Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, December 21, 2017

12/21 Links Pt2: The 10 most insane UN anti-Israel actions of 2017; Is The Liberal Media Giving Linda Sarsour A Pass On A Sexual Assault Cover-Up?

From Ian:

UN defies Trump, rejects US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital by 128-9

Non-binding General Assembly motion brands US president's decision on holy city 'null and void'; US envoy Haley notes '65 countries refused to condemn the United States'
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday defied warnings from the United States and overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and calling on countries not to move their diplomatic missions to the city.

A total of 128 countries voted in favor of the text, defying the threats — that were forcefully reiterated in an address before the vote by US envoy Nikki Haley — to cut aid to countries that opposed the motion.

Nine countries — the US, Israel, Togo, Micronesia, Guatemala, Nauru, Palau, Marshall Islands and Honduras — voted against the resolution.

There were 35 abstentions, including a number of countries that had been widely expected to support the move, such as Colombia, Mexico, Malawi and Rwanda. A further 21 countries did not vote at all.

By abstaining, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Romania and the Czech Republic broke European Union consensus on the vote. The EU had previously vehemently rejected any attempt to change Jerusalem’s status in the absence of a final peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians.

Haley tweeted after the vote that “65 countries refused to condemn the United States” — totaling the no votes, the abstentions and the no-shows.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a video, that “Israel completely rejects this preposterous resolution. Jerusalem is our capital — always was, always will be.” However, he added, “I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theater of the absurd.” He thanked US President Donald Trump and Haley for their “stalwart defense” of Israel and the truth.

Full text of Nikki Haley’s speech to UN General Assembly on Jerusalem

.@dannydanon: “I am holding before you a coin. It says ‘Freedom of Zion’. If you check the envelopes on your desk, you will see I left one for each of you... These are the facts no one wants to hear.” pic.twitter.com/FjcxMF4QZo
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) December 21, 2017

Hillel Neuer: The 10 most insane UN anti-Israel actions of 2017

5. Dubravka Simonovic, the U.N. expert on violence against women, visited Israel and the territories and concluded: When Palestinian men beat their wives, it’s Israel’s fault.

UN Watch’s executive director took the floor to challenge the U.N. investigator’s report: “Why did you fail to mention that official Palestinian TV regularly broadcasts Islamic preachers who tell the people how to beat their wives?”

In reaction, the Egyptian chair of the meeting broke with parliamentary protocol: “I would like to say thank you, but I can’t,” said Ambassador Amr Ramadan. “Because I think that you need to respect this council more.”

4. In its ritual annual scapegoating of the Jewish state, the UN General Assembly adopted 20 one-sided resolutions against Israel—and only 6 resolutions on the rest of the world combined. Tomorrow, at an emergency meeting called by the Arab and Islamic states to condemn the United States over its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a 21st resolution will be adopted criticizing the Jewish state.

3. UNESCO negated its mandate to protect world heritage by adopting a resolution recognizing Hebron—second holiest city in Judaism because of the Tomb of the Patriarchs—as a Palestinian world heritage site.

UN Watch revealed that UNESCO had rejected its own experts’ advice, who opposed the Palestinian nomination on account of failing to properly recognize Hebron’s Jewish and Christian heritage.

2. UNRWA launched a global campaign showing the picture of an 11-year-old girl, “Aya from Gaza,” in a bombed-out building—portraying Israel as a cruel oppressor of Palestinian children—but UN Watch exposed it as a fraud: the photo was actually from Syria. The story went viral online. UNRWA suffered massive embarrassment, and was forced to remove the photo worldwide.

1. The office of U.N. human rights commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein spent the past year preparing to inflame the anti-Israel boycott campaign by drawing up a blacklist of companies that do business in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and other Jewish communities over the 1949 armistice line. The report is due to be submitted this month, and presented before the council in March. UN Watch will take the lead in countering the blacklist, what Nikki Haley this week called the “ugly creation” of the UNHRC.

Palestinian writer describes his people as "12 million intercontinental missiles"

Adnan al Sabah, who lives in Jenin, writes an article for the Arab Media Internet Network about what has worked for Palestinians and what hasn't, to figure out why they still haven't managed to make any progress.

He starts off his essay as if he might actually be saying something daring:

Why do we fight the largest military arsenal in the Middle East with worn or hand-made guns? In a century, we continue to offer victims after victims, and we are happy to present ourselves as champions and lovers of death. We speak with pride about victories here and there despite the enormity of the catastrophe and without shame either for ourselves or for the world around us.

So Sabah decides to look at the history of Palestinian "resistance" and see what lessons can be learned.

He starts with their first murderous rampage in 1920 and goes on from there, looking at the impotence of the murder sprees and terror attacks in 1921, 1929, 1936 and the more recent intifadas. Yet he despairs - why haven't these moves worked? And now, horror of horrors, Arab states no longer want to fight wars with Israel.

What to do?

Sabah says that all 12 million Palestinians must get off their seats and walk, "barechested," and overrrun Israel. After all, Israel cannot possibly kill 12 million people, right?

As he writes it, "How many people can [an Israeli soldier] kill before he is trampled by the masses of men, women, children and the elderly, sick, disabled, and old?"

Tellingly, he refers to all 12 million alleged Palestinians as "12 million intercontinental missiles." This is exactly how the Arab leaders have traditionally looked at Palestinians - not as people but as cannon fodder, as pawns who can be used for propaganda purposes against Israel. Certainly not as human beings with human rights, at least not under Arab rule.

