Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 28, 2011

Amnesty officially calls Turkel report a "whitewash" - with no proof

As a follow-up to this story I broke this morning, proving Amnesty's bias by condemning the Turkel Commission report before even reading it, Amnesty has written a more comprehensive critique of the Turkel report, this time explicitly calling it a "whitewash."

Of course, since Amnesty had already come to that conclusion before actually examining the report, we can rest assured that their objectivity in their analysis is equally flawed. Can it even enter one's mind that Amnesty would have issued a press release saying, "Sorry, we were wrong"?

And, of course, Amnesty's response falls short of proving anything close to what they are claiming:

Amnesty International has condemned the findings of an Israeli inquiry into last year’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla as a “whitewash” which failed to account for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals.

The published Turkel report indeed did not go into details on every death, and it explained why:

The detailed testimonies of the soldiers as well as their analysis can be found in an annex to the report. The Commission decided, while giving due consideration to article 539 A of the Military Justice Law 5715-1955, to privilege this annex pursuant to its authority under Article 11 to the Government’s decision of June 14, 2010, unless the government decides to lift this privilege. The Commission recommends that the Government will examine the possibility of making this annex public pursuant to its authority under law.

Amnesty seizes on this:

[The report] states that a detailed analysis of each incident, as well as the Israeli soldiers’ written testimonies on which this analysis was based, are contained in an unpublished annex to the report, which it recommends that the Israeli government “examine the possibility of making… public”. Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities to do so without delay, so that it can be read by independent parties.

If the Turkel commission itself is recommending that the annex be made public, how can Amnesty accuse it of a whitewash? Clearly the investigators wanted to make their methods and result be as transparent as possible, and the observers did get a chance to see their methods - and approved them.

The fundamental problem that Amnesty has is not with the report itself, though, but the framework:

Significantly, [the commission] chose to base its analysis of the lawfulness of the actions taken against those who resisted the boarding of the ship on international humanitarian law, which governs armed conflict and allows much greater latitude for the use of lethal force. Amnesty International categorically rejects the application of this legal framework to the events concerned.

But Turkel goes into great detail on why they chose to base the report on international humanitarian law rather than human rights law as Amnesty demands:

Although there are schools of thought that largely favor extensive applicability of human rights law, this approach is not universally accepted. For example, neither Israel nor the United States agrees with a broad extra-territorial application of human rights law.796 The issue of
whether, or the degree to which, there is extra-territorial application of human rights law is particularly relevant to the enforcement of the Gaza naval blockade on May 31, 2010, since it took place on the high seas, outside the territory of the Israeli State.

Recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the Case of Medvedyev and Others v. France 797 that the interception of a vessel on the high seas by a French warship in a counter-drug law enforcement operation did engage human rights jurisdiction after "full and exclusive control" over the ship had been established. However, the judgment does not clarify exactly when the French armed forces were considered to have obtained "full and exclusive control" of the ship, especially since the litigation did not center on the boarding and overtaking of the ship,
but rather on the arrest and confinement of the crew to their cabins for a period of 13 days during the transit to France.

In the case at hand, it is difficult to see how Israel could be considered to have had “full and exclusive control” prior to taking control of the bridge of the flotilla vessels and the subsequent cessation of resistance. Further, even if Israeli forces were considered to have had such control over the Mavi Marmara prior to taking control of the bridge, the actions of the Israeli forces would still be governed by the lex specialisof international humanitarian law since the enforcement of a blockade is not a law enforcement mission. Therefore, the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the Medvedyev case is of limited assistance in resolving the issue of extra-territorial application of human rights law during the enforcement of the Gaza blockade.

With respect to the enforcement of the blockade, the use of force is to be interpreted under the international humanitarian law framework,798 which permits attacks against combatants and civilians taking a direct part in hostilities. International humanitarian law is guided by the principle of distinction, which is an obligation to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants. A civilian is any person who is not defined as a "combatant."799 Civilians enjoy a general protection against the dangers arising from military operations.800 Hence, when attacking a military objective, the attacking party must take all feasible precautions to avoid incidental (collateral) injury and death to civilians.801 Further, the expected incidental harm caused to civilians by an attack must not be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated (the "principle of proportionality").802 Civilians shall not be
the object of an attack unless, and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.
803

Regarding the use of force, international humanitarian law treats combatants and civilians who take a direct part in hostilities differently than uninvolved civilians. Under international humanitarian law, the right to life is protected by prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks,
804 targeting individual civilians and the civilian population unless they take a direct part in
hostilities,805 causing superfluous or unnecessary suffering to combatants,806and targeting those who are hors de combat.807

This is only a part of Turkel's justification for the legal framework - arguments that Amnesty dismisses without putting forth any of its own legal arguments, effectively declaring Turkel wrong because they say so. In fact, Amnesty even goes into hyperbole, saying:

Effectively, the Commission argued that these activists could be shot dead lawfully whether or not they were posing a direct threat to the lives of IDF soldiers.

Turkel makes no such claim and his analysis of every bullet and paintball pellet shows that Amnesty's charge is baseless - if Turkel's frame of reference was that every IHH member could be killed legally, why bother investigating?

Amnesty throws in some more tendentious charges, such as that there is no evidence that Turkel had access to ballistics tests [there is no evidence that he didn't, either - must the report mention every activity done over five months?] all of which are designed to divert attention from the fact that the Turkel Commission's methods were transparent and observed by two highly qualified internationals who gave their unqualified stamp of approval on their methods.

Amnesty had a pre-determined idea of what the conclusion should be - that Israel was guilty - and no amount of evidence could ever change its mind. And as we saw, its conclusion really was pre-determined. As such, Amnesty's criticisms ring hollow, as an after-the-fact papering over of their own ignorance of the circumstances. Amnesty has proved its willingness to believe every piece of evidence that damns Israel and to question everything that exonerates her.

Some links for the weekend

Reuters Middle East Watch notes in which paragraph Reuters decides to put some context into a story.

Jonathan Tobin on why the Kadima peace talks failed.

MEMRI brings us a lovely Egyptian government newspaper item on when, exactly, the Jews will be destroyed. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Rick Richman on UNRWA in Gaza, echoing something I mentioned recently (h/t CHA)

A welcome development [pun intended] in Jerusalem on top of an old abandoned Arab village.

A joke from Conan O'Brien on Wednesday:

Egypt is in the second day of angry street protests. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for calm.

Because nothing calms an enraged Arab country like a powerful woman ordering it around.

There are protests in Turkey, too

Still against the government, but against Islamist influence:

Students demonstrating against Turkey's Islamist-rooted conservative government on Thursday clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara.

Police dispersed about 100 students in Ankara with tear gas and water cannon, with students responding by pelting police with stones.

There was a similar confrontation in Istanbul where police also used batons to clear the students, television footage showed.

The two demonstrations targeted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom the students accuse of refusing to engage in a dialogue with them.
Students in Turkey have been staging demonstrations since November when 18 were sentenced to 15-month suspended sentences for demonstrating against Erdogan in 2008.

Several of the protests have been put down violently by police.

Reports: Colombia will not recognize "Palestine"

Firas Press quotes Israeli radio as saying that Colombia will not follow other South American countries in recognizing "Palestine."

The report said that the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, assured a reporterat the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that his country would not recognize a Palestinian state.

The President of Colombia spoke about his strong ties with Israel in all areas.

The eight South American countries that have recognized "Palestine," either mentioning its borders or not, are Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Guyana, and Uruguay, and Peru.

