Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Reuters hails first "Palestine" soccer home game. But was it?

Palestine celebrated their first official match on home soil on Wednesday during a bittersweet evening when their Under-21 side lost an Olympic Games qualifier to Thailand 6-5 on penalties.

The fixture was viewed by Palestinians as another symbolic step towards confirming their credentials for the state they intend to establish in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

"This is another occasion on which we can show we are a state, every time I come here it makes me proud," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Reuters at the Faisal Husseini stadium.

But in fact, Palestine had played at home over seventy years ago - and in a World Cup qualifying match, no less. It was between Greece and Palestine, and officiated by an Egyptian official.

From the Palestine Post, January 1938:

I guess Reuters needs to have better fact-checkers.

(Greece handily won that game.)

Amusing paranoia, with a dash of hypocrisy, from Iran's PressTV:

In his first interview with a Jewish media, David Cameron described himself and his crew as sincere supporter of Israel, saying: "William Hague is a strong supporter of Israel, as am I, and we greatly value the longstanding friendship between our two countries. We also want to get the peace process back on track so that it doesn't lose momentum."

He evidently put Zionist lobby in practice by attacking Iran's threat to stay away from London Olympic Games, since the British officials were using a racist logo.

Last month, Iran's National Olympic Committee wrote to International Olympic Committee, protesting the 2012 Olympic logo as it spells the word Zion, which is a biblical word for Israel.

In a non-diplomatic response to the issue, British Prime Minister said: "It's completely paranoid. If the Iranians don't want to come, don't come - we won't miss you.”

"It would be a crazy reason for not coming," David Cameron added.

David Cameron's surprising declaration was against Olympic resolution, in which they try to “build a peaceful and better world through sport” away from all the political issues.

Claiming Britain does not identify “unilaterally declared Palestinian state”, UK Prime Minister said the athletes who do not want to compete against Israelis would not be welcomed in London 2012.

"They can't come if they're going to behave like that.

"You shouldn't have that approach to sport. If you were going to come to the Olympic Games, you take part against everybody and if you're going to behave like that you're not welcome," he said.

Here's a new Facebook group calling for everyone to boycott the Olympics because of the logo.

And here is a hilarious, if anti-semitic, YouTube video that tries to make the case for the logo heralding a Zionist takeover of the world in 2012. it already has over 50,000 views.

You can still purchase your 2012 Zionist Games T-shirts and other items from the Elder of Ziyon store! Do it just to give the haters a reason to believe...

Arab Israeli student speaks out against "Israel Apartheid Week"

From IBA:

(h/t Zvi)

Wikileaks: Hillary asks about Iran's Latin American plans

This Wikileaks cable, from January 2009 and classified as "secret,", shows that the State Department was researching exactly what Iran's plans for Latin America are. It is attributed directly to Hillary Clinton. It is filled with dozens of questions to be researched and answered.

Some of these questions would appear to be more properly answered by the CIA, although it appears that the State Department has a set of "Iran watchers."

Question A4, asking whether Hezbollah and Iran share strategic interests, seems dangerously naive.

I don't know if the "converts" in B1 refer to converts to Shi'a Islam, which would indicate that Iran is using Islam to recruit spies.

In general, the questions being asked are the right ones.

Here is most of the cable:

WASHINGTON ANALYSTS ASSESS THAT TEHRAN IS 
REACHING OUT TO LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES IN ORDER TO REDUCE 
ITS DIPLOMATIC ISOLATION AND INCREASE TIES TO LEFTIST 
COUNTRIES IN THE REGION THAT TEHRAN PERCEIVES MAY SHARE ITS 
ANTI-US AGENDA. PRESIDENT AHMADI-NEJAD APPEARS TO BE THE 
DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THIS POLICY, AND HE HAS RECEIVED 
PERSONAL ASSISTANCE FROM VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ. 
IRAN'S TIES WITH VENEZUELA, WHICH INCLUDE MILITARY 
COOPERATION, ARE THE CLOSEST AND MOST SIGNIFICANT. GIVEN THE 
HIGH-PROFILE IRAN-VENEZUELA RELATIONSHIP, HIZBALLAH-LINKED 
INDIVIDUALS PROBABLY SEE VENEZUELA AS A SAFEHAVEN WHERE THEY 
CAN CONDUCT FUNDRAISING AND SUPPORT ACTIVITIES WITHOUT 
INTERFERENCE. OTHER POPULIST GOVERNMENTS LIKE BOLIVIA, 
ECUADOR, AND NICARAGUA HAVE ALSO SOUGHT TO CREATE CLOSER 
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TIES WITH IRAN. IRAN HAS ESTABLISHED 
CULTURAL CENTERS IN 16 COUNTRIES OF THE REGION AND HAS 
EMBASSIES IN 10 COUNTRIES. AS TIME AND RESOURCES PERMIT AND 
AS APPLICABLE TO POST, ANALYSTS AND SENIOR LEVEL POLICYMAKERS 
WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION ON THE FOLLOWING 
TOPICS/QUESTIONS THAT YOU COLLECT DURING THE COURSE OF YOUR 
NORMAL MEETINGS/BUSINESS ACTIVITIES. 

¶A. (U) FOR IRAN WATCHERS AND THE IRAN REGIONAL PRESENCE 
OFFICE (IRPO): 

1) (S/NF) BEYOND IRAN'S OVERT POLICY TO INCREASE ITS 
DIPLOMATIC AND ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN THE REGION, WE LACK 
INFORMATION ON TEHRAN'S STRATEGIC INTENTIONS. WHAT DOES 
TEHRAN SEE AS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF IRAN'S OUTREACH TO LATIN 
AMERICA? HOW HIGH A PRIORITY IS LATIN AMERICA FOR IRANIAN 
FOREIGN POLICY? DOES TEHRAN ENVISION BECOMING A KEY REGIONAL 
PLAYER IN LATIN AMERICA? WHERE DOES IRAN THINK IT IS IN TERMS 
OF DEVELOPING RELATIONS WITH THE REGION? WHAT SPECIFIC 
COUNTRIES, GROUPS, AND INDIVIDUALS DOES IRAN VIEW AS ENABLERS 
IN THE REGION? WHICH COUNTRIES APPEAR TO BE THE FOCUS OF 
IRANIAN EFFORTS TO MAKE POLITICAL, DIPLOMATIC, AND ECONOMIC 
INROADS IN LATIN AMERICA, AND WHERE IS IT PLANNING TO EXPAND? 
WHAT DOMESTIC, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, OR SOCIAL ISSUES MIGHT 
IMPACT ITS OUTREACH TO LATIN AMERICA? 