Of course, the idea that Palestinians must compromise and make peace with Israel so these millions would not have to be human weapons never occurs to Sabah - nor does it occur, as far as I can tell from over a decade of reading Arabic media, does it ever occur to a single Palestinian Arab published writer in Arabic.

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The Obama-Hezbollah-Iran crime family (Vic Rosenthal)

A stunning investigative report by Josh Meyer in Politico has revealed that the Obama Administration interfered with and then shut down a campaign by the Drug Enforcement Agency and other law enforcement agencies against a billion-dollar drug and weapons trafficking empire run by Hezbollah, in order to keep from damaging relations with Iran.

The campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, was launched in 2008 after the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed evidence that Hezbollah had transformed itself from a Middle East-focused military and political organization into an international crime syndicate that some investigators believed was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapons trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities.

Over the next eight years, agents working out of a top-secret DEA facility in Chantilly, Virginia, used wiretaps, undercover operations and informants to map Hezbollah’s illicit networks, with the help of 30 U.S. and foreign security agencies.

They followed cocaine shipments, some from Latin America to West Africa and on to Europe and the Middle East, and others through Venezuela and Mexico to the United States. They tracked the river of dirty cash as it was laundered by, among other tactics, buying American used cars and shipping them to Africa. And with the help of some key cooperating witnesses, the agents traced the conspiracy, they believed, to the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran.

Sounds like precisely the sort of operation that the civilized world should be carrying out against those who want to destroy it. The administration apparently didn’t see it that way:

But as Project Cassandra reached higher into the hierarchy of the conspiracy, Obama administration officials threw an increasingly insurmountable series of roadblocks in its way, according to interviews with dozens of participants who in many cases spoke for the first time about events shrouded in secrecy, and a review of government documents and court records. When Project Cassandra leaders sought approval for some significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests and financial sanctions, officials at the Justice and Treasury departments delayed, hindered or rejected their requests.

The Justice Department declined requests by Project Cassandra and other authorities to file criminal charges against major players such as Hezbollah’s high-profile envoy to Iran, a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits, and a central player in a U.S.-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force. And the State Department rejected requests to lure high-value targets to countries where they could be arrested.

“This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision,” said David Asher, who helped establish and oversee Project Cassandra as a Defense Department illicit finance analyst. “They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down.”

The conjecture is that this was done in order to protect the developing nuclear deal with Iran:

Asher, for one, said Obama administration officials expressed concerns to him about alienating Tehran before, during and after the Iran nuclear deal negotiations. This was, he said, part of an effort to “defang, defund and undermine the investigations that were involving Iran and Hezbollah,” he said.

“The closer we got to the [Iran deal], the more these activities went away,” Asher said. “So much of the capability, whether it was special operations, whether it was law enforcement, whether it was [Treasury] designations — even the capacity, the personnel assigned to this mission — it was assiduously drained, almost to the last drop, by the end of the Obama administration.”

There is much more. The report is well-sourced and clearly documents a consistent policy to ignore criminal and terrorist activity by Iran’s Hezbollah proxy, doubtless in response to signals from Iran.

This policy will doubtless be justified by those responsible on the grounds that the Iranian nuclear deal was of such major importance to the US that nothing could be allowed to interfere with it – assuming that they are ever called on it, whichthe mainstream media doesn’t seem to be interested in doing (in the US, only Fox News and conservative media have covered it, at least so far).

The nuclear deal itself was the culmination of a process that started in 2006, when James Baker and Lee Hamilton, along with a young assistant named Ben Rhodes, who would later attain great influence as a foreign policy adviser and speechwriter for Barack Obama, produced the Iraq Study Commission report. The report advised persuading Israel to give the Golan heights to Syria and Judea and Samaria to the PLO, in return for which Iran and Syria would stop helping Iraqi insurgents kill Americans.

Although further developments showed the plan to be unworkable, Obama never gave up on the idea of “engagement” (that is, siding with) Iran in the maelstrom of Mideast conflicts. In the process, he prevented Israel from destroying Iran’s nuclear program and allowed Bashar al-Assad’s survival as Syrian ruler, as well as the entry of Russia as a major player in the Syrian conflict. The nuclear deal, rather than preventing Iran from developing deliverable nuclear weapons, actually facilitated its progress and protected it from interference by Israel or anyone else. As a side benefit, it freed up billions of dollars of Iranian money that had been embargoed after the 1979 revolution, and even paid additional hundreds of millions of dollars in cash as ransom for Americans being held in Iran.

Naturally, Iran immediately used its windfall to build up its armed proxies, Hezbollah and the Iraqi Shiite militias that have done much of the fighting in Syria on behalf of Assad. It strengthened its terrorist cells in South and Central America, and almost certainly in the heart of the US.

The imprimatur placed on the deal by the UN Security Council weakened the limitation on ballistic missile development formerly in place, and Iran is spending some of its gains on missiles that can reach most of Europe, and at some point, the USA. Iranians haven’t stopped chanting “death to America,” although now the “devil” they hate is Trump.

Obama’s was the most consistently anti-Israel administration since the founding of the state of Israel, considering the deliberate insults and provocations directed at Israel’s PM, its pressure to make dangerous concessions to the Palestinians with no reciprocity, its lack of support and even sabotage of Israel in her periodic conflicts with Hamas, its nuclear deal, and its lame-duck abstention on an anti-Israel Security Council resolution. But the administration’s spin machine argues that its policy is, in the final analysis, favorable to American interests.

