim and Arab culture. Nothing is happening to jeopardize Muslim holy places.

Compare how a Muslim leader and a Christian leader refer to Jerusalem:

Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Shaikh Ekrima Sabri, agreed on the powerful spiritual importance of the city, when he told Gulf News that “Jerusalem is a spiritual and religious city. It is the site of the miracle of the Mi’raj which links Jerusalem to heaven and to Makkah”.

And Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Theophilos III of Jerusalem, also insisted that a formal inclusion of religion must be part of the eventual solution as he told Gulf News “We want Jerusalem to be a city for two peoples and three religions, and Jerusalem has enough room to accommodate everyone.

The only people who want to destroy the existing religious character of the city are the Muslims.

Al Buraq Wall
The foundation stones of the last Jewish temple built by Herod in 20 BC make up Al Buraq Wall, called the Western Wall or Kotel by the Jews. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and the huge stones visible today are the last remnants of the temple. As such they are a holy and venerated site for all Jews.

After 1967 when the Israelis captured the Old City, they bulldozed the houses nearby and forced the creation of the modern day plaza in front of the Wall. Al Haram Al Sharif is directly above Al Buraq Wall and the more extreme Jews believe that they have the right to intrude into Al Haram Al Sharif to prove their dominance over the Muslims. The Israeli police and authorities have permitted this activity despite it being illegal under international law.

Jews visiting their holy sites is actually protected under international law, not illegal.
Of course the article doesn't say that the Jewish Temples were on the Temple Mount.

In the chaotic days of 1,000 BC the Jewish tribes of Israel were split between the southern confederation of Judah based in Hebron, and the northern confederation of Israel based in Nablus. These two Jewish groups were divided by the pagan city of Jerusalem which was independent under its Jebusite rulers. King David reunited Israel and Judah but found it impossible to turn them into one nation until he conquered Jerusalem and established it as the new capital of the united Judah and Israel.

This is complete fiction. Judah and Israel were not separated in David's time.

The entire article is filled with similar falsehoods and exaggerations in an attempt to teach lies to their readers.

(h/t John G)

Imperial War Museum calls Jewish Brigade WWII soldiers "terrorists"

This is outrageous.

The Imperial War Museum describes the Jewish Brigades of World War II this way:

Terrorist activities: Men of the 1st Battalion, Jewish Brigade during a march past. The Jewish Brigade was formed in September 1944 and fought in Italy under the British Eighth Army. Many of its members went on to join the Haganah and other illegal formations.

That is how they describe the Jewish Brigades???

This is inexcusable. Nothing about how they were formed, how they trained, how they fought - just calling them future terrorists (and incidentally referring to the Haganah as an illegal organization, which it wasn't - at times it cooperated with the British.)

The IWM does have some interesting pages, though, like this photo of a menorah built for orphan children from a Sten gun and cartridges.