2) (S/NF) WHO IN TEHRAN IS PUSHING IRAN'S OUTREACH TO LATIN 
AMERICA? IF IT IS AHMADI-NEJAD, WHAT IS THE SUPREME LEADER'S 
OPINION ON IRAN'S EFFORTS TO EXPAND ITS PRESENCE IN THE 
REGION? WHO IN TEHRAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTING IRAN'S 
LATIN AMERICA POLICY--THE MFA, THE MOIS, THE IRGC? WHO WITHIN 
THESE ORGANIZATIONS IS INVOLVED IN FORMING IRAN'S POLICY ON 
LATIN AMERICA? HOW DO THESE ORGANIZATIONS COORDINATE THEIR 
ACTIVITIES IN THE REGION? 

3) (S/NF) DOES TEHRAN HAVE ANY INTENTION OF USING THE 
REGION AS A STAGING GROUND FOR POTENTIAL TERRORIST ATTACKS, 
EITHER DIRECTLY OR THROUGH SURROGATES? ARE ANY PERSONS 
AFFILIATED WITH THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT MAKING CONTINGENCY 
PREPARATIONS TO CREATE NETWORKS FOR POTENTIAL TERRORIST 
ACTIVITIES LATER? IF SO, WHAT SORT OF ACTIVITIES? 

4) (S/NF) DO TEHRAN AND HIZBALLAH SHARE SIMILAR OBJECTIVES 
IN THE REGION? IN WHAT WAYS DO THEY WORK 
TOGETHER/INDEPENDENTLY? WHAT, IF ANY, ARE IRAN'S INTENTIONS 
AND CAPABILITIES FOR STRENGTHENING HIZBALLAH OBJECTIVES IN 
LATIN AMERICA? 

¶B. (U) FOR IRAN WATCHERS, IRPO AND LATIN AMERICAN POSTS: 

1) (S/NF) WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF THE MOIS AND IRGC-QODS 
FORCE PRESENCE AND RECRUITMENT IN THE REGION? WHAT HAPPENS TO 
THE POTENTIAL RECRUITS AFTER THEIR TRAINING IN IRAN OR OTHER 
MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES? ARE IRANIAN OFFICIALS ATTEMPTING TO 
ACCESS US TERRITORY OR US PRIVATE FIRMS VIA LATIN AMERICA? DO 
THE IRANIAN CULTURAL CENTERS MAINTAIN CONTACT WITH THE 
CONVERTS? DO IRANIAN DIPLOMATIC OR MILITARY (I.E. IRGC-QODS 
FORCE) OFFICIALS IN THE REGION MAINTAIN ANY CONTACT WITH 
CONVERTS? HOW DOES TEHRAN PROVIDE MONEY TO THE ICCS? 

2) (S/NF) TO WHAT EXTENT ARE IRAN AND ITS LATIN AMERICAN 
ALLIES COOPERATING AGAINST THE U.S.? IN WHAT WAYS HAS IRAN 
BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT FOSTERING GREATER ANTI-AMERICANISM IN THE 
REGION? WHAT KINDS OF COVERT IRANIAN ACTIVITY HAVE BEEN 
IDENTIFIED IN THE REGION? TO WHAT EXTENT DO IRAN AND LATIN 
AMERICA APPEAR TO SHARE INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION? HAS IRAN 
PROVIDED INTELLIGENCE TRAINING WITHIN THE REGION? 

3) (S/NF) IS IRAN SUPPORTING TERRORIST ACTIVITIES IN LATIN 
AMERICA? IS IT RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPORTING OR TRAINING ILLEGAL 
ARMED GROUPS IN COLOMBIA OR ELSEWHERE? IS IRAN FACILITATING 
LETHAL AID FOR ITS ALLIES OR WORKING TO ESTABLISH NEW 
TERRORIST INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE REGION? 

4) (S/NF) HOW IS IRAN CIRCUMVENTING ECONOMIC SANCTIONS 
THROUGH ITS TIES IN THE REGION? WHAT KINDS OF COMMERCIAL AND 
FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE DEVELOPING BETWEEN IRAN AND THE 
REGION? DO JOINT BUSINESS VENTURES WITH IRAN TURN A PROFIT? 
WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE EXPANDED TRADE RELATIONSHIPS WITH IRAN? 
ARE THESE TRADE AGREEMENTS FOCUSED ON SPECIFIC GOODS OR 
SECTORS? IS THERE ANY INDICATION OF TRADE INCLUDING MATERIALS 
OR TECHNOLOGY WHICH COULD BE USED FOR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT BY 
IRAN? 

5) (S/NF) HOW SUCCESSFUL HAVE TEHRAN'S EFFORTS TO EXERT 
INFLUENCE IN THE REGION THROUGH CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS 
PROSELYTIZATION BEEN? ARE THERE ANY INDICATIONS THAT THESE 
EFFORTS HAVE EFFECTIVELY FOSTERED EXTREMISM IN LATIN AMERICA? 
WHAT IS THE RELIGIOUS SHIA CONNECTION COUNTRY TO COUNTRY? 

...8) (S/NF) WHAT IS THE STATUS OF IRAN'S EXISTING MILITARY 
AGREEMENTS WITH LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES? WHAT STATE-TO-STATE 
MILITARY AGREEMENTS IS IRAN PURSUING IN LATIN AMERICA? 

9) (S/NF) SPECIFICALLY, REGARDING IRAN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH 
VENEZUELA, WHAT IS THE STATUS OF IRAN'S AGREEMENT WITH 
VENEZUELA TO OVERHAUL VENEZUELAN F-5 AIRCRAFT ENGINES, IRAN'S 
CONTRACT WITH VENEZUELA TO CONSTRUCT MUNITIONS PLANTS, AND 
THE AGREEMENT WITH VENEZUELA TO PROCURE IRANIAN UNMANNED 
AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVS) AND LIGHT IRANIAN AIRCRAFT? WHAT IS 
VENEZUELA'S LEVEL OF SATISFACTION REGARDING THE QUALITY OF 
MILITARY GOODS AND TRAINING IT HAS RECEIVED FROM IRAN? IS 
THERE ANY INFORMATION INDICATING PDVSA PLANES ARE BEING USED 
TO TRANSPORT ARMS FROM TEHRAN TO DAMASCUS AS REPORTED IN OPEN 
SOURCES? IS THERE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE 
CARACAS-BOUND IRANIAN CARGO SEIZED BY TURKEY? WHO OR WHAT 
ENTITY IN THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY OR CAVIM ORDERED IT AND FOR 
WHAT PURPOSE? ARE TEHRAN AND CARACAS ACTIVELY PURSUING ANY 
FORM OF NUCLEAR COOPERATION? AND IF SO, FOR WHAT PURPOSE? 
WHAT IS THE NATURE OF WEEKLY CONVIASA FLIGHTS BETWEEN CARACAS 
AND TEHRAN? DO WE HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT THESE ARE BEING 
USED FOR TERRORISM PURPOSES? 