It’s hard to see how. As time has passed and the weaknesses of the deal became more and more evident, as Iran has become more powerful and US influence in the region has waned, as direct threats to the US (both from Iran and from its ally North Korea) become more apparent, it is harder and harder to maintain this fiction. The revelations contained in the Politico report make it even more difficult than before. Hezbollah’s narco-terrorism has a dual purpose. It not only pays for its weapons and murderous activities, the drugs it sells rip at the fabric of our society.

I have an acquaintance, a sweet Jewish grandmother, who liked to post pictures of the Obamas on Facebook with comments about how much “class” they had. Once she even commented “I love my President!” and she would not listen to anything negative about him. She managed to “love” him while his policies were assisting terrorists who were killing Americans in Iraq and Jews in Israel. But those things were far away.

It would be interesting to ask how she feels about him having helped to bring drugs to her grandchildren’s schools.

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12/21 Links Pt1: Shapiro: Jerusalem Move Blows Up Mideast Myths; Lake: Nikki Haley Confronts the U.N.'s 'Jackals'; Bibi: UN is a 'House of Lies'

From Ian:

Ben Shapiro: Jerusalem Move Blows Up Mideast Myths

Recognizing this truth means setting a serious groundwork for peace. No divorce can be negotiated without a common frame of negotiable items. Jerusalem is not negotiable. End of story. Trump recognized that, and in doing so, he undermined the chief rationale driving Palestinian terrorism: the delusional hope that spilling enough blood would cause the West to push Israel into surrendering its spiritual and physical capital.

Trump’s move also fostered peace by formally recognizing that Israel’s new alliances with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia against Iran are more important than any religious dispute over Jerusalem. There have been no serious protests from any of those governments — each of which attacked Israel in 1948, 1967 and 1973. Those governments now recognize that Israel is an important strategic ally in the region.

The lack of blowback from Trump’s decision has left only two groups angry: Democrats and the media. Democrats are angry because they have been publicly humiliated: The Senate voted 90-0 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital not six months ago, and yet Democrats were now forced to denounce Trump for taking their words seriously. The media are angry because they have spent years building the myth that conflict in the Middle East centers on Israeli intransigence. Now it’s clear that it was Muslim intransigence all along that caused conflict, and that Muslim willingness to side with Israel against Iran supersedes religious conflict.

So, well done, President Trump. And thank you for speaking plain truth and acting bravely when most were willing to offer empty only verbiage backed by inaction and fear.

Eli Lake: Nikki Haley Confronts the U.N.'s 'Jackals'

When U.N. member states vote Thursday on a resolution condemning America's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Ambassador Nikki Haley will be watching. As she tweeted Tuesday, "The U.S. will be taking names."

President Donald Trump endorsed the threat Wednesday at the opening of a cabinet meeting, suggesting that countries that vote against the U.S. in the U.N. General Assembly will potentially lose foreign assistance.

It's easy to shrug off this bravado. The U.N. provides members with an accounting of all votes in the General Assembly, so there's no need to "take names." What's more, it's only a symbolic resolution. Haley vetoed a potentially substantive one on Monday at the U.N. Security Council.

But dismissing Haley's threat misses the significance of Trump's course correction at the United Nations. Trump's predecessor used the U.N. to validate American foreign policy. Barack Obama sought a Security Council resolution to intervene in Libya -- without bothering to get Congress to authorize that military action. And while he didn't end up going to the U.N. when a rampage of the Islamic State in 2014 led him to re-intervene in Iraq and Syria, Obama generally placed great weight on the U.N.'s approval of U.S. foreign policy. He loathed using America's veto to protect Israel from the inevitable one-sided pro-Palestinian resolutions that burble out of Turtle Bay.

When Obama's envoys did exercise that veto, the administration made sure to signal that it agreed with the principal of condemning Israeli settlements, but opposed the venue. Haley's predecessor, Samantha Power, finally did abstain from a resolution that declared East Jerusalem occupied territory a year ago. She did so -- to a standing ovation at the U.N. Security Council -- when Obama had less than a month left in office.

Trump Tells Countries Favoring U.N. Resolution Against His Jerusalem Decision: I’ll Cut Off Your Financial Aid

On Wednesday, President Trump, who absolutely refuses to be bullied by countries around the world that are vilifying him for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, struck back.

The U.N. General Assembly is holding an emergency session on Thursday that was requested by Arab and Muslim countries to vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump to rescind his decision.

Trump let them have it with both barrels, asserting, "They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care.”

On Monday, the 15-member U.N. Security Council voted on an Egyptian-drafted resolution that expressed "deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem." Only the U.S. voted against the resolution.

The five permanent members of the Security Council are the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, China, and the Russian Federation. The current non-permanent members are Bolivia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Sweden, Ukraine, and Uruguay.

Israel has never sat on the Security Council since it was established in 1946, while Iran, Cuba, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan have all had at least one turn.

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley issued a letter to dozens of U.N. states bluntly stating that Trump had asked her to "report back on those countries who voted against us."

Haley followed with a terse Twitter message: "The U.S. will be taking names."

Referencing tomorrow's UN vote criticizing the US embassy move. In the words of the President, "Let them vote against us, we'll save a lot." pic.twitter.com/eUGWD4cCBR
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) 20 December 2017

Palestinian minister slams US ‘threats’ ahead of UN Jerusalem vote

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki on Wednesday accused Washington of “threatening” member countries of the UN General Assembly ahead of a vote on rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Malki said American officials were “committing another mistake when they have distributed this famous letter trying to threaten countries, (and) threaten their sovereign decision to choose how to vote.”

He spoke at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Istanbul, shortly before both men left for New York.

On Tuesday, Nikki Haley, Washington’s UN envoy, warned countries that she would report back to US President Donald Trump with the names of those who supported a draft resolution rejecting the US recognition.