Amnesty proves it cannot be unbiased - Malcolm Smart must be fired

My latest article at NewsReal shows that Amnesty does not even need inconvenient things like "facts" and "proof" before accusing Israel's Turkel Commission of a "whitewash."

One can argue that other accusations of bias have no solid proof. But a press release from Amnesty slamming the report before they even read it shows, beyond any doubt, that Amnesty has an anti-Israel agenda, and it casts doubt on the methods used in every report Amnesty has ever written.

Read the whole thing.

Latest Latma (1/28/11)

I like this one.

Egypt cuts off Internet, and more on Day 4 of riots

Round-up of news from Egypt:

The Egyptian government has ordered internet providers to shut down all international connections to the internet. Renesys, an American company that specializes in the analysis of internet data routing estimated the shut down on Friday was unprecedented in the history of internet. The four Egyptian service providers—Links Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt and Etisalat Misr—are for the moment off the air. The only exception to this block is Noor Group, which still is still providing all of its 83 live routes to its Egyptian customers. The reason why Noor Group has been immune to the block is unclear, but unconfirmed reports say it is because the provider is linked to the Egyptian stock market.

Every business, bank, internet cafe, website, school, embassy and government office in Egypt is now cut off from the rest of the world. The government’s shut down all internet routes has wiped the country from the global map, and all of Egypt’s internet addresses are unreachable worldwide. According to the Renesys website, the situation Egypt’s Internet is facing now is incomparable in scale to the modest manipulation that took place in Tunisia. At 12:34 AM local time, the US agency observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to the Egyptian networks in the internet’s global routine table. The agency wrote on its website that it worries about the consequences of the large-scale shut down on the credit markets and in the streets.
After participating in a public prayer with 2000 people, opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei and other protesters clashed with police in Giza.

ElBaradei and followers conducted the public prayer after finding Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen closed, according to Al Jazeera.

The controversial leader, who traveled to Egypt from Vienna Thursday, has offered to head an interim government.

Thousands of activists also clashed with security forces outside of Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo after Friday prayers, according to AFP.

Hundreds of security forces blocked traffic into downtown Tahrir Square, surrounding the area where 30,000 protesters gathered Tuesday to demand economic and political reform.

In a talk show on Thursday, prominent media personality Emad Adib said that a number of Egyptian businessmen had sent their money abroad after the eruption of Tuesday's anti-government demonstrations.

He also expected businessmen to leave the country and government officials to resign if the situation escalated.

In Suez, which has been ground zero for some of the most violent demonstrations, police fired tear gas at protesters who hurled stones and petrol bombs into the early hours of Friday. Fires burned in the street, filling the air with smoke.

The city fire station was ablaze. Waves of protesters charged towards a police station deep into the night. Demonstrators dragged away their wounded comrades into alleys.

At another rally near Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, police used tear gas to break up hundreds of protesters late at night. Cairo, normally vibrant on a Thursday night ahead of the weekend, was largely deserted, with shops and restaurants shut.

Curiously, I have been getting many hits, from IP addresses worldwide - but mostly from Germany - to my article from September about how Egyptian state media tried to smear ElBaradei by publishing photos from his daughter's Facebook page, with the photos. Hard to know whether the people coming are pro- or anti-ElBaradei.

Video of new tunnel that proves ancient Jewish connection to Temple

From Fox News:

I had read stories about the tunnel, but none emphasized that it proves the route of the main Jerusalem road at the time from the City of David to the Temple.

(h/t Solomonia)

Concordia U Jewish students terrorized (must see) (updated)

This is a chilling video. Although it was made some eight years ago, it appears that nothing has changed.

(h/t Elan Miller via Facebook)

UPDATE: The anti-Israel left, predictably, called the events here "Silencing pro-Palestinian voices." (h/t Ruthie)

Video of Arabs and leftists trying to provoke settlers

Today, near Susia, some Arabs brought their sheep over to graze in a field that belongs to Jews. They also brought along some anti-Israel activists, equipped with a video camera.

When the Jews asked them what was going on, the Arab women started to push the Jews. They targeted one Jew who was holding a stick, clearly hoping he would use it as a weapon. He didn't.

The Arabs were trying very hard to get the Jews to turn violent, but the Jews didn't even raise their voices.

And the leftists were videoing the entire incident.

Finally, frustrated, two Arabs threw stones directly at the Jews. One was injured.

When the police showed up, they arrested - the Jews!

But, luckily, the Jews also had a video camera as well and showed the police what really happened.

This was not the first time that this community was provoked to create an incident that the anti-Israel activists would use to prove that Jewish "settlers" are violent.

Here's the story in Hebrew, and the video.

(h/t O)

AFP's bias shines through

My latest article at NewsRealBlog fisks a single paragraph from an AFP story last week to show how biased the media is - even if it is subconscious.

Enjoy!

References:

Honest Reporting

Robin Shepherd

Protests continue in Egypt; new protests in Yemen; Jordan next?

Headlines from Al Masry al Youm:

Clashes between police and protestors left one civilian dead and a young girl injured in the town of Sheikh Zowayed in the Sinai peninsula.

As hundreds of protesters fought with police, Mohamed Atef was shot in the head. By the time he arrived at the Sheikh Zowayed hospital he was already dead, according to a medial source. (This is the seventh fatality during the protests - EoZ.)

Security forces arrested a 23-year-old woman in Assiut Thursday for defiling an image of President Hosni Mubarak in front of the governorate's headquarters.

Surrounded by hundreds of riot police, nearly 200 protesters rallied at the Journalists' Syndicate in downtown Cairo, demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

"The people want to topple the regime!", and "Mubarak, Get lost!" were among the slogans chanted by protesters.

And in Yemen:

Two days after Yemen’s political opposition called for a national uprising against the leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the capital city of Sanaa, calling for the removal of what they view as a persistently corrupt regime.

A crowd of men, wearing pink bandanas in support of Tunisia’s recent revolution, flooded the streets in four different locations in Sanaa. They waved Yemen’s red, white, and black flag and carried posters that read, “We’ve had enough suppression," "We’ve had enough corruption,” and “We are next” – written above a picture of the Tunisian flag.

“I am here today to express that we need a change in the president, that we refuse corruption, and that we are against constitutional changes that will allow the president to be president for life,” says Ali Al Hossany, an employee at Yemen’s education ministry.

And from the MEMRI blog:

The alliance of leftist and nationalist elements in Jordan, which is leading the demonstrations against price increases in the country for the past two weeks, has called on residents to participate in marches tomorrow, January 28, with the aim of bringing down the government.

Wikileaks adds some support to "Palestine Papers"

From a Wikileaks cable, July 2008, at the height of the negotiations between Kadima and Fatah that have been discussed in the "Palestine Papers:"

Saeb Erekat said the GOI and PA are working on all permanent status issues, noting that the two sides “are farther along than we were at Camp David or at Taba.” He said the negotiators will need President Abbas and PM Olmert to “make the hard political decisions.”

Erekat said the PA is committed to finishing a permanent status framework, defining solutions to all permanent status issues, by the end of 2008. He said he is committed to meeting Israeli security requirements, but wants to do so through a mutually-agreed third-party security force rather than an Israeli military presence in the future Palestinian state.

This is entirely consistent with what we have read in the parts of the "Palestine Papers" we've seen. It indicates that both sides were more flexible than they were in 2001.