¶C. (U) FOR LATIN AMERICAN POSTS: 

1) (S/NF) WHAT DO LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES WANT FROM IRAN? 
HOW ARE REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS, ESPECIALLY BUT NOT LIMITED TO 
VENEZUELA, BOLIVIA, ECUADOR, AND NICARAGUA, CATERING TO 
IRANIAN OVERTURES? TO WHAT EXTENT ARE LATIN AMERICAN LEADERS 
CONCERNED ABOUT IRAN'S HISTORIC TIES TO TERRORISM AND THE 
POTENTIAL IMPACT OF CLOSER TIES TO TEHRAN ON THEIR OWN 
INTERNATIONAL STANDING? 

2) (S/NF) WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE IRANIAN 
DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS AND THE HOST GOVERNMENTS IN LATIN 
AMERICA? WHAT SORT OF DIPLOMATIC COOPERATION DO LATIN 
AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS ENVISION WITH IRAN? WHAT ARE THE 
GOVERNMENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND DECISION-MAKING REGARDING GAINS 
VS COSTS/RISKS OF INVOLVEMENT WITH IRANIAN OFFICIALS? WHAT 
LIMITATIONS DO LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS PLACE ON 
COOPERATION WITH IRAN? HOW MUCH DO REGIONAL, US, OR WORLD 
REACTIONS FACTOR INTO LATIN AMERICAN POLICYMAKING TOWARDS 
IRAN? HOW ARE DISAGREEMENTS WITHIN LATIN AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS 
REGARDING INVOLVEMENT WITH IRAN HANDLED? 

3) (S/NF) WHAT IS THE STATUS OF AGREEMENTS OR BUSINESS 
VENTURES SIGNED BETWEEN IRANIAN ENTITIES AND LATIN AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENTS OR PRIVATE FIRMS? WHAT SORT OF FINANCIAL AID OR 
CASH TRANSFERS IS TEHRAN PROVIDING TO LATIN AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENTS? HOW MUCH AID IS DELIVERED AS OPPOSED TO PROMISED? 

4) (S/NF) TO WHAT EXTENT ARE HOST GOVERNMENTS WILLING TO 
ASSIST THE U.S. AGAINST THE IRANIAN TARGET? 

5) (C/NF) WHAT IS THE SIZE OF THE SHIA MUSLIM COMMUNITY? 
WHICH ARE THE KNOWN HIZBALLAH "CLANS?" 

6) (S/NF) WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITIES AT THE IRANIAN DIPLOMATIC 
MISSIONS, NGOS, AND IRANIAN CULTURAL CENTERS IN LATIN AMERICA 
AND HOW ARE THEY BEING USED TO EXPAND INFLUENCE? WHAT DO 
LATIN AMERICAN CONVERTS TO SHIA ISLAM, OR OTHER STUDENTS OF 
IRANIAN INDOCTRINATION, DO UPON RETURN TO THE REGION FROM 
RELIGIOUS TRAINING IN IRAN? WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 
IRANIAN EMBASSIES AND CULTURAL CENTERS AND KNOWN HIZBALLAH 
MEMBERS OR SUPPORTERS IN THE REGION? 

7) (S/NF) IN ADDITION TO NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, HAS IRAN 
ESTABLISHED TIES WITH ANY NONGOVERNMENTAL GROUPS OR 
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES? IF SO, WITH WHICH GROUPS/PEOPLES AND WHAT 
IS THE CURRENT STATE OF IRAN'S RELATIONSHIPS WITH THESE 
GROUPS/PEOPLES? HAS IRAN PROVIDED THESE GROUPS/PEOPLES WITH 
MONEY OR OTHER SUPPORT? HAVE THE IRANIANS ESTABLISHED ANY 
TIES WITH OTHER RADICAL OR TERRORIST GROUPS, LIKE THE FARC? 
ARE IRANIAN OFFICIALS OR THEIR SURROGATES INVOLVED IN OTHER 
ILLICIT ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS NARCOTRAFFICKING? 

¶2. (U) PLEASE CITE C-AL8-02836 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF 
REPORTING IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS. 


CLINTON

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant at junction of 3 tectonic plates

From Bloomberg last week:

A shattered cooling pump at Iran’s only civilian nuclear-power reactor, forcing a shutdown during its initial start-up phase, has renewed safety concerns about the hybrid Russian-German power plant on the Persian Gulf coast.

The 1000-megawatt power plant at Bushehr combines a German- designed plant begun under the rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in the 1970’s and Russian technology installed over the last decade. Safety questions have raised concern among some nuclear-power experts and in neighboring countries such as Kuwait, which is vulnerable in the event of a radiation leak since it is downwind about 170 miles (275 kilometers).

Nuclear experts cite potential safety issues due to the hybrid design, Iranian nuclear inexperience, the Islamic state’s reluctance to join international safety monitoring programs, and the unknown reliability of some of the original components.

Bushehr also sits at the junction of three tectonic plates, raising concerns that an earthquake could damage the plant and crack its containment dome, or disrupt the electrical supply needed to keep it safe, said Dr. Jassem al-Awadi, a geologist at the University of Kuwait. Bushehr was hit with a 4.6 magnitude temblor in 2002.

Winds in the Persian Gulf blow from East to West and coastal currents circle counter-clockwise, meaning Kuwait and the Saudi Arabia would feel the effects of a radiation leak at Bushehr within hours, notes Sami Alfaraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies. And with the Gulf Arab states reliant for their freshwater on desalination plants that line the coast, long-term contamination of the Gulf could prove fatal.

“What are our concerns -- water and air, and these are the essence of life for everybody,” Alfaraj said in an interview. “The Iranians have said so far ‘trust us,’ and it’s quite difficult to trust them and the next thing is to trust Russian certification and it’s very difficult to trust that.”

Iran is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world.

As the Fukushima incident continues to rivet the us with concern about a catastrophic meltdown, who is raising the alarm about Bushehr?

Palestinian Arabs' new meme: "We would never kill children!"

A new meme has emerged from Palestinian Arab leaders in the wake of the massacre of the Fogel family.

From YNet Hebrew:

Riad Al-Malakhi, the Palestinian Foreign minister, visiting Cairo, said that his ministry condemns all violence against civilians. In an interview with the Palestinian official media agency "Wafa", he condemned those responsible for the attack, and said that "There was never a case in the past where a Palestinian killed a baby and slaughtered people in this manner, be it because of nationalistic motives, or those of revenge, which raises a question as to the quick blaming of the Palestinians by the Israeli side".

Hamas has adopted the same line:

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, denied the movement's involvement in the attack in the settlement of Itamar near Nablus, stressing that Hamas' and Palestinian resistance groups' policy is not to target children.

Given the previous cold-blooded murders of Koby Mandell, Yosef Ishran, infant Shalhevet Pass, the lionization by the PA leaders of Samir Kuntar who bashed in the head of a 4-year old girls and Dalal Mughrabi who killed 13 children, not to mention previous attacks on a bar mitzvah party, a pizza shop and an ice cream shop, these statements are nothing short of baldfaced lies.