The UN General Assembly will hold an emergency session on Thursday to vote on the proposed measure, after the US vetoed a similar resolution for the Security Council.

“This is really a new definition of world order in politics and it seems that the American administration… are putting their stamp on a new political reality that many countries will reject,” Malki said.

Turkey and Yemen requested the urgent meeting on behalf of the Arab group of countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The two countries circulated a draft resolution on Tuesday that mirrors the vetoed measure, reaffirming that any decision on the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be rescinded.

Malki said the UN session would show “how many countries will opt to vote with their conscience.”

“They will vote for justice and they will vote in favor of that resolution that was presented by both Yemen and Turkey on behalf of the Arab group and OIC,” he said.

My American Hanukah’s were tainted by Christmas. Without even realizing it, the way my family celebrated Hanukah was a reflection, not of our Jewish holiday or it’s true meaning but rather of the holiday that our Christian friends and neighbors were celebrating.

The homes of our Christian friends were covered in Christmas decorations. Our home was covered in Hanukah decorations. They had snowflakes pasted on the windows and so did we. They had banners that said: “Merry Christmas”. We had banners that said “Happy Hanukah”. My Christian friends had presents under the Christmas tree. I had eight nights of presents (on the table). Their holiday was fun and so was mine.

And while I grew up understanding the concept of Christmas I don’t think I fully understood the concept of Hanukah. There is an almost unfathomable chasm between celebrating a great miracle that happened THERE and a great miracle that happened HERE.

My diaspora Hanukah vs my Israeli Hanukah illustrate how much influence Israel has on my Jewish identity.

While it is difficult to imagine living in the time of the Maccabees and being forced to bow down to Greek idols it is easy for me to identify with Jewish warriors who refuse to bend before the enemy. I don’t have to imagine them. I live with them.

In Israel my Hanukah celebrations are nothing like the celebrations of my American childhood.

While I still have the box of Hanukah decorations from the USA, I have not opened it in years. I once showed the kids the bizarre foreign dreidels that have the wrong letters on them – instead of saying what they had always seen, the letters that stand for “A great miracle happened HERE,” my American dreidels say “A great miracle happened THERE.”

In Israel kids have vacation from school during Hanukah but parents go to work. The holiday is celebrated in the evening, lighting candles together, eating traditional food. It is a time of joy, fun and games. At the same time, it is not the complete break from normal routine that other holidays are.

Hanukah is a holiday, a celebration of life, of faith, of tenacity and most of all – sovereignty. This is a holiday of the Nation of Israel, a celebration of a small indigenous people who managed to retake our land from a foreign occupying power much stronger than ourselves. This is a celebration in gratitude for the God of Israel who fought wars for our ancestors and created miracles for them.

In Israel this concept is not theoretical or something of a mythological past. It’s the reality we live every day, something that is very difficult to understand without actually experiencing.

I live in a neighborhood that is full of secular Jews (like myself). Every family celebrates the holiday in their own way but the celebrations are insular. Our neighborhood has much the same atmosphere as it always does.

In search for stronger experience of the Jewish side of Hanukah I took a walk through the Orthodox neighborhood of Haifa. There, the atmosphere was completely different.

As I walked down the street my nose was filled with the smell of cooking oil and potatoes. Latkes. In home after home mothers were cooking.

The sun had gone down but it was not yet completely dark. Window after window opened and fathers, surrounded by their children lit their Hanukiah. The quiet neighborhood was filled with the sound of small voices singing.

Maoz Tzur, is a song everyone sings after they light their Hanukiah. Very often secular families sing only the first verse. As I walked, I heard verses I had never heard sung before – they spoke of being saved from the soldiers of Pharaoh, being returned to Israel from exile in Babylon, of Haman who, instead of succeeding in his plot to have all the Jews in ancient Persia slaughtered was himself killed, of the oppression of the Greeks in the days of the Maccabees and of the miracle of Hanukah.

Not one miracle but countless miracles. Salvation from genocide not once but many, many times over. Coming back to our land not once, but again and again.

I walked past windows glowing with the lights of Hanukah. The lights remind us of the miracle of survival, of the light that should have gone out but didn’t. Jews around the world celebrate this miracle with the same ritual lights but there is something about celebrating in Israel that is different.

My Israel Hanukah has nothing to do with the holiday of my Christian friends and neighbors. It has everything to do with the land I am walking on.

Being alive, Jewish and free in our own land, the land of our ancestors, is nothing short of miraculous.

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Waqf reportedly stopped a Jew in Muslim disguise from entering Temple Mount

Arabic media are publishing this photo:

According to their reports, this is a "militant" Jew who tried to sneak onto the Temple Mount by walking in through the Cotton Merchants Gate. He dressed up as a Muslim.

The Waqf asked Israeli police to arrest the man. It is unclear if that happened.

The Islamic extremists who control the holiest site in Judaism are very concerned any time any Jew wants to peacefully visit. They congratulate themselves on stopping this person who apparently just wanted to visit without waiting in the long lines that are at the only gate where non-Muslims are allowed to enter at limited times.

The Waqf keeps statistics on Jewish "intrusions" on the Temple Mount, and according to them the number of Jewish visitors this year is 300% more than in 2015.

Yesterday, the Waqf counted 83 "settlers" who ascended to Judaism's holiest spot.

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Khalid bin Ahmed is the foreign minister of Bahrain.

Yesterday he tweeted, "It's not helpful to pick a fight with the USA over side issues while we together fight the clear and present danger of The Theo-Fascist Islamic republic."