The highlighted part hints at an intriguing idea: Mahmoud Abbas may have been purposefully kept out of the loop of the negotiations, allowing the PA negotiators a lot of latitude to find common ground but keeping plausible deniability and veto power if necessary. In this way he could maintain his public rejectionist rhetoric.

In that same cable we also see that

Fayyad said the PA feels unsupported by Arab states, despite their favorable rhetoric.

I've pointed this out for years - the Arab leaders' support for "Palestine" has never been sincere but largely rhetorical. This has only escalated since the Fatah/Hamas split, which Fayyad also touched on:

He argued that unless the PA regains control of Gaza’s crossings, “Gaza will be gone forever.”

Morning links

The Honest Reporting blog notes how the Guardian is pining for the good old days when Arafat was at his peak.

JCPA has an analysis of Al Jazeera's agenda in releasing the "Palestine Papers."

Yaacov Lozowick has an interesting "only in Jerusalem" anecdote.

Treppenwitz adds up what he is seeing in Lebanon, Egypt, and the PA, and it does not add up to good news for his little part of the world.

Robin Shepherd says "I told you so."

Al Jazeera continues to allege facts that aren't in the PalPapers

Whether or not the "Palestine Papers" truthfully reflect what happened in closed-door negotiations, what is clear is that The Guardian and Al Jazeera are reporting their own spin rather than facts.

"Electronic Intifada" founder and NYT darling Ali Abunimah writes in Al Jazeera:

PA lobbying blocked Shalit swap

The PA blocked potential prisoner swaps that would have freed thousands of Palestinians and Shalit.

Analysis of secret minutes of meetings between top Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials revealed in The Palestine Papers shows that strenuous PA lobbying likely torpedoed the deal in mid-2008 with the result that far fewer Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel.

But he brings no proof to this. He points to memos that show that the PA was unhappy with Israel releasing Hamas prisoners for Shalit, saying that Hamas would be strengthened. Israel agrees that a swap would help Hamas politically but Livni continuously pushes back saying that they want Shalit and there is no way to avoid that unfortunate consequence. They go on to find ways to strengthen the PA simultaneously by releasing Fatah members from prison - which they even did.

Abunimah brings no memos that indicate that the PA's efforts stopped any Shalit deal. In fact, the very idea is absurd. Israel would never scuttle a deal to get Shalit back because of PA objections!

If one is to believe the spin given to the Palestine Papers by The Guardian and Al Jazeera, the PA had no power and Israel ran roughshod over every one of their requests. Yet now Al Jazeera is claiming that the PA had veto power over an issue that is hugely important to Israel and only peripherally related to the negotiations.

Abunimah writes his counter-factual screed to blame the PA for blocking the release of thousands of Hamas prisoners. Yet these same memos show that 198 were released just by the PA asking Israel to do so, and giving nothing in return. (Abunimah calls them "symbolic.")

The release of these papers proves what we have seen time and time again. Conspiracy theorists will spin their stories regardless of facts and common sense, and the PalPapers are simply a treasure trove of new data to be twisted to fit already-existing fantasies.

Abbas rewards family of terrorist

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Earlier this month a Palestinian terrorist attempted to attack an Israeli checkpoint. Carrying two pipe bombs, he ran towards the Israeli soldiers, screaming "Allahu Akbar" - "Allah is Greater" - and was shot and killed before he could detonate the bombs.

Yesterday Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas granted "the relatives of the Shahid" $2000:

"The governor of the Jenin district, Kadura Musa, has awarded a presidential grant to the family of the Shahid (Martyr), Khaldoun Najib Samoudy, during a visit that took place yesterday in the village of Al-Yamoun. The governor noted that the grant is financial aid in the amount of $2000 that the President [Mahmoud Abbas] is awarding to the relatives of the Shahid, who was recently killed as a Martyr at the Hamra checkpoint by the Israeli occupation forces."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Fatah) Jan. 25, 2011]

Syria blocking social networking sites

In 2007, Syria blocked access to the Facebook webpage by its citizens.

Now, in the wake of the Tunisia uprising, they are tightening the ban even more. From Reuters:

Syrian authorities have banned programmes that allow access to Facebook Chat from cellphones, tightening already severe restrictions on the Internet in the wake of the unrest in Tunisia, users said on Wednesday.

Nimbuzz and eBuddy, two programmes that allow access to Facebook Chat and other messaging programmes through a single interface, no longer work in Syria, they said.

"All indicators point downhill after the revolution in Tunisia. The policy of iron censorship has not changed," said Mazen Darwish, head of the Syrian Media and Freedom of Expression Centre, which the authorities closed three years ago.

And in Egypt:

Egyptians had complained Facebook and Twitter and other sites were being blocked and mobile networks disrupted. Egypt's government denied social media websites were disrupted, saying it respected freedom of expression.

Syrians can still access Facebook through proxy servers.

Iran publishes and promotes explicit anti-Semitism

The Muslim world has always insisted that it is not anti-semitic, simply anti-Zionist.

The current Iranian regime in particular has stressed this argument, using useful pawns like the New York Times' Roger Cohen to point to the Iranian Jewish community as proof it is not against Jews.

The Aladdin Project, an initiative to promote peace between Jews and Muslims, has demolished Iran's claims.

The Aladdin Project has catalogued more than 160 books with strongly anti-Semitic content published since 2005 and displayed in Tehran’s 23rd International Book Fair in May this year.

The books range from newer editions of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Holocaust denial literature to works that deal with alleged Jewish domination of world finance and U.S. politics. Many of the books have been brought out by the Iranian government, such as “Jews, Zionism, and the Holocaust,” a textbook published by Iran’s Ministry of Education for use in schools. “Death of a Myth: Views of President Ahmadinejad on the Holocaust” was put on display by the Office of the President.

While many of the anti-Semitic books were exhibited by privately-owned publishers, the government and state-affiliated institutions, such as the Political Studies and Research Institute (PSRI) and the Islamic Revolution Documentation Centre, remain the most prolific producers and exporters of anti-Semitic literature in Iran. Many of their books have been translated into Arabic and other languages of the Muslim world and sent to libraries and bookshops around the world.

Some of the books are translations of works by Western Holocaust deniers or neo-Nazis, almost invariably accompanied with lengthy commentaries by the translators. These included the new Persian translation of “My Awakening,” penned by American white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and works by Robert Faurisson, Roger Garaudy, Mark Weber, Fredrick Toben and Ernst Zundel.

While so many anti-Semitic books were exhibited at the fair, Iran's Writers Association said in a statement that a number of prominent Iranian publishing houses were not allowed to have a stand at the fair and books by a number of well-know Iranian authors were banned.

According to a Tehran-based conservative Web site, Tabnak, “special examiners of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance” combed through the exhibitors’ catalogues and banned many of the works, including “all books about the Holocaust”. Books denying the Holocaust, however, were clearly exempted from the ban.

The Aladdin Project published a list of the explicitly anti-semitic books at the fair, using only the publishers' descriptions, and showing only the ones that were written in Farsi, not Arabic.

Anti-Semitic-books-in-Tehran-Book-Fair-2010.xlsx

(h/t Alice W)

Gaddafi foundation reneges on UNRWA pledge

From UNRWA, August 9, 2010:

The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) and UNRWA have signed a $50 million agreement to rebuild 1250 refugee homes in the Gaza Strip destroyed when Israel launched its last devastating attack on Gaza during December 2008 and January 2009.