The new meme is trying to sell the idea that the Fogels were murdered by - Jews! They are stressing that no major terror group has taken credit for the attack as proof that Arabs couldn't have done it. (The Al Aqsa Brigades seemed to have taken responsibility but they now deny it, and the Imad Mughniyeh group has claimed responsibility but it is unclear if they really exist.)

However ludicrous the idea that Palestinian Arab terrorists don't target children, it is nonetheless significant that (outside of Islamic Jihad) the major groups are implicitly or explicitly condemning the attack. That would not have happened during the height of the intifada. Also, while there is some, I am not seeing too much praise for the attack in Arabic forums.

As far as I can tell, this is the first time that any attack on a settlement was met with anything but full pride and joy by the Palestinian Arab public, no matter who the victims were.

(h/t sshender)

Reuters adopts Arab terminology when referring to IDF

The initial Reuters story on Friday night's slaughter of a family in Itamar uses the terminology used only by Arabs and Israel haters where referring to the IDF:

Only in sites that are virulently anti-Israel is the IDF referred to as the "IOF".

And now we can add Reuters to that list.

Although they changed the text in later versions of the report to "Israeli troops" that initial phraseology shows everything you need to know about Reuters' bias.

(screenshot and h/t from O)

Palestine Today: Stabbing of 3 year old, infant "heroic and courageous"

Islamic Jihad mouthpiece Palestine Today called the slaughter of a Jewish family in Itamar, which included the stabbing deaths of three children, a "heroic and courageous operation."

The terror group blessed the attack, and said it was proud of this "jihad operation."

The Al Qassam Brigades of Hamas called the murderers "mujahadin" and the commenters are ecstatic, with many "Allah hu Akbar"s in the comments and blessings for the attackers.

Horrific slaughter of Jewish family in Itamar

From JPost:

A mother, father and three of their children were stabbed to death late Friday night by at least one suspected terrorist who infiltrated the Itamar settlement southeast of Nablus.

The killings occurred shortly after 10 p.m., when one or two attackers jumped the fence that surrounds Itamar and broke into the home of Ruth and Udi Fogel, aged 35 and 36, respectively. The attackers went room to room, stabbing the parents, a three-month-old girl, Hadas, and two boys, Elad, three, and Yoav, 11.

Two other children – aged two and eight – were in a side room but were not attacked.
The family’s oldest child, 12- year-old Tamar, was out of the house at the time.

The IDF immediately launched searches in nearby Arab villages as Palestinians reported that a faction of Fatah’s al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade had claimed responsibility.

Israel Peace Week at Berkeley

Nice to see some pro-active Israel advocacy in the belly of the beast:

Busy weekend open thread

I doubt I'll have much access to a computer this weekend, but I have a few posts queued up for Saturday night and Sunday so you'll at least have something to read.

Posting will probably be pretty light on Monday as well.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and a great weekend!

Egypt and Syria make nice

From People's Daily Online:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voiced readiness to work with Egypt to maintain cooperation relations between the two countries, Syria's official SANA news agency reported Thursday.

In a message sent to head of the Supreme Council of Egypt's armed forces, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Assad expressed his hopes that Egypt would restore its normal role in the common Arab work, expressing Syria's readiness to consult and closely cooperate with Egypt in all fields.

The message, SANA said, came in reply to that sent by Tantawi to Assad, in which Tantawi has confirmed the solid relations between the two countries and the imperative to open a new page based on the well-known, aspired-for firm principles.

With all this goodwill, it is probably only a matter of time before Iran offers to build uranium-enrichment facilities in Egypt...

Where's the outrage at Arab apartheid? (Khaled Abu Toameh)

From Hudson NY:

Mohammed Nabil Taha, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy, died this week at the entrance to a Lebanese hospital after doctors refused to help him because his family could not afford to pay for medical treatment.

The tragic case of Taha highlights the plight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in impoverished refugee camps in Lebanon and who are the victims of an Apartheid system that denies them access to work, education and medical care.

Ironically, the boy's death at the entrance to the hospital coincided with Israel Apartheid Week, a festival of hatred and incitement organized by anti-Israel activists on university campuses in the US, Canada and other countries.

It is highly unlikely that the folks behind the festival have heard about the case of Taha. Judging from past experiences, it is also highly unlikely that they would publicize the case after they heard about it.

Why should anyone care about a Palestinian boy who is denied medical treatment by an Arab hospital? This is a story that does not have an anti-Israel angle to it.

Can anyone imagine what would have happened if an Israeli hospital had abandoned a boy to die in its parking lot because his father did not have $1,500 to pay for his treatment?

The UN Security Council would hold an emergency session and Israel would be strongly condemned and held responsible for the death of the boy.

All this is happening at a time when tens of thousands of Palestinian patients continue to benefit from treatments in Israeli hospitals.

Last year alone, some 180,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip entered Israel to receive medical treatment. Many were treated despite the fact that they did not have enough money to cover the bill. In Israel, even a suicide bomber who is -- only! -- wounded while trying to kill Jews is entitled to the finest medical treatment. And there have been many instances where Palestinians who were injured in attacks on Israel later ended up in some of Israel's best hospitals.

Lebanon, by the way, is not the only Arab country that officially applies Apartheid laws against Palestinians, denying them the right to receive proper medical treatment and own property.

Just last week it was announced that a medical center in Jordan has decided to stop treating Palestinian cancer patients because the Palestinian Authority has failed to pay its debts to the center.

Other Arab countries have also been giving the Palestinians a very hard time when it comes to receiving medical treatment.

It is disgraceful that while Israel admits Palestinian patients to its hospitals, Arab hospitals are denying them medical treatment for various reasons, including money. But then one is reminded that Arab dictators do not care about their own people, so why should they pay attention to an 11-year-old boy who is dying at the entrance to a hospital because his father was not carrying $1,500?

But as the death took place in an Arab country – and as the victim is an Arab – why should anyone care about him? Where is the outcry against Arab Apartheid?

Critics of Syria disappear - in Lebanon

From Babylon and Beyond:

Human-rights groups are becoming increasingly concerned about the fate and whereabouts of three Syrian brothers who disappeared in the Lebanese capital about two weeks ago after they distributed fliers calling for demonstrations for democratic change in Syria.

On Thursday, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch called on Lebanon in a statement to immediately launch an independent probe into the matter.

The circumstances of the brothers' disappearance are murky. According to Human Rights Watch research, agents from Lebanon's Military Intelligence took at least six members of the Jasem family into custody on Feb. 23 and 24 after they handed out pamphlets calling for more democracy in Syria, a country ruled by the Assad family for decades.

One of them, construction worker Jasem Mer`i Jasem, then disappeared in the early hours of Feb. 25 along with his two brothers, who had gone to pick him up from a police station in Beirut's Baabda district, according to the rights group.

Family members worry that the brothers might have been sent back to Syria, where, rights groups say, authorities regularly arrest political and human-rights activists, block websites and detain bloggers.