This public breaking of the message of unity on Jerusalem that the Palestinian leaders have been carefully cultivating has caused great anger and much coverage in the Arabic media.

Ma'an's headline was probably accurate when it slightly changed his words to say that he meant that not only Jerusalem but "Palestine is a side issue" in the Arab world.

It is true. At the same time that Arab leaders will mouth their support for Palestinians in forums like the UN, when the West isn't the audience they have been signaling their impatience and apathy towards the issue for years.

We noticed this as far back as 2008, as the Arab world already then was reluctant to pay their pledges to the Palestinian Authority (holding back some $700 million!) because the Hamas/Fatah split proved that the Palestinians don't have their own act together.

When asked to protest against Israel, sure, the Palestinian factions can speak with a unified voice, but they have no unity outside of hate for Israel. They can't agree on anything - not even when to hold elections.

The Arab world, faced with threats like ISIS and Iran and Syria as well as internal threats, has no patience for Palestinians or their whining. The Gulf countries have been making their positions clear in their actions for quite a long time, and now they are starting to say the same things in English.

The Palestinians, drunk with how successful their UN initiatives are, are willfully blind towards this long term trend. And one day in the not too distant future, they will wonder whatever happened to their political power in the Arab world.

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Did Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh want to die so his family would get "martyr" money? (UPDATE)

In my previous post on the double-amputee Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh who was killed in Gaza last week, I quoted RT which interviewed the family:

The Palestinian’s brother told Ruptly that Thurayeh knew he would not be coming back from the protest alive. “Yesterday my brother said to me while he was eating dinner us: ‘Brother, forgive me. This is the last night you will see me. And you, my mother, forgive me, and you my sisters, you all forgive me...’
“He kissed the hand and the leg of my father and said to him: Father, forgive me. This is the last night you will see me, as I intend to be a martyr. I am bored of this life, I have no legs and I have nothing. I want to die and rest from life.”
His mother told Ruptly that her son wanted to “sacrifice himself for the homeland,” adding that “he has become a martyr.” His father said that his son died for Jerusalem.

So did he plan his own death - perhaps even at the hands of Hamas?

A couple of other pieces of information might indicate that martyrdom wasn't his main goal - providing for his family was.

Abu Thurayeh was profiled in a couple of Arabic media outlets two years ago.

Ibrahim is now washing cars, from his wheelchair, taking an hour to wash each car.

"I had to work to face the deteriorating reality of my family, despite the looks I get from neighbors and pedestrians," said Ibrahim, 27, to Watan. "I start my day from 9 am, go back late at night, and contribute to paying my university fees for my sister, in addition to the expenses of the house."

The Ibrahim family consists of a father with a disability, a mother who is sick with high blood pressure and diabetes, and two brothers and six sisters, one of whom is studying at the university, hoping to improve the family's living conditions after graduation.

Ibrahim hopes to find a girl who accepts marriage despite his health and life, and to become a family.

He also lives in a modest house in the Shati refugee camp (west of Gaza City). "I get paid 1,000 shekels a month, 700 of them for rent, and the rest will be paid for previous debts."

He felt he had to take care of his family, and he wasn't making nearly enough money washing cars.

Families of "martyrs" get about $1000 a month, or 3500 shekels. By getting killed, Abu Thurayeh is going to provide his family with 3.5 times the salary he made before his death.

That is a pretty powerful incentive, especially for someone who was depressed at not finding a wife and having no legs.

UPDATE: More evidence that Abu Thurayeh planned his death, from Mondoweiss:

The older bereaved brother, who took part in Ibrahim’s funeral, recalled for Mondoweiss their last conversation during breakfast last Wednesday. Ibrahim saw that the demonstrations were becoming deadly. “Mom, bro… please forgive me for any mistake I have ever did, I have lost my legs for my country and I think that is not enough, I must sacrifice my whole body for the sacrifice of the homeland,” Ibrahim said.

(h/t Adam L)

Also, keep in mind that according to his family, Abu Thurayeh went either every week or even every day to protest at the Gaza border. He obviously wasn't concerned that he was going to be shot and killed every other time. Only the day before he was actually killed did he express that desire.

So when his brother (in other interviews) points out that this is proof that Israel shoots disabled people...quite the contrary.

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12/20 Links Pt2: Author of pro-intifada kids' book says 'Christmas is a Palestinian festival'; BuzzFeed attempts to wave off Linda Sarsour accusations, but only raises more questions

From Ian:

Ex-professor who wrote pro-intifada kids' book says 'Christmas is a Palestinian festival'

A former Pace University history professor has come under fire for writing a children’s book that claims “Christmas is a Palestinian festival” and that Jesus was an Abrahamic prophet born in a Palestinian city.

Golbarg Bashi’s book “P is for Palestine” has been labeled an “incitement for terrorism” and “anti-Semitic propaganda.” But the author told Fox News it’s “a fun diverse children’s rhyme book” that “tells a social justice story about Palestinian history and culture through each letter of the English alphabet.”

Bashi, a “kids’ author committed to BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel) and empowering, diversifying kids media,” was heavily criticized for writing “I is for intifada” and calling intifada a “peaceful resistance.”

But B for Bethlehem, C for Christmas, and J for Jesus also raised some flags – for another reason.

“As I have said repeatedly, I believe it is very important for American, Mexican, Canadian, Central and South American, British, Swedish and children from any region and nation whose most important holiday is Christmas to know that Christmas is a Palestinian festival, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, an Abrahamic Prophet who was born in Bethlehem, a Palestinian City,” wrote Bashi.