Isn't it heartwarming when Arabs step up to help out their fellow Arabs in Gaza?

Oops:

The media advisor to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, Adnan Abu Hasna, denied that the organization had received $50 million from the Gaddafi Charity Foundation.

Abu Hasna said in a press release, "So far, UNRWA received only $2 million of the total amount."

What it feels like to be murdered by an Arab

A must-read article in the Jerusalem Post:

The two women got out of the car with Wilson’s dog, Peanut, and walked a bit on the Israel Trail. They had wandered off the path to an overlook when suddenly two Arab men appeared and asked in Hebrew if they had any water.

“I was startled... so I answered in Hebrew, which was a mistake,” Wilson said. “I know what they were trying to do, they were trying to figure out if we were Jewish.”

The men gave her an uneasy feeling, so Wilson suggested they head back to the path. She walked in front of Luken and opened the blade of her pen knife.

“Suddenly, she screams, and as I turn around one of them pounces on me, the other one has already pounced on her,” Wilson recounted. “This is the moment I was so terrified.

This was the overwhelming moment of fear for me, this first part.”

She struggled with her attacker, who had pulled out a very long, serrated knife, and managing to stab him in the thigh with her pen knife.

It was this stab that later allowed forensics experts to collect DNA at the site and positively identify the attacker, the Shin Bet said.

“They didn’t stab us [at first], they were trying to quiet us down,” she said. “I have this overwhelming adrenaline of absolute terror.

I’m frozen for five minutes, I just don’t know what to do.

Somehow emotionally that moment passes and I’m able to think a little more clearly.”

Wilson switched tactics, showing her tour guide badge and saying that a bus full of tourists was about to come looking for them, offering the attackers all of their belongings.

She kept telling Luken, “Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.”

“I was talking crap, I didn’t have a plan,” she said.

Meanwhile, the attackers were on their cellphones, saying over and over in Arabic, “Where are you?!” coordinating with at least one other member of the terrorist cell who was in the getaway vehicle.

Twenty minutes had passed since the men first attacked Wilson and Luken. One of the men forced Wilson to take off her shoes and used the laces to bind the women’s hands behind their backs.

“Then there’s this moment, I’ll never forget this. He takes off my Star of David. He very gently bows my head, takes it off like a fiancé would. And he has this smirk on his face.”

Later, the man would stab Wilson in the very spot where her Star of David lay.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t aparatchik)

Conspiracy theory: Netanyahu released PalPapers to get Abbas killed

A great conspiracy theory is published as an op-ed in the pro-Fatah Palestine Press Agency.

The author argues that the release of the "Palestine Papers" must have been orchestrated by Bibi Netanyahu. Here's the bizarre thinking that leads the author to this conclusion.

Netanyahu is threatened by Abbas because Abbas is managing to build a nation on his own. Abbas is also a threat because Israel can no longer point to him and say that all Palestinian Arab leaders are terrorists, because Abbas has been doing his nation-building in a peaceful way. He is a Palestinian Gandhi, which is evidently Israel's worst nightmare. His peacefulness, and the recent diplomatic successes in getting South American nations to recognize "Palestine," is what drives Netanyahu crazy.

So Netanyahu wants him killed.

The best way to get Abbas killed is to get one of his people to murder him, of course. And the way to do that is to tell Palestinian Arabs that Abbas is willing to compromise with Israel and is not being honest with them.

Israel therefore collaborated with Al Jazeera, which already has these faked papers in hand but was waiting for the right moment to release them. Their Israeli friend Bibi convinced them that now was the time, and they happily did as their Zionist masters demanded. Now he only has to wait for the inevitable assassination.

The perfect crime!

Of course, to believe this story, you must accept as a given that Arabs would naturally assassinate their leaders when they are perceived as being too conciliatory towards Israel.

A small example of how Fatah does propaganda

Fatah newspapers have been furiously publishing articles supporting the Fatah leadership and attacking Al Jazeera.

One article in Al-Ahd shows a gimmick that we have seen even mainstream newspapers use in order to push forward propaganda as news. See if you can spot it:

The masses of refugees in camps in the West Bank confirmed their support for President Mahmoud Abbas and his policy aimed at the creation of state institutions through the establishment of a Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital.

A spokesman for the refugee camps in the West Bank, Imad Abu Simbel, said "All the services committees in the refugee camps and all the masses of refugees in the West Bank reaffirm their support for President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership under media attack waged by Al-Jazeera against the Palestinian leadership and the negotiating team."

Who is this "spokesman for the refugee camps"? He is, of course, a Fatah member! And one can rest assured that he didn't take a poll of the camps to see if the residents were happy or unhappy with the reported leaks. As the official (or maybe even unofficial, it doesn't matter) "spokesman" he has taken the right of speaking for the people - and saying whatever he wants.

This happens all the time, in one form or another. UNRWA documents from the 1950s would state authoritatively that the refugees did not want citizenship in their host countries, but they never commissioned a poll nor did they pro-actively go into people's homes to ask them. They would only deal with the "officials," those who were politically active to begin with and who would say the party line. And they wouldn't even entertain the thought that these self-appointed leaders' interests could be at odds with those of the people they pretend to represent.

The fact is that people who are interviewed by the media are to a large extent self-selecting and therefore they are, by definition, not representative of the people they claim to represent. This case with Abu Simbel is clear, but every interview in every news medium goes through a vetting process to ensure that the person will say what the interviewer wants them to say, otherwise their words get downplayed or ignored.

Protests continue in Egypt Wednesday

Some headlines from Al Masry al-Youm today:

Egyptian police fired teargas on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in Ramses, Cairo’s busiest square, eyewitnesses said.

A group of around 600 protesters managed sneak into downtown Cairo by tricking security forces which were blocking the roads. They gathered in Ramses chanting anti-government slogans, activists and eyewitnesses told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Egyptian police fired teargas canisters towards roughly one thousand protesters on Wednesday evening as the latter marched down Cairo's 26 July Street towards Tahrir Square, the site of a massive protest on Tuesday that was only dispersed early Wednesday morning.

Security forces used batons to beat back protesters.

Groups of demonstrators headed towards the city's downtown district, with several hundred chanting, "Get lost, minister of torture," in reference to Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adli.

They also chanted: "The people want to oust the regime," "Mubarak get lost," and "Revolution in the streets of Egypt until we achieve victory."

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday prohibited the underground metro from stopping at Sadat Metro Station in central Cairo so as to prevent demonstrators from arriving to Tahrir Square.

A planned protest in front of Cairo University on Wednesday was aborted after security cordoned off the facilities and arrested eight people while high-ranking officials and more than ten police trucks waited around.

The eight people included six activists, an Al-Masry Al-Youm reporter and a British reporter. The reporters and a female activist were released after officers took their information. The remaining five people were driven away.

Also, Egypt has blocked access to Twitter.

Wikileaks: The Qaddafi Soap Opera

From a Wikileaks cable written in February 2010:

A local political observer XXXXXXXXXXXX told us that the Qadhafi family has been consumed in recent weeks by efforts to control the damage from Mutassim and Hannibal's recent headline-grabbing behavior. National Security Advisor Mutassim al-Qadhafi kicked off 2010 in the same way he spent 2009 -- with a New Year's Eve trip to St. Bart's -- reportedly featuring copious amounts of alcohol and a million-dollar personal concert courtesy of Beyonce, Usher, and other musicians. Mutassim seemed to be surprised by the fact that his party was photographed and the focus of international media attention. XXXXXXXXXXXX, his carousing and extravagance angered some locals, who viewed his activities as impious and embarrassing to the nation. Others took the events and rumors surrounding it as further argument that Mutassim -- often considered to be a rival of brother Saif al-Islam to succeed his father -- is not fit to be the next leader of the country. The Egyptian ambassador recently told the Ambassador that the Egyptians had been bracing for retribution after an Egyptian newspaper published the report of Mutassim's carousing.