I haven't checked lately, but I'm sure that college campuses worldwide have lots of programs calling on Syria to embrace freedom and liberal ideals, and to stop interfering with its neighbors.

(h/t David G)

My "Apartheid?" posters have officially gone viral (updated)

My "Apartheid?" poster page has now gotten over 5000 pageviews, with links to that page coming from all over the world and many emails from people who appreciated them, or have made suggestions for more.

It received over 250 Facebook "Likes."

Other websites have reproduced the posters on their pages, adding thousands more views.

The YouTube video I threw together with some of the posters has done OK, with over 2200 views itself.

I'm still waiting for more people to send photos of how the posters have been used on college campuses. I hear that some turned them into postcard-sized handouts.

UPDATE: A Google search of "Apartheid week posters" shows many of mine towards the top. Nice!

Israel saving the world, again

From Dore Gold in the Jerusalem Post:

The British-based World Energy Council reported in November 2010 that Israel had oil shale from which it is possible to extract the equivalent of 4 billion barrels of oil. Yet these numbers are currently undergoing a major revision internationally.

A new assessment was released late last year by Dr. Yuval Bartov, chief geologist for Israel Energy Initiatives, at the yearly symposium of the prestigious Colorado School of Mines. He presented data that our oil shale reserves are actually the equivalent of 250 billion barrels (that compares with 260 billion barrels in the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia).

Independent oil industry analysts have been carefully looking at the shale, and have not refuted these findings. As a consequence of these new estimates, we may emerge as the third largest deposit of oil shale, after the US and China.

OIL SHALE mining used to be a dirty business that used up tremendous amounts of water and energy.

Yet new technologies, being developed for Israeli shale, seek to separate the oil from the shale rock 300 meters underground; these techniques actually produce water, rather than use it up.

The technology will be tested in a pilot project followed by a demonstration stage. It will be critical to demonstrate that the underground separation of oil from shale is environmentally sound before going to full-scale production. The present goal is to produce commercial quantities of shale oil by the end of the decade.

This particular project has global significance.

For if Israel develops a unique method for separating oil from shale deep underground, that has none of the negative ecological side-effects of earlier oil shale efforts, that technology can be made available to the whole world, changing the entire global oil market. The effect of the spread of this technology would be to shift the center of gravity of world oil away from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf to more stable states that have no history of backing terrorism or radical Islamic causes. (In the Arab world, Jordan and Morocco have the most significant oil shale deposits.)

WHEN WILL the West begin to treat Israel as a powerful energy giant and not as a weak client state that must be pressured? In the case of the Saudis, when the US realized the true extent of their oil reserves, after America’s reserves in Texas and Oklahoma were depleted by World War II, it sought to upgrade its military and diplomatic ties with the Saudi kingdom even before its production capacity was fully exploited. The US-Saudi connection grew as massive infrastructure investments for moving Saudi oil to Western markets were made, like the Trans-Arabian Pipeline (TAPLINE).

It is a little premature to celebrate, but if all the "ifs" get worked out, but this could be the most important news for the next fifty years.

(h/t The Muqata)

Peres: "Gaddafi wears strange hats and crappy dresses"

From YNet:

President Shimon Peres on Thursday made unusual comments on Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi during a meeting with students in the Bayit VeGan boarding house in Jerusalem.

Peres said that in his opinion Gaddafi should work for the Dior fashion house, whose chief designer John Galliano was recently fired over anti-Semetic slurs.

"Who needs this Gaddafi? I think he should have gone to work at Dior. He changes his outfit everyday, investing thousands of dollars in strange hats, crappy dresses, wasting his money… Who needs him? You tell me, what for?" Peres said.

I sort of like his dress. Reminds me of another:

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Join the Facebook cause for a tenth Intifada!

I am no expert on Facebook, but I set up a new page to make fun of the "new Intifada" pages that are cropping up.

Here is the rationale for the Tenth Intifada page:

Palestinian Arabs have tried to use "resistance" (what the enlightened world calls "terrorism") since the late 19th century to make sure that Palestine is a Jew-free land.

We attacked Jews in 1886 in Petah Tikva. It was glorious!
We attacked Jews in Tiberias in 1901 and 1904. It was fantastic!
We attacked Jews in Jerusalem in 1920. It was phenomenal!
We attacked Jews in Hebron, Jerusalem and Safed in 1929. It was gorgeous!
We attacked Jews continuously from 1936 to 1939. Even though we ended up killing more Arabs than Jews, it was one of the finest chapters in Palestinian history. We attacked Jews in 1947 hours after we rejected a UN resolution that would have given us that state we want so badly. While attacking the Jews then was really great, we call the end of that little episode "the Naqba." We celebrate that every year.
We attacked Jews continuously throughout the 1950s, through our Fedayeen. It was glorious!
We attacked the entire world in the 1970s, but since the target wasn't specifically Jews, we won't call that an intifada. It was really majestic, though.
We attacked Jews in the late 1980s. It was marvelous!
We attacked Jews right after rejecting another plan that would have given us a state. It was epic!

But now, we have Facebook, so we must call for the biggest, best intifada of all: Intifada Number 10!

Because if there is anything we are good at, it is not learning the lessons from the past!

So go ahead and "Like" the page!

Saddam's disgusting gift to Donald Rumsfeld

From Donald Rumsfeld's website:

In December 1983, I traveled to Baghdad as President Reagan’s Middle East Envoy and met with Saddam Hussein. At the conclusion of our meeting he presented me with a gift. Such gifts can be unusual, but even so I was shocked by this one. Saddam had given me a three-minute videotape documenting alleged Syrian “atrocities.” The blurred, choppy footage shows young Syrians biting the heads off of snakes and stabbing puppies, to the apparent applause of then-Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad. Saddam’s message was clear: The Syrian regime was barbaric. Though his evidence was hardly convincing, his conclusion was a tough one to dispute.

WARNING: This video depicts graphic violence. Some viewers may find it disturbing.

I actually linked to a better version of this video here, but it didn't have the same killing of the puppies seen in the Rumsfeld video (in my link I also show a Syrian taking a big bite of a puppy.)

(Corrected the name of the dictator...h/t Solomon)

PFLP joins Hamas in denouncing Holocaust education

From Palestine News Network:

The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Islamist party Hamas in condemning a plan to teach the Holocaust in West Bank and Gaza Strip schools run by the UN Refugee and Works Association (UNRWA).

A PFLP statement sent to PNN said that to teach the Holocaust would be a “big mistake” and an “attempt to beautify the ugly face of racism.” He said the “Zionist entity” would use their victimization by the Nazis to justify their crimes against Arabs and Palestinians.

“The Zionist entity extorts the world by exploiting the victims of the Nazis, which has no relation to its odious, racist project,” said the statement. “It is AJDAR by UNRWA to impose the teaching of this continuous MHRQA against our people since the 1948 Nakba and the suffering of Palestinian refugees in the Diaspora.”