IsraellyCool: JVP Holds Children’s Book Readings of Book Glorifying Terrorism

A few days ago, Jewish Voice for Peace held a special reading of P is for Palestine – the book glorifying palestinian terrorism – for children. And it was billed as a special Hanukkah event.

Delightful?! What the hell is wrong with them?

As a reminder, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the re-dedication of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem thousands of years ago. Hardly convenient to the “palestinian” narrative that this land belongs to them. But it just goes to show you how un-Jewish Jewish Voice for Peace truly is.

And unscrupulous. This was a reading for children.

BuzzFeed attempts to wave off Linda Sarsour accusations, but, if anything, it only raises more questions

Sarsour, who was running the Arab American Association, worked with Fathelbab, an Americorps employee who was placed with the organization and coordinated the youth program. That much was confirmed in the BuzzFeed article.

However, the stories begin to diverge as Sarsour retells her version of the events, who completely denied the accusations that she enabled sexual harassment or assault. She even presented affidavits, email correspondence, and witness statements that cast doubt on Fathelbab's version of events. Sarsour did not respond to requests for comment from both the Washington Examiner and the Daily Caller.

Majid Seif did live in the building that housed the Arab American Association, and often helped Fathelbab and AAA with Arabic translation or event planning. He denies any type of sexual misconduct with Fathelbab.

In an affidavit produced on Aug. 13, 2009, Sarsour defended Seif against the accusations Fathelbab was making and said it was she who was creating a hostile work environment. And, to Sarsour, the accusations that Fathelbab brought forward weren't as bad as what she told the Daily Caller.

“The exact words were, ‘He makes me feel uncomfortable,’” Sarsour recalled, who also denied that she ever body-shamed Fathelbab by asserting she as too fat to be the object of harassment. “There was nothing about touching or groping. There’s no evidence, no email she can pull out where she ever gave those claims to us.”

She continued. "This is character assassination. This is where we have to draw the line. I have two daughters. This is not the type of behavior I engage in."

The problem with Sarsour's defense is that one BuzzFeed article doesn't absolve her of any wrongdoing. It's certainly possible that Fathelbab exaggerated her version of events or even didn't tell the entire truth, but that doesn't discredit the idea that she could've been sexually harassed or assaulted. An affidavit saying that Sarsour defended Seif actually proves Fathelbab right, in that she took his side over his accuser's.

Islamic reform. Is it possible? Can Islam be the “religion of peace” some tell us it is, or is meant to be?

This idea is repugnant to many on the right. Small wonder what with radical Islam’s hold on the world, the rampant terror, terror that is too ugly to read, speak, or even think about much of the time.

Not to mention, terror, when it occurs, is almost invariably committed by Muslims.

None of this, however, precludes the possibility that a different Islam exists and can take hold, as long as we don’t squelch it with preconceived notions.

I had a dear friend, Robert Werdine, who was a devout Muslim, who saw me as the big sister he always wanted. He believed in Islamic reform. He was a brilliant scholar of history and of Islam and could have done great things with his life. Alas, he was not blessed with good health and died much too young of complications due to diabetes.

Whenever he landed in the hospital, and this was often, he’d insist his mother let me know he was okay, so I wouldn't worry. I was not surprised when his nephew, someone I’d never met, took the trouble to inform me, by private message, that Robert had died. He was thoughtful that way, always taking time to wish his Jewish friends a happy holiday before each and every Jewish festival.

I thank God/Allah for having met Robert, who defended me against the worst haters, who explained the other Islam to me—the one no one believes can exist—and who believed in Muslim coexistence with the Jews.

Robert not only believed this, but actively worked to spread these views, giving lessons to children in his local mosque, helping them to use their critical thinking skills and apply them toward the question of how Islam sees the Jews.

Robert told me that his great grandfather had been a sheikh in Lebanon who worked for coexistence with the local Jewish community. He also explained to me that Arabs were late to become literate, and that when they could finally read, the only religious tracts available for purchase were those commentaries written by awful, violent clerics. That is how this awful, violent form of Islam took hold.

Robert explained to me that where Islam speaks of Jews as “pigs and monkeys,” it is speaking only of those Jews who scorn their own religious tenets. Jews who turn away from the Torah.

The Jews are the People of the Book, and the Bani Isra’il, the Children of Israel. They have a right to their land. This is enshrined in Islamic religious texts, in the Quran. Islam, in this light, is pro-Israel.

As was Robert. To the bone.

Robert was well aware of the scam of the Arab “refugees” accusing Israel of occupation. He saw straight through Linda Sarsour and termed her “dreadful.” He hated the New York Times piece, Linda Sarsour Is a Brooklyn Homegirl in a Hijab, and called it “a fluff piece masquerading as an in depth profile.”

When Robert felt well, he’d send me brilliant pieces he’d written (apparently just for me), all footnoted and sourced, explaining Islam from its kinder, more peaceful perspective.

Here is what I learned: just as Judaism has different arbiters of the law, so does Islam (l'havdil).

And people can choose to follow a harsh taskmaster or a kind and merciful one.

There is no contradiction here.

The long pieces Robert wrote for my benefit were the reason we took our correspondence from Facebook private messaging to email correspondence. And that's when our friendship really bloomed and my understanding of Islam grew.

Yes. I have read the history books by Bat Ye’or. I am not ignorant of how Muslims treated the Jews in the past—making them wear bells, walk in the gutter, and wear two different shoes; making them pay tribute; raping them; kidnapping them; and stealing their homes, their land.

Yes. I know that Haj Amin El Husseini was in cahoots with Hitler. I know of the slaughter, prejudice, and maltreatment. Do you think that I and my family have been immune from first hand knowledge of such things?