Days before Mutassim's extravagant display, international press reported that his brother Hannibal had physically abused his wife, Aline, in a London hotel room over Christmas. XXXXXXXXXXXX told us that Aline had threatened to leave Hannibal a few weeks before the incident and had fled to London. When Safiya, Hannibal's mother, heard the news, she pleaded with Aline by phone to return to Tripoli, promising to give her "whatever she desired," in exchange. Hannibal pursued Aline in London, and the encounter ended in assault. When Safiya and Hannibal's sister, Ayesha al-Qadhafi (at that time many months' pregnant), heard the news, Ayesha traveled to London to intervene. Both Qadhafi women -- Safiya by phone and Ayesha in person -- advised Aline to report to the police that she had been hurt in an "accident," and not to mention anything about abuse. London press reported that Hannibal was allowed to leave the UK discreetly, on diplomatic immunity.

In the meantime, heir-apparent Saif al-Islam has been opportunely disengaged from local affairs. ... Saif's Qadhafi International Charity and Development Foundation has recently been active in the Haiti relief effort, sending hundreds of tons of supplies. ... Young Libyan contacts have repeated over the last few weeks that Saif al-Islam is the "hope" of "Libya al-Ghad" (Libya of tomorrow), with men in their twenties saying that they aspire to be like Saif and think he is the right person to run the country. They describe him as educated, cultured, and someone who wants a better future for Libya. By comparison, when asked about the prospects of Mutassim, Hannibal, or the other brothers as leaders of country, young contacts shake their heads and point to their famously irresponsible behavior as more reason to hope that Saif will succeed his father.

Mid-day link briefs

Benny Morris:

Whatever happened to the image of the hardboiled, cynical journalist, who believes no one and questions everything?

Just Journalism: (h/t Folderol)

Osama Hamdan offers an official Hamas response to the Palestine papers in The Guardian today, in which he claims that had the Palestinian Authority reached a peace deal with Israel based on the compromises laid out in the exposed documents, it ‘would have represented the biggest act of treason in the region’s history.’

Palestine Press Agency: A man tried to set himself on fire in Gaza.

Backspin:

Israeli officials who favor concessions to the Palestinians — get labeled by Big Media as “pragmatic,” “moderate,” and “dovish.”

What about the Palestinian officials outed as favoring concessions to Israel? Is the MSM describing them as “moderates,” “doves,” and “pragmatic” now?

Daphne Anson: An Aussie Doc’s Role in the Birth of Israel

Alan Dershowitz:

Although I have opposed Israel's civilian settlements in the West Bank since 1973, I strongly believe that the United States should veto a resolution currently before the U.N. Security Council that would declare illegal "all Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory." This condemnatory resolution is being supported by all members of the Security Council other than the U.S.

(For WSJ articles, first find it in Google News by doing a search on "Dershowitz UN gangs up on Israel again" and then click it in order to bypass the paywall.)

Bernard Henri Levy:

[BDS is] a skilfully orchestrated but calumnious, bellicose, anti-democratic and, in a word, perfectly despicable campaign.

Alana Goodman on the PLO flag - and Taiwan.

JPost on Google making Yad Vashem Holocaust database more accessible.

Holocaust denial on Iranian TV (MEMRI)

Now you can burn your own Al Jazeera/Zionist flag!

From AP:

Palestinian Fatah supporters burn banners fashioned to look like Israeli flags, with an Al-Jazeera logo at their center instead of a Star of David, during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011.

Do you think you are missing out on the fun because you don't have one of those nifty Al Jazeera Zionist flags?

Well, you are in luck!

Firas Press has been using a similar flag to illustrate the "Palestine Papers" articles, so here it is, suitable for printing - and public burning!

Another public service for our Arab friends by EoZ.

UPDATE: An email correspondent mentioned that I need to include this video:

Hamas bans "un-Islamic" books from Gaza bookstores

PCHR reports that Hamas has been engaging in a little book censorship in Gaza.

At approximately 13:30 on Sunday, 23 January 2011, 4 persons, one of whom was wearing military uniform, who introduced themselves as members of the GIB, confiscated copies of two novels – Alaa al-Aswany's "Chicago" and Haidar Haidar's "Banquet for Seaweed" – from Ibn Khaldoun bookstore opposite to al-Azhar University in the west of Gaza City. The GIB members presented a decision issued by the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip ordering confiscation of a number of novels, including the aforementioned ones. They also informed the owner of the bookstore to refer to al-Abbas police station to obtain a document proving the confiscation of the two novels. They further claimed that the two novels violate the Islamic Shari'a (Islamic Law).

At the same time, 3 persons wearing civilian clothes, went to al-Shorouq bookstore. They introduced themselves as members of the GIB and presented an order issued by the Ministry of Interior ordering confiscation of 3 novels: "Chicago;" "Banquet for Seaweed;" and "Forbidden Pleasure." They confiscated copies of the first two novels as the third one was not available in the bookshop. They also informed the owner of the bookstore to refer to al-Abbas police station to obtain a document proving the confiscation of the two novels.

Earlier, two persons wearing civilian clothes, who introduced themselves as members of the Internal Security Service, went to Sameer Mansour bookstore opposite to the Islamic University in Jamal Abdul Nasser Street in the west of Gaza City. They requested an employee to show them the two novels - "Chicago" and "Banquet for Seaweed." When the employee showed them copies of the two novels, they ordered him not to sell them until necessary measures are taken with regard to them.

Major Ayman al-Batniji, spokesman of the Palestinian police, told a PCHR field worker in a phone call on Monday, 24 January 2011, that he had no information about such measures, but he digressed claiming that these novels violate the Islamic Shari'a.

I'm sure that the media will be all over this outrageous act of banning books, just as they would if Christians or Jews did this. I look forward to the "Comment is Free" piece on this issue.

LOL: Iran reveals Israel's project "Al Quds 2020"

By apparent policy, the Iranian media refuses to say the word "Jerusalem," instead referring to "Al Quds."

This can result in some interesting pseudo-news stories.

Gaza's religious affairs ministry expressed concern over a project to build 58,000 Jewish settler homes in occupied Al-Quds by 2020.

Meanwhile, Zionist regime is announcing Al-Quds as the capital for Jewish people and allocating funds to attract Jews in a project dubbed Al-Quds 2020, the ministry said in a statement Monday.

Israel would name a project "Al Quds 2020"?

(By the way, the 2009 master plan that was at one time called Jerusalem 2020 included thousands of apartments for Arab residents of the city.)

Fatah accuses Qatar of telling Israel about 2002 weapons ship

Fatah's anger at Qatar for allowing (or encouraging) Al Jazeera to release the "Palestine Papers" is increasing.

Their latest charge is that Qatar was behind Israel's capture of the Karine A weapons ship in 2002.

The Karine A, it will be recalled, was a ship that was purchased by the Palestinian Authority and loaded with weapons they bought from Iran. The cargo included such peaceful, moderate items as Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles, anti-tank mines and pure explosives, with a total value of some $15 million. People involved in the shipment were sprinkled through all levels of the Palestinian Authority hierarchy, from Yasir Arafat down to the Palestinian Naval Police.