The PFLP also stressed the importance of forming a national council of professors, researchers, and specialists to oversee the Palestinian curriculum, focusing especially on national history and geography and human rights, national resistance against the occupation, and the Palestinian national identity, “instead of a culture of normalization, surrender, and distortion of facts.”

Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, announced on March 1 its intent to defeat the UNRWA proposal with a similar statement, saying the plan was “an attempt to impose on us the culture of normalization with the occupation.”

The statement from the Hamas Ministry of Culture, however, described the Holocaust as “tales and lies.” At least one representative from Fatah has described the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died, as “a big lie,” but no official statement from Fatah has come out about the UNRWA plan.

UNRWA ignored my request for a statement, as it appears to have done for Islam Online.

It is entirely possible that UNRWA never planned on a curriculum that included the Holocaust; it floated the idea in 2009 and faced strong opposition then as well.

Report: Molotov cocktails hurled near Rachel's Tomb

Firas Press reports that "Palestinian youths" threw Molotov cocktails at soldiers near Rachel's Tomb this afternoon.

This must be part of that non-violent resistance that we hear so much about.

The world accepts Palestinian Arab violence as natural

José Ramos-Horta, President of East Timor, visited Israel recently and wrote about his trip in the Huffington Post.

The article is a mixed bag of good, bad and naïveté, and there is a lot to comment on. But one throwaway sentence within the following two paragraphs grabbed my attention:

Visiting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, including walking along a "refugee" area, with the infamous concrete security wall towering above me, and shaking hands with a number of youth, I was struck by the relative calm in the area. As someone all too familiar with situations of subjugation and despair, I could sense that this is a very fragile peace. Violence will flare-up if the much promised and much delayed Palestinian State does not become a reality within the next two years. Nevertheless, at this particular point in time, Israel and Palestine (West Bank) form an oasis of tranquility in a region in turmoil.

Visiting the West Bank I envied the relative prosperity of the Palestinians and the progress being made in their State-building exercise. Palestinians in the West Bank are far ahead of most Sub-Sahara African States, and indeed well ahead of my own country, in economic well-being and the development of the State institutions.

He visits, he sees that things are doing remarkably well, that terrorism has gone way down and the West Bank economy is way up.

But he says, with certainty, that "Violence will flare-up if the much promised and much delayed Palestinian State does not become a reality within the next two years."

Why? Why would people whose lives are visibly improving want to go back again to a disastrous terror spree, one that cost them thousands of lives and tens of thousands of jobs?

Let's see if this similar sentence makes sense:

Violence will flare-up if Gilad Shalit is not released within the next year.

Sounds weird, doesn't it?

But it sounds perfectly normal to state, as a fact, that Palestinian Arabs will choose violence if they don't get their maximal goals - even after they have already rejected compromises that would have led to their state they supposedly want.

The only explanation is that the world expects Palestinian Arabs to be naturally violent.

To the current politically correct mindset, the relative peace we have now is considered an aberration, something counter to the Arab personality. Isn't it wonderful that Palestinian Arabs have managed to avoid sending suicide bombers into Israel for a few years? Let's all applaud their superhuman effort to temporarily overcome their normal, warmongering personalities for a few years! Give them a cookie! We know it is an act, and that if we stop treating them as "special" children they will of course go back to their wild, murderous ways. But if we keep throwing money and promises to pressure Israel at them, they'll stay in line for a couple more years, just enough time to give them their reward.

And if they erupt in their natural violence again, well, that must be Israel's fault.

(h/t Colonel R for the idea)

Abbas: "My threats to quit are my strength"

We've mentioned how many times Abbas has threatened to quit, and how the West cowers when he makes these threats.

He has now said fairly explicitly that he uses those threats as the main weapon for his continued intransigence.

In a press conference at the end of his three-day visit to England (one wonders why no leftist tried to have him arrested as a terrorist,) Abbas said,

I often ask myself, "Who are you to say no to the Americans when you are living on their assistance, as well as from European aid,"... but there is a reason that I am in a position of strength. I am not stuck to the chair [of the presidency,] and I can leave at any moment that I want; I will not nominate myself in the upcoming elections, and I will not sell out, I will not give up and I will not do something I am not convinced is right.

It is way past time to call his bluff.

The Guardian: "We bring you only the news you want to hear"

A great pickup by Just Journalism:

In an incredibly candid blog entry on media self-censorship by veteran Guardian journalist and staunch Israel critic Michael White, he confesses:
‘middle class ill-ease in going after stories about immigration, legal or otherwise, about welfare fraud or the less attractive tribal habits of the working class, which is more easily ignored altogether.’
By contrast, in, ‘Media self-censorship: not just a problem for Turkey,’ Israel is put forward as one of the archetypal ‘targets’ of The Guardian:
‘Toffs, including royal ones, Christians, especially popes, governments of Israel, and US Republicans are more straightforward targets.’
White, who has been at the publication for 30 years, also alleges that positive stories about Tony Blair are rarities despite other ‘tyrants’ being granted positive coverage:
‘Nor has it been easy to smuggle anything creditable about Tony Blair into the paper for several years now, though tyrants with more convincing leftwing credentials sometimes get the benefit of the doubt.’
In his final comments he implies that The Guardian – in common with other publications – has an overwhelming tendency to simply tell its readers what they want to hear, rather than produce journalism which might challenge their ingrained prejudices and preconceptions:
‘And remember, dear reader, that we are also striving much of the time to tell you what you’d rather know rather than challenge your prejudices and make you cross.
‘As the old saying goes, we are all guilty.’

Of course, those old prejudices were instilled by the same pseudo-journalists at The Guardian to begin with, so even in this surprising mea culpa, White does not take the full responsibility that his newspaper has for anti-Israel sentiment in England.

Danish minister sacked for doing what EVERY Arab country does (updated)

From AFP:

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Tuesday he fired his integration minister over a scandal involving 36 young, stateless Palestinians who were wrongly denied citizenship.

"Birthe Roenn Hornbech is leaving her post as integration minister and church minister and thus withdraws from the government," he said in a statement, prompting a small government reshuffle.
The integration ministry, he said, failed to brief parliament in a timely manner on "36 stateless persons being wrongly denied Danish citizenship."

Danish media had recently accused the minister of knowing since 2008 that Danish immigration authorities were not respecting a UN convention which stipulates that stateless people born and raised in a country have the right to obtain citizenship there before they turn 21, as long as they are not convicted of any serious crimes.

But 36 Palestinians who were eligible to obtain Danish citizenship had their requests turned down.

Every single Arab country (with the partial exception of Jordan*) explicitly denies citizenship to all Palestinian Arabs born in their countries, in opposition to that same UN convention, which is the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It states in Article 7:

1. The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

2. States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.

Every Arab state has signed, ratified or acceded to this Convention. Yet they all ignore it, purposefully keeping Palestinian Arab children stateless.

Where is the world outcry over this denial of the human rights of every Palestinian Arab child in an Arab country?