But I also know that it doesn’t have to be this way. That Islam can coexist with Judaism. I know that because of Robert. I know that because of my work with Rabbi Avi Feld. I know it because of other friendships I have had with Muslims.

I know it because of clips like this that come out once in a blue moon.

I don’t care how many people tell me there is only this one, horrid Islam. I know otherwise. Because of my friend Robert.

And I don’t know why God didn’t bless him with good health, so that he might have amplified his views and his work. I don't know why he suffered so much, though he was such a thoroughly good person.

But I do know there is a bigger picture.

Perhaps the world wasn’t ready to believe what I believe: that there can be a different, kinder Islam. And so Robert died, his work unfinished, undone.

But whenever I despair, I think of Robert Werdine, of blessed memory, whose Arabic name was Sharif, and I believe, no I know, that things can and will be better.

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Gov't Clerks On Strike, No One Notices Difference In Service (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Jerusalem, December 20 - A strike among public-sector workers entered its fourth day today, but the public has not caught on because there appears to be no noticeable difference between the current availability of those workers and their availability on any other day.

Citizens lined up at the entrance to the Ministry of the Interior facility on Shlomtzion Street in the capital displayed no knowledge this morning that a work stoppage was in effect, as their inability to enter the reception area seemed identical to the situation when no such stoppage was taking place. Similar scenes developed around the country at National Insurance offices, public health care facilities, government ministries, and other public-sector institutions that typically handle large numbers of visitors seeking documentation or approval for procedures.

"Yeah, it's like this every day," lamented a visitor to a National Insurance branch in the southern coastal city of Ashdod. "You come here, you wait forever, and maybe, if the stars align just so, you get in that day. I guess today isn't that day." He betrayed no knowledge of a strike.

Some visitors had heard reports public sector workers were striking, but reported they were unable to confirm the reports firsthand. "I read it online somewhere, yeah," recalled a visitor to a Kupat Holim Klalit clinic in Beersheva. "But you never know with these reports - quite often the strike is called off at the last minute when an agreement is reached, and the strike wasn't the issue so much as the threat of a strike was. I've been waiting to get inside and take a number since six-thirty this morning, and it's only ten-thirty now, which is about par for the course. Maybe in a couple of hours I'll be able to discern whether there's a strike going on. Stay tuned, I guess."

Two factors compound the confusion, according to experts. "Some, but not all, sectors of the public are striking," noted Avi Nissencoreleone, director of the Histadrut, the country's largest labor union and a major force behind the current strike. "Public transportation is still operating, for example. So some people might not feel the impact as much as others do. Also, many government and public-sector employees find it difficult to transition from their routine stonewalling of citizens to the stonewalling that takes place as part of a strike. We're probably seeing some of the impact of those difficulties."

Similar episodes took place last year, when workers in the mail sorting and delivery departments of the Postal Authority went on strike, but no one noticed.

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12/20 Links Pt1: Murray: Europe's "Arab Street" Rises Up; n Dershowitz: The Conflict over Jerusalem Is ALL Obama's Fault

From Ian:

US says it’ll be ‘taking names’ of countries that oppose Jerusalem move at UN

United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the US will be “taking names” of countries that support a draft resolution rejecting President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, set for a General Assembly vote Thursday.

Turkey and Yemen requested the urgent meeting of the 193-nation forum on behalf of the Arab group of countries and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) after the US vetoed the measure in the Security Council. The two countries circulated a draft resolution that mirrors the vetoed measure, reaffirming that any decision on the status of Jerusalem has no legal effect and must be rescinded.

Egypt had put forward the draft, which was backed by all 14 other Security Council members in a vote on Monday. Like the Egyptian draft, the text before the assembly does not explicitly mention Trump’s decision but expresses “deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem.”

Haley reacted angrily to the move, tweeting, “On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”

In a letter sent to several UN ambassadors, Haley warned that she would report back to Trump on the countries that supported the draft resolution.

“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us,” she wrote. “We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”

Caroline Glick: The international community and the liberal media

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley glared at her colleagues at the UN Security Council Monday as she cast the lone nay vote against a draft resolution presented by Egypt to nullify US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Haley then berated her UN colleagues for their assault against US sovereignty and for their prolonged efforts to delegitimize Israel and blame the Jewish state for the absence of peace. In her words, “The United States refuses to accept the double standard that says we are not impartial when we stand by the will of the American people by moving our US embassy, but somehow the United Nations is a neutral party when it consistently singles out Israel for condemnation.”

The liberal media, led by The New York Times chastised her.

“Punctuating America’s increasing international isolation, the United Nations Security Council demanded on Monday that the Trump administration rescind its decisions to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to put the United States Embassy there,” the Times wrote in a purported news article.

While attacking Trump and Haley for isolating the US, the Times and its colleagues failed to explain what an international community-aligned US foreign policy looks like.

Notably, just such a policy and its consequences were the subject of a 15,000-word investigative report published Monday morning by Politico.

“The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook,” by Josh Meyer, detailed how in the interest of advancing a policy supported by the international community, then president Barack Obama imperiled US public health, national security and its allies.

As Meyer recalled, Obama entered office in 2009 promising to turn over a new leaf with Iran.

By promising to turn over a new leaf in US-Iran relations, Obama signaled his belief that the sorry state of those relations was America’s fault. Because if it wasn’t America’s fault, then no American president could change the situation.

Obama’s assumption was entirely wrong.

Douglas Murray: Europe's "Arab Street" Rises Up

It is now a fortnight since President Trump made his historic announcement about the status of Jerusalem. The speech which announced that America would drop the pretence that Jerusalem is not the capital of the State of Israel was relayed live around the world. Across the major networks and the world's front pages the response was almost unanimous. They proclaimed this a major foreign policy blunder which would lead to any number of problems including -- many predicted -- an immediate "third intifada."