Fatah leader and member of its Revolutionary Council, Bassam Zakarneh, told a press conference that Qatar had tipped Israel off about the ship - and this paved the way for the "assassination" of Arafat!

Interestingly, Arafat had denied having anything to do with the Karine A, and Zakarneh's statement seems to confirm that the PA really was behind it and that Arafat was lying.

And while the world is misinterpreting the "Palestine Papers" as to how moderate and flexible the PA is, it is worth remembering that the Karine A episode happened after substantive "peace" negotiations with Israel and proved that the PA's desire for peace was nonexistent.

Latest PalPapers lies: Michael Brull, ABC (Australia)

The number of anti-Israel lies in the left-wing media concerning the Palestine Papers is astounding, and they are likely to continue. Here are a few from Michael Brull of "Independent Australian Jewish Voices" writing in ABC Online:

The interesting thing about what the Palestine Papers reveal is also in relation to public relations and private diplomacy. The standard theme of Israeli propaganda after negotiations collapsed after the 2000 Camp David negotiations was that Israel had offered the Palestinians everything, but the intransigent and ungrateful Palestinians had rejected it all, proving that the Israelis had no partner for peace. The Palestinian leadership never bothered with public relations, and it was largely left to academics and left wing Israeli negotiators to reveal that this story was far from the truth. For example, after the Camp David proposals, the two parties negotiated at Taba (negotiations ended unilaterally by Israel). Israel’s chief negotiator at Taba, Shlomo Ben Ami, said if he were a Palestinian he would have rejected the Camp David proposal. The Palestine Papers include maps of the Camp David proposal. They show clearly how Ariel and Maale Adumim are used to dissect the West Bank into three non-contiguous cantons, with settlements dotting the landscape, connected by roads, further dividing Palestinian towns and areas from each other. Perhaps this will finally put an end to the favourite Zionist myth of Israeli generosity, met by Palestinian intransigence and rejectionism.

This is only one part of a longer story that the Palestine Papers reveal.

Here's the map that Brull says that the Palestine Papers reveal:

If you look at the small type on the bottom of the maps, you will see that their source is "Jerusalem Task Force, Orient House". These maps have been public for years, and they were made by a Palestinian Arab organization. They were not "revealed" by the Palestine Papers, and Brull is using Al Jazeera's copying of an old map as a way to bash Israel.

And the maps are a complete lie.

Dennis Ross, who was there, said no map was drawn, but he shows the fake Palestinian Arab version of the map, along with what the Camp David offer really looked like:

The real offer - which was sweetened significantly at Taba - was already for a quite contiguous state.

Now that we see that Brull is not averse to lying, we can find more gems in his screed.

He goes through his Palestinian Arab version of history:

Israeli historians confirmed that the Palestinians who did not flee were driven out of Palestine through a mixture of measures including Zionist terrorism, psychological warfare and outright expulsions.

He of course does not mention the percentages of Arabs who fled versus those who were forced out. No one knows the actual numbers, but the vast majority were not expelled. Most Arabs never saw an Israeli soldier and fled because of wild Arab rumors of atrocities that never happened or that were vastly exaggerated. The wealthier Arabs left almost immediately after the partition vote, as they did in the 1930s, expecting to return after the fighting ended - and leaving their poorer cousins behind without leaders. And some (but not most) were indeed told to leave by Arab leaders themselves.

There is a third category that Brull ignores, though: those that stayed and became citizens of the state. An option that was simply not available for Jews in the Old City or Gush Etzion. Those people prove his claim that those "who did not flee were driven out" to be, again, a lie.

If there was one side that adopted the concept of "ethnic cleansing" from the start and continued throughout the 30 years of Mandate history, it was the Arabs - at Tel Chai, Petah Tikva (failed attempt), Hebron, Gaza, Jenin, Shchem/Nablus, Jerusalem's Old City (beginning in 1936), Atarot, Neveh Yaakov, Bet HaAravah and the 4 Gush Etzion Bloc kibbutzim. [h/t YM]

Israel proceeded to conquer the remaining 22 per cent of historic Palestine in 1967.

Whenever you see the words "historic Palestine" you know that you are dealing with a liar. Historic Palestine includes part of Jordan and Lebanon, parts that today's "Palestinians" have no desire for. For the same reasons they had no desire for a state in the West Bank while Jordan controlled it.

It goes on from there. The article is filled with half-truths and lies. Brull is rabidly anti-Israel and he uses the release of the papers as a reason to get op-ed space that simply uses the papers as a peg to bash Israel.

And Australia's ABC is more than happy to host the lies.

Funniest joke of the day

From Daoud Kuttab writing in The New York Times:

Palestine television, which falls under the president’s powers, was totally revamped and cleaned of anti-Israeli incitement.

Here are examples of the newly cleansed shows.

From November:

December:

And January:

(h/t YM)

A better winter picture

A few weeks ago, I took a photo of a frozen lake near me, trying to match a great picture I took in the autumn of the same spot. At the time I had no idea that this winter would be so snowy so I wanted to grab something to reflect the season.

Luckily, today, I got a better shot.

Here's the autumn shot:

And here is the (probably) definitive matching winter shot. Click to enlarge and see the snowflakes.

Again, all photos are being taken by my camera phone (Nexus One), so I am trying to compensate for lack of quality of the equipment.

The difference between the "peace process" and peace

To me, the biggest surprise in the "Palestine Papers" released so far is that, unless they are a massive hoax (and I don't believe that,) the Palestinian Arab negotiators were much more flexible and forthcoming in the talks than they are in public.

This is not to mean that even their more flexible demands can be accommodated by even the most dovish Israeli government.

The most important memo, so far, is this June 2008 meeting between the two sides and Condoleeza Rice. It is really fascinating. Here are some parts over which Jewish areas east of the Green Line the PA wants :

Livni: I want to understand one thing, since you have come back to 1967 borders. At that time there was no Palestinian state. Today we want part of this land and we think that you deserve to be compensated for what we want. My question is: Do you have a problem because of the area of Ma’ale Adumim or its location?

Abu Ala’: Our problem is not in the kilometers, but the settlement block Jerusalem from the East, and from the south there are Kidar and Jabal Abu Ghneim settlements that block Jerusalem. There is a settlement belt around Jerusalem.

Livni: I think I mentioned in the last meeting on borders that there is a misunderstanding and the idea we have is not to block Jerusalem completely.

Abu Ala’: - We do not want to live in enclaves. We want people to live in peace and to fight against terrorism.

Perhaps Ma’ale Adumim will remain under Palestinian sovereignty and it could be a model for cooperation and coexistence. We may also have international forces and make security arrangements for some time. It is the location of Ma’ale Adumim not its size.
There is also Ariel settlement which was set up on the largest water basin. It was not set up simply to provide Israeli with housing units but rather to control the water basin.

Livni: - The idea behind our desire to annex Ariel settlement was not to get more water but because thousands of people live there. We want to have an answer for those who have lived there for forty years.

Future borders will be complicated but clear. I have seen in Yugoslavia how areas can be connected. The matter is not simply giving a passport to settlers.

Abu Ala’: Having Ariel under our control means also that the water basin will be under our control.

Livni: We have said that even if we agreed to have Ariel under Israeli control, we have to find a solution to the water issue.

Abu Ala’: We find this hard to swallow.