UPDATE: Apparently, the Convention that she was sacked over was the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, not the Rights of the Child. (h/t Guan)

Article 1:

1. A Contracting State shall grant its nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. Such nationality shall be granted:

(a) at birth, by operation of law, or

(b) upon an application being lodged with the appropriate authority, by or on behalf of the person concerned, in the manner prescribed by the national law. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article, no such application may be rejected.

It is stronger than the Convention on the Rights of the Child in that it explicitly says that the child has a right to the host country's nationality, something not said explicitly in the Rights of the Child and possibly the loophole that Arab countries use, saying that Palestinian Arab children have the rights to "Palestinian" citizenship.

The Reduction of Statelessness convention is not ratified by any Arab country, but it is ratified by Denmark.

Jordan has been tightening up its rules on citizenship for Palestinian Arabs whose families originated in the West Bank, but it has never accepted the concept of naturalizing those from Gaza.

Galloway: Cast Lead comparable to World War II

Once again, beyond satire:

George Galloway has said Hamas are not tyrants and defended elections in Iran during a lecture about the fall of dictatorships.

Speaking to LSE students on Monday, the former Respect MP called Israel an “apartheid” state and compared scenes in Gaza after Operation Cast Lead to those in the Second World War.

He described Operation Cast Lead at the end of 2009 as a “savage assault on a captive people so ferocious that not since the Second World War are we seen anything like it.

He praised the Palestinian elections in 2006 which saw Hamas elected as the “only free and fair election” in the Arab world.

“Hamas won the only democratic election ever held in the Arab world so how they can be tyrants I really don’t know,” he said. “I am not in favour of Hamas but I am in favour of democracy.

“There are many things wrong with Iran. One thing they do have is elections. They elected a president that you or I might not have voted for but I am in no doubt that Ahmadinejad won the presidential election. He won it because he appeals to the poorest workers, peasants, the most religious sectors of the Iranian population.”

He denied giving money to Hamas despite video footage showing him handing bags of cash to leaders.

He was questioned about video footage during a Viva Palestina convoy to Gaza in 2009 where he is seen saying: “We carried a lot of cash here. We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all the contents. We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine. Here is the money. This is not charity. This is politics. The government of Palestine is the best people where this money is needed.”

But on Monday he said: “I did not give bags of cash to Hamas. I gave money, ambulances, wheelchairs, medicine, food, children’s clothes, teddy bears to the 1.6 million Palestinian people under siege in Gaza.”

A nice video for Israel Peace Week

Forwarded to me by the creator:

A Facebook call for a third intifada

Recently I mentioned that the Ma'an newspaper was taking tiny Facebook campaigns with fewer than a couple of hundred people and it was trying to make them sound much bigger and impressive. Ma'an is evidently trying to position Palestinian Arabs as being innovative in non-violent protests against Israel.

But there is another Facebook campaign that Ma'an has ignored...perhaps because it is not quite as non-violent as Ma'an prefers. Too bad, because this campaign already has over 44,000 members, and is adding them at a rate of a thousand an hour.

This campaign is to start a new intifada against Israel.

Sounds just like Martin Luther King, doesn't it?

Afternoon links

Eli Lake in TNR finds that the US does have a checkered diplomatic history of dealing with Islamists.

Gaddafi calls Qaradawi a "jurisprudent dervish." There's a celebrity death-match I'd love to see.

A Palestinian Arab child dies in Lebanon, because of Lebanese apartheid.

Palestinian TV on how the Jews love money. And grabbing land, of course.

Women might not yet have as many upper-management jobs as men in Israel, but Israel is way ahead of almost every other Western country in that regard.

Apartheid alert: The first female Bedouin in Israel to earn a doctorate.

An op-ed in Asharq Al Awsat looks at the dangers confronting the Arab world. Israel isn't mentioned once.

Israeligirl reminds us that the BDS movement that it is illegal for US companies to boycott friendly countries.

Is it possible for the UN Human Rights Council to be even more of a joke than it already is? Well, yes. Syria is running for a seat.

Now, this is politically incorrect - and funny. From a Carnival parade in Dusseldorf, Germany:

(h/t Nevet, Yerushalimey, Zvi, UN Watch, Serjew. Apologies for the missing hat tips.)

The map that lies - and one that doesn't

Anti-Israel (and now other*) organizations are fond of showing the following graphic on their websites:

This map is a lie.

The first panel has the biggest lie:

While I presume that the white sections are indeed the land that was privately owned by Jews, the land in green was not privately owned by Arabs.

Only a tiny percentage of land in Palestine was privately owned. The various categories of land ownership included:

Mulk: privately owned in the Western sense.

Miri: Land owned by the government (originally the Ottoman crown) and suitable for agricultural use. Individuals could purchase a deed to cultivate this land and pay a tithe to the government. Ownership could be transferred only with the approval of the state. Miri rights could be transferred to heirs, and the land could be sub-let to tenants. If the owner died without an heir or the land was not cultivated for three years, the land would revert to the state.

Mahlul: Uncultivated Miri lands that would revert to the state, in theory after three years.

Mawat (or Mewat): So-called “dead”, unreclaimed land. It constituted about 50 to 60% of the land in Palestine. It belonged to the government. ...If the land had been cultivated with permission, it would be registered, at least under the Mandate, free of charge.

By the early 1940s Jews owned about one third of Mulk land in Palestine and Arabs about two-thirds. The vast majority of the total land, however, belonged to the government, meaning that when the state of Israel was established, it became legally Israel's. (I believe that about 77% of the land was owned by the government, assuming 6 million dunams of private land as shown in this invaluable webpage on the topic from which I got much of this information.)

To say that the green areas were "Palestinian" land is simply a lie.

Now the next one:

While this is an accurate representation of the partition plan, it has nothing to do with land ownership. The entire purpose of this map is to make it appear that Israel has been grabbing Arab land consistently, to serve as a bridge between maps 1 and 3. What is not said, of course, is that Israel accepted the partition and the Arabs did not, so as a result Israel in 1949 looked like it does in map 3.

Map 3 is still a lie, however, because in no way was the green land "Palestinian" at that time. Gaza was administered by Egypt and the West Bank annexed by Jordan. No one at the time spoke about a Palestinian Arab state on the areas controlled by Arab states - only in Israel.

In other words, this progression of maps is a series of lies meant to push a bigger lie, and it is tragic that a lot of people believe them to be the truth.

Here is a small attempt on my side to show a more accurate picture of Israel's giving land it controlled up for peace since 1967:

This map shows that Israel gave up control of the Sinai, Gaza, Southern Lebanon and much of the West Bank over the years. Rather than falsely accusing Israel as a land-grabbing rogue state, it accurately shows Israel as perhaps the only state in history that has voluntarily given up more than two-thirds of the areas it controls in exchange for nothing more than a paper agreement - or sometimes not even that. All at the risk of serious security concerns for her people, no less.

This is all because Israel wants, desperately, to live in real peace with her neighbors. This desire is not reciprocated by those neighbors, unfortunately.