The world's cameras immediately turned to Bethlehem where a small group of enterprising Palestinians burned an American flag for the cameras. This picture went around the world. Otherwise, not very much appeared to be happening. Hamas called for a "Day or Rage" -- as opposed to the days of peace and harmony the terrorist group ordinarily calls for -- but this did not spill out very far. The Friday immediately following the announcement might have been a flashpoint, tempers being famously frayed after the act of afternoon worship. And yet, as the BBC's veteran reporter Jeremy Bowen tweeted from the scene, "At Damascus Gate in Jerusalem press pack outnumbering demonstrators." The fabled "Arab Street" had been meant to rise up. And it did rise up. But not in the Arab world.

In London, the American Embassy was the scene of a protest called for by a number of prominent left-wing and Labour party activists as well as a some Muslim groups. The Labour MP Andy Slaughter was among those who addressed the crowds. This swiftly arranged protest soon degenerated into the usual anti-Semitic rally, with the crowds chanting "From the Rivers to the Sea Palestine will be free" (that is "There will be no Israel at all, not even a sliver of the land"). And the crowd also chanted "Khaybar Khaybar, ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad, sa yahud". That is, "Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning." For the crowd outside the American embassy in London, threatening Jews with the memory of the seventh century obliteration of a Jewish community near Medina was clearly an entirely appropriate move.

Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, a man carrying a Palestinian flag and wearing a keffiyah headed to a heavily Jewish quarter of the city. There he proceeded to smash in the windows of a kosher restaurant. The whole thing was caught on camera. Again it appeared to make perfect sense to the assailant. The American president recognised Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel and this man headed out to carry out a replay of Kristallnacht at a Jewish business on a Dutch street.

Daniel Seidemann’s “endless admiration” for Ahed Tamimi (Petra Marquardt-Bigman)

By Petra Marquardt-Bigman

Daniel Seidemann is the founder and director of the NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem (TJ), and TJ’s website describes him as a “world-renowned Jerusalem expert.” Seidemann’s NGO “works to identify and track the full spectrum of developments in Jerusalem that could impact either the political process or permanent status options, destabilize the city or spark violence, or create humanitarian crises.” TJ also claims to represent “a proud Jewish/Israeli voice.”

Yesterday, Seidemann announced on Twitter that he has “endless admiration for Ahed Tamimi;” he explained that she is “16 yrs old and under arrest for her courage in resisting occupation. A slap is not a war crime - we Israelis have ‘earned’ the right to be humiliated.”

How’s that for “a proud Jewish/Israeli voice”…

(Note: Ahed is 18, not 16 - EoZ)

You can watch Ahed Tamimi helping IDF soldiers get their Seidemann-declared “right to be humiliated” here.

Here's another more violent cut of the obstruction of the officer's execution of his duty. He had 2 options - field arrest, or arrest at a later date. He avoided the immediate viral provocation and chose to follow up later on. pic.twitter.com/TcmLdWsbId
— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) December 19, 2017

For some reason, the tweet showed up in my feed, and since I wasn’t aware of Seidemann’s awesome status as a “world-renowned Jerusalem expert,” I thought he might perhaps not know much about the background of the teenager for whom he professed “endless admiration.” So I responded by posting some of the facts about the Tamimis’ ardent Jew-hatred and support for terrorism that I’ve documented in great detail.

It didn’t take long for Seidemann to respond to me – by blocking me.

Unfortunately, I now can’t ask him anymore if this is also the modus operandi of his NGO: when you encounter facts you don’t like, you just block them and pretend they don’t exist.

I have no doubt that as a “world-renowned Jerusalem expert,” Seidemann knows very well that the Tamimis have been rooting for years for a “third intifada,” and that as far as they are concerned, the ultimate goal of this intifada is the end of Israel. As Ahed’s father Bassem Tamimi put it two years ago during a speaking tour in the US: “Israel is a big settlement” and “the problem is the ‘colonial project’ of Zionism.”

Moreover, as I’ve noted previously, if the “third intifada” the Tamimis have tried to incite for years “was brought about by knife-wielding Palestinian teenagers stabbing Jews on the streets of Israel’s cities, the Tamimis could see nothing wrong with that. They had always advocated the use of children in violent confrontations with the IDF, and now they were ready to hail teenaged terrorists as ‘heroes’ if they were arrested, and as ‘martyrs’ if they were killed while killing or trying to kill” — and often enough the Tamimis claimed at the same time that the “martyrs” they celebrated were innocent victims executed in cold blood by the evil Zionists.

Of course, Ahed Tamimi cannot be blamed for the way she was brought up, but by expressing “endless admiration for Ahed Tamimi” and applauding her attack on Israeli soldiers, Seidemann implicitly endorsed the vile views and the despicable conduct of her parents.

So let’s not forget that for Ahed’s mother Nariman Tamimi, her daughter’s aunt Ahlam Tamimi – who planned and facilitated the Sbarro bombing and was deliriously happy about the carnage it wrought – is not a terrorist, but an admirable rebel.

One thing is for sure: “world-renowned Jerusalem expert” Daniel Seidemann would be (rightly) horrified if a Jewish teenager was brought up with this kind of “values,” but the bigotry of lower expectations requires that he feels “endless admiration” for a Palestinian teenager who has been ruthlessly indoctrinated by her Jew-hating terror-loving parents.

(For more EoZ articles on Seidemann, see here and here.)

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