Rice: - Let us put Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel aside. I am not trying to solve them here.
...

Livni: - When we decided on the annexation, we made it clear to the Palestinians that we will not compensate them with land that is part of Israel now.

The issue now is that the Palestinians will not accept that some locations become part of Israel.

Rice: This is exactly what I am saying.

Livni: Are you talking about two locations only?

Abu Ala’: There are more than two locations. There are Ma’ale Adumim, Ariel, Ephrat, Giv’at Ze’ev, Jabal Abu Ghneim (Har Homa).

Abu Ala’: Ariel goes for 19 kilometers into the West Bank, and this impedes geographical contiguity and enables Israel to control water resources.

Saeb: Our proposition will allow for the inclusion of 70% of settlers, that is about 310,000 settlers.

Rice: Did you see their proposition?

Livni: We looked at it. There are no Ma’ale Adumim, Ephrat, Ariel, Giv’at Ze’ev or Hara Homa (Jabal Abu Ghneim).

Saeb: Why do I not say the opposite, that there are Zakhron Ya’cov, the French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, Ramot Alon, Ramat Shlomo, Gilo, Tal Piot, and the Jewish Quarter in the old city of Jerusalem.

These show that Livni was pretty much ready to give up on all Jewish towns that were not near the Green Line, except for Ariel. The PA wanted a number of Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem, especially Maale Adumim, which no Israeli leader could possibly consider giving up.

The sections that "everyone knows" would be a part of Israel is represented as a major concession by the PA. Meanwhile, no one is even discussing the dismantling of dozens upon dozens of Jewish communities - with schools, shops, recreation centers, parks, playgrounds, cemeteries - that Livni is so easily giving up.

Even so, the PLO is appearing to be cognizant of Israeli requirements and needs, and to be willing to work with them. This is a far cry from how the PLO acts in public.

And therein lies the problem.

No Israeli is going to be surprised by what Livni is giving up (in fact, her insistence on some security issues is fairly strong even as she is willing to give in on other areas.) But the violent reaction to these leaks in the PA underscores the major issue, the latest elephant in the room to be added to the long list:

The Palestinian Arab leadership has never prepared their people for peace.

While I admit to being initially impressed with what Erekat and Abu Ala have to say in these memos, a little further reflection shows that all of these moves are cosmetic. Even if an agreement would have been reached, the people are not part of the process.

At the exact same time that these two sides were joking and trying to narrow the gaps between them, the official PA media continued to incite its people with TV shows extolling jihad, with schoolbooks that eliminated Israel, and with talk about the "return" of millions to Israel.

Israelis are acclimated to the idea of compromising for peace. Hell, they've done it numerous times, often very painfully.

The Palestinian Arabs, on the other hand, haven't even been taught the basic concept of compromise. Their leaders have never said a word about the necessity of a middle ground where Jewish parts of Jerusalem and major settlement blocs will remain in Israeli hands, where millions of people will not be moving to Israel, and where - inevitably - Arab nations will need to finally step up and offer to naturalize their Palestinian Arab "guests."

There has been no groundwork to change the process from a theoretical exercise into a concrete reality. There has been no reduction in incitement and no attempt to acclimate people to peace with Israel.

Why not?

Is the "peace process" is a farce, meant solely to appease the US? Is it simple fear on the part of the PalArab leadership not to tell inconvenient truths to their people? Is it fear of Hamas taking advantage of the tumult that would follow?

I can't say for sure. But what is certain is that no peace is viable if the people do not buy in to it.

The official PA incitement and glorification of terror is far more important than what Erekat says behind closed doors with Rice and Livni.

In an open society like Israel's, the leaks are more or less what everyone expected. But to the PA they are a bombshell. And that dissonance between reality and the fantasy that the PalArabs have been fed for decades is the entire problem.

The leaders' reactions to this problem are telling. Rather than stepping up and explaining the context, they have into full blown denial-and-blame mode.

I have yet to see an Arabic op-ed saying, "Duh, what do you think they talk about in the negotiations?" Instead we are seeing full-scale attacks - on the PA if you are aligned with Hamas, on Al Jazeera if you are aligned with Fatah.

All of this proves that real peace is not, and never was, a priority for the Palestinian Arab leaders. If it was, then these leaks would not be a big deal - everyone would have known it already.

If a Palestinian Arab leader starts telling people the truth, that would be impressive. (Ironically, it would also make Israel much more flexible in her demands as well. ) Until then, however, the entire negotiations track is divorced from reality, and doomed.

Video: Anti-government protests in Egypt today

From Al Masry al-Youm:

Around 15,000 protesters have occupied Tahrir Square, Cairo’s biggest square, in one of Egypt’s biggest demonstrations in decades.

Eyewitnesses said protesters chanted anti-Mubarak slogans.

Observers believe the protest is the biggest since the bread revolt in 1977, where Tahrir Square was again the scene of demonstrations scene.

A new venue for my writing

I have started to write original material for the NewsRealBlog site, in a new pro-Israel section they created called "Right To Exist."

My first post there is called "Palestine Papers Show One Way the Anti-Israel Media Sets the Agenda."

Feel free to check it out!

Meanwhile....Iran hangs two protesters

From Naharnet:

Iran hanged on Monday two activists it said were members of an exiled group opposed to the 2009 presidential poll result, despite U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging that they be freed.

The executions were the first reported hangings of protesters who staged demonstrations against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a poll they said was rigged.

The Tehran prosecutor's office named the pair as Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei. It did not say where the two men were hanged.

"Two elements of the Monafeghin (hypocrites) cell named Jafar Kazemi... and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei... were executed early today," the prosecutor's office said on its website, referring to the Iranian exiled opposition group, People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI).

Mid-day links

Raymond Ibrahim on how the media downplays Christian persecution (h/t Daled Amos)

Czech PM tells JPost that Israel's outreach in Europe is "miserable."

A YNet op-ed shows, again, the anti-Israel bias of Human Rights Watch.

Major protests in Egypt today.

Archaeologists finally completed a dig of an ancient tunnel that goes alongside the Temple Mount and to the City of David. it was originally a drainage channel. The tunnel will be open to tourists.

Al Jazeera's show trial (Toameh)

Hamas logic: Palileaks proves Arafat was assassinated

A Hamas leader, Salah al-Bardawil, told a Jordanian newspaper that the "Palestine Papers" prove that Arafat was assassinated.

The weird logic goes like this: Since Arafat refused to negotiate over Jerusalem, and since the documents show that the PLO was negotiating Jerusalem, it proves that Arafat was killed so that others who were more flexible could take his place.

Doesn't it seem that the Arab mind is hardwired to find conspiracy theories?

Burning an Israeli flag with "Al Jazeera" written on it

Here's a nice glimpse into how Arab leaders think.

Egyptian newspaper al-Mesryoon is being quoted as saying that Abbas asked Egypt to intervene with Qatar in order to stop what he considered an attempt to tarnish the image of the Palestinian Authority before Arab public opinion, despite the fact that he has briefed all Arab countries on all developments in negotiations with the Israelis at all stages.

Sources reported that Egypt expressed support for the position of the Palestinian Authority in seeking ways to contain the crisis.

An Egyptian official, Rakha Ahmed Hassan, told the newspaper that Arab parties, including Egypt, might intervene in order to prevent the escalation of tension between Qatar and the PA.

The implication, of course, is that there isn't even a pretext of freedom of the press in the Arab world. It is simply common knowledge that a government can dictate what any newspaper may or may not publish.