The real map shows the truth of Israel's incredible concessions in the often vain hope for peace.

*I saw this one at a Colin Firth fan-site, as he is planning to star in a movie about The Stern Gang.

Roger Cohen's Hypocrisy (NewsRealBlog)

My latest article in NewsRealBlog takes apart Roger Cohen's self-righteous piece in yesterday's New York Times.

See how wise Cohen is? Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are the good, democratic choice for the Middle East! Hezbollah, which has had a crucial role in turning Lebanon from a cosmopolitan and tolerant society into an Iranian satellite state armed to the teeth against Israel, is the model for all Arab states. Islamist Hamas, which chose to shoot rockets into Israeli communities after Israel withdrew every single resident and soldier, should be propped up with Western gifts and recognition. Arabs need to learn about free and fair elections from Iran. Hateful rhetoric against Jews and Israel are mere words, but Roger Cohen enjoying coffee with Islamic fundamentalists prove they are really the good guys. As he wrote, “Perhaps I have a bias toward facts over words, but I say the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran – its sophistication and culture – than all the inflammatory rhetoric.”

Cohen’s thinking is simple: Western-backed authoritarian governments=bad. Iranian-backed Islamist authoritarian governments=good.

Read the whole thing.

A quote from the Arab mayor of Jerusalem, 1899 (updated)

I came across this partial quote by Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, the mayor of Jerusalem, in 1899: "Who can challenge the rights of the Jews in Palestine? Good Lord, historically it is really your country."

By doing a little research, and playing some games with Google Books snippet view, I was able to find the full quote:

The idea itself is natural, fine and just. Who can challenge the rights of the Jews in Palestine? Good Lord, historically it is really your country. What a wonderful spectacle that will be when a people as resourceful as the Jews will once again be an independent nation, honored and complacent, able to make its contribution to needy humanity in the field of morals, as in the past.

He wrote this in a letter to Zadok Kahn, the chief rabbi of France.

When Benny Morris quotes it in One state, two states: resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict, he distinguishes this quote as an exception to the Palestinian Arab denial of Jewish claims that rose concurrently with the idea of Palestinian Arab nationalism. It is not an exception, however, since the quote pre-dates popular Palestinian Arab nationalism by at least a couple of decades.

But Morris does make a good point:

An apt indication of this denial was provided by the Jerusalem Christian Arab educator Khabil al-Sakakini, when he fulminated in 1936 that the British Mandate's new radio station referred to the country in Hebrew as "eretz yisrael" (the Land of Israel), "If Palestine [falastin] is eretz yisrael, then we, the Arabs, are but passing strangers, and there is nothing for or to do but to emigrate," al-Sakakini jotted down in his diary.

In other words, denial of history is an integral part of Palestinian Arab nationalism. The movement is, to a great extent, predicated on a very basic lie.

Arabs like Khalidi knew Jewish history in the Land of Israel very well, but it became virtually forbidden to acknowledge this history a mere three decades later, because that very fact helps to undermine the entire Palestinian Arab national enterprise.

Yet the British did not have that sensitivity, as the initials for Eretz Yisrael could be seen in Mandate-era coins and stamps in Hebrew even before Sakakini noticed it:

UPDATE: Elder of Lobby tracked a more complete version of the Khalidi quote, from Morris' "Righteous Victims," showing that the mayor was hardly happy about the prospect of Zionism:

"It is necessary, therefore, for the peace of the Jews in [the Ottoman Empire] that the Zionist Movement ... stop.... Good Lord, the world is vast enough, there are still uninhabited countries where one could settle millions of poor Jews who may perhaps become happy there and one day constitute a nation.... In the name of God, let Palestine be left in peace."

Abbas hints, yet again, at resigning

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas hinted Tuesday that he would resign if an independent Palestinian state was not established by September.

Abbas' remarks came at a joint press conference with British Foreign Minister William Hague in London.

Ma'an doesn't mention that this is at least the 16th time that Abbas has threatened to resign.

Must be a nice job where you can threaten to resign without any intent to actually do it...and no one calls you on it.

Two important articles from Commentary

From Evelyn Gordon:

In an interview in today’s Wall Street Journal, Ehud Barak announced that Israel might ask Washington for another $20 billion in aid due to the unrest now sweeping the region. As an Israeli, I’m cringing in shame.
The U.S. currently faces a massive deficit that threatens the country’s very future, and Congress is slashing ruthlessly in an effort to curb it. Almost nothing has been spared the ax — with one glaring exception: a sweeping majority of Congress still opposes any cut to the annual $3 billion in American aid to Israel, because at a time when Israel is facing an unprecedented international delegitimization campaign, Congress doesn’t want to do anything that might imply faltering support for America’s longtime ally.
It’s an extraordinarily generous gesture, and as I’ve written elsewhere, the only proper response would be for Netanyahu to do what he did during his first term as prime minister 15 years ago: announce a phased, multi-year cutback in aid at a joint session of Congress. Precisely because it is such a tangible expression of American support, American aid sends an important message to Israel’s enemies; thus, eliminating it altogether might be unwise. But Israel’s economy is certainly strong enough to cope with a cutback, and if it were an Israeli initiative, it wouldn’t imply faltering American support. On the contrary, it would strengthen the relationship by showing that it’s not a one-way street, that Israel is also sensitive to America’s needs.
Instead, as if he were blind, deaf, and dumb to everything that’s happened in America over the past few years, Barak declared that he wants to seek an increase in aid. As if America were nothing but a cash cow, with no urgent monetary needs of its own. This is a public-relations disaster, one guaranteed to alienate even Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress unless Netanyahu makes it immediately and unequivocally clear that his defense minister’s proposal is unacceptable.
But it’s also a strategic disaster.

And from Rich Richman:

[I]n July 1977, when Zbigniew Brzezinski presented Begin with a draft statement regarding the just-concluded U.S.-Israel meeting[,] Begin told Brzezinski that the draft was acceptable — “except for two sentences.” Brzezinski asked what they were:

“Please delete ‘The United States affirms Israel’s inherent right to exist.’”

“Why so?”

“Because the United States’ affirmation of Israel’s right to exist is not a favor, nor is it a negotiable concession. I shall not negotiate my existence with anybody, and I need nobody’s affirmation of it.”

Brzezinski’s expression was one of surprise. “But to the best of my knowledge every Israeli prime minister has asked for such a pledge.”

“I sincerely appreciate the president’s sentiment,” said Begin, “but our Hebrew Bible made that pledge and established our right over our land millennia ago. Never, throughout the centuries, did we ever abandon or forfeit that right. Therefore, it would be incompatible with my responsibilities as prime minister of Israel were I not to ask you to erase this sentence.” And then, without pause, “Please delete, too, the language regarding the commitment to Israel’s survival.”

“And in what sense do you find that objectionable?”

“In the sense that we, the Jewish people alone, are responsible for our country’s survival, no one else.”

Read them both, now.