But it's a cultural thing. To criticize it betrays Western imperialistic thinking about non-Arab concepts such as "freedom."

Erekat: "If memos are true, why is there no agreement?"

Saeb Erekat gave a rambling, sputtering statement slamming Al Jazeera for publishing the so-called "Palestine Papers" that show an inside look at the negotiations between the PLO and Israel.

Besides his conspiracy theories about Al Jazeera, he rhetorically asked more than once, "If our positions are as they claim, why didn't Israel agree and why we did we not reach an agreement with them?" In other words, Erekat is admitting that Israel would have taken the offers seriously, as opposed to how The Guardian is spinning it!

Most of his rant is aimed at Al Jazeera and the vast conspiracy that is behind the channel.

Some highlights:

Al Jazeera's shame is unprecedented in Arab history....

The Palestinian Authority cannot solve the refugee issue; it is up to the refugee to decide to return to the territories of 1948, or the State of Palestine, or to accept compensation. This is the official Palestinian position, we do not agree with Israel on anything concerning this.

Al Jazeera is part of a terribly serious criminal act, planning to destabilize the Palestinian people, whether in Jordan or Palestine or Lebanon or Saudi Arabia...such incitement is serious.

What is going on is the process of punishment for our steadfastness and our positions, especially after we went to the UN Security Council and our refusal to negotiate with Israel without a halt to settlement activity, which has always been what we insisted and we will continue to uphold our rights as approved by international law.

Everything published so far does not exceed two or three pages that were cherry-picked with malicious intent to destroy the position of the steadfast Palestinian negotiators on our inalienable rights according to international law.

[Al Jazeera's] aim is to topple the Palestinian Authority because we refuse to return to negotiations and refuse to continue the negotiations while there is continued settlement [construction] and we insist on going to the UN Security Council and we wants the world to recognize the state of Palestine.

Al-Jazeera planned this...The selectivity and distortion, alteration, and forgery is apparent in every aspect.

We will reveal all our documents and challenge them to publish them.

A group of lawyers is now considering how to deal with the theft of these documents.

The media machine (referring to Al Jazeera) and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to tarnish our reputation.

If our positions are as they claim, why didn't Israel agree and why we did we not reach an agreement with them?

Al Jazeera calls for a... revolution against the Palestinian Authority to bring down the Palestinian political system.

This region is moving toward a more dangerous situation .. not only in Palestine...there are plans in Washington and elsewhere for this region and this tool (Al Jazeera) has a very large role to play in this direction.

These documents are incitement to murder and assassination, this may lead us to go to what is more than an ordinary court.

What is being done by Al Jazeera is done on behalf of Benjamin Netanyahu and Lieberman and Washington as a nasty incitement....

This incitement comes from the administration of Al Jazeera and those who stand behind them. We have lots and lots of documents that will show who is behind this channel .. these documents are not forged, but the truth .. [showing] what is going on between them and the Americans and Israelis.

Et tu, YNet?

I've been showing how Al Jazeera and the Guardian are purposefully misinterpreting the leaked "Palestine Papers" to make Israel look as bad as possible.

Even though they link to the actual memos that prove their distortions, their false spin is what gets into print. And most people dont bother to check the original.

Apparently, "most people" even includes Israeli reporters!

From YNet:

Leaked confidential documents published by Al-Jazeera and the Guardian reveal that during her tenure as Israeli foreign minister in Ehud Olmert's government, Tzipi Livni pressed for the "transfer" of some of Israel's own Arab citizens into a future Palestinian state as part of a land-swap deal that would exchange Palestinian villages now in Israel for Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Here is the talkback I gave to YNet:

If you actually read the memos, you will see that Livni was asking that villages that straddle the Green Line be unified, one way or the other. She didn't want another Ghajar.

The anti-Israel Guardian and Al Jazeera said she meant "transfer." And now a YNet reporter evidently believed them and didn't bother reading the memo itself and do real reporting.

This could have been a story of anti-Israel distortion in the left-wing media. Instead, it adds to the distortion.

It is very disheartening that an Israeli publication would parrot the lies of those newspapers rather than simply read the memos and see the truth.

Hamas imam: "Please, Allah, kill all the Jews"

Richard Millett watched a new two-hour anti-Israel documentary claiming that Israel targeted children in Gaza. The film is now being shown on college campuses. It included this lovely clip:

Allah is the greatest.

He who thanks Allah will be rewarded.
Oh Allah, loosen your power and strength on the Jews. (Amen.)
Please Allah, kill them all…
And don’t leave any of them alive. (Amen.)
Oh Allah, with your great power. Allah!
We are asking you with your infinite power, dear Allah. Allah!
Please dear Allah, take revenge for our martyrs’ blood. Allah!
Please Allah, get rid of the Jews.
Bring them down.
They are not as powerful as you.
Please Allah, make the earth shake and destroy the pillars of their civilisation.
Please Allah, cast fear and terror into their hearts.
Oh Allah disperse them so they become lost once again.
Oh Allah, show us a sign.
Oh Allah, surprise them in a way they don’t expect.
Oh Allah, cast fear and terror into their hearts.

Wikileaks: Israeli plans to get restitution from Poland, Arab countries

A Wikileaks cable from 2005 discusses German reparations to Israel for the Holocaust:

A GOI working group charged with developing a five-year plan on Holocaust-era reparations, pensions and restitution is considering a recommendation that the GOI ask Germany for about $500 million -- possibly in the form of new German-made submarines -- in compensation for what the GOI says is that portion of the 1953 German-Israeli reparations agreement that had been attributed to East Germany, but never paid.

The end of the cable is intriguing:

Finally, xxxxxxxxxxxx noted that Poland would likely be the next area of focus of the GOI restitution efforts, and that the GOI would work in close coordination with the World
Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) and the other main survivor and restitution bodies in Israel and abroad. All of the above are in addition to the GOI Ministerial Committee,s continuing research into expanding pursuit of restitution claims for Jewish property and assets from Arab lands.

Peru recognizes "Palestine" - but no mention of borders

Peru has just announced it recognizes "Palestine," but, like Chile, it refused to say that it recognizes the 1949 armistice lines as borders of the state.

After the first set of South American countries made that nonsensical claim, it is significant that the last two steered away from that issue.

UN Sec. General condemns Richard Falk for "truther" statements

From UN Watch:

In reply to UN Watch’s protest, which led to this NY Daily News editorial, we just received the following letter from the U.N., in which — for the first time ever – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns U.N. Palestine expert Richard Falk for his denial of the 9/11 terror attacks:
UNITED NATIONS   NATIONS UNIES
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
24 January 2011
Dear Mr. Neuer,
In response to your letter to the Secretary-General dated 20 January 2011 on the subject of a recent blog post by Mr. Richard Falk, the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967:
You are aware, no doubt, that the Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts who represent the Human Rights Council are appointed by the Council, not by the Secretary-General. Their continuance in their jobs is thus for the Council to decide.
That said, I feel very strongly that these representatives, however eminent they may be in their fields, have a clear responsibility to uphold the high standards of the United Nations and the Council.
You specifically refer to Mr. Falk’s allegations of an “apparent cover-up” related to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The Secretary-General condemns these remarks. He has repeatedly stated his view that any such suggestion is preposterous — and an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in the attack.
                                                                     Yours sincerely,
                                                                     Vijay Nambiar
                                                                     Chef de Cabinet