Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Iranian MPs want to ban dogs for being "unclean"

Dogs are “unclean” and should be banned from society. That is what 39 Iranian legislators have proposed to the country’s 290-member parliament, known as the Majlis.

Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the parliamentarians suggesting the ban on dogs and other pets deemed as “unclean” want the proposed statute to be part the country’s general Islamic law.

If the law passes, dog owners will be banned from taking their pets out into public spaces and into vehicles. First-time offenders will be fined five million riyals (approximately $4800); they will be given 10 days to get rid of the dog. If they fail to do so, health authorities will be called in to take the dog away from its owner. It is unclear what would be done to the dog.

The health ministry has been asked to enforce the rules, as have city councils around the Islamic republic as well as the parliament’s culture committee, according to IRNA.

The 39 MPs say that other than canines being “unclean,” keeping dogs as pets goes against Iranian values. The practice, they said indicated the influence of Western culture.

Which of these creatures looks cleaner?

UPDATE: Challah Hu Akbar points us to this relevant photo:

"Palestine": The pyramid-scheme state

The recent report from the World Bank on how the PA is supposedly ready to become a state is an object lesson in wishful thinking replacing sober analysis. In fact, from all the data I can find, all of the wonderful economic indicators that are being tossed around are simply paper gains.

The PA has very little underlying economy outside of the money that is coming in by the billions from donors.

The World Bank report says this explicitly:

The economic growth observed in WB&G is arguably donor-driven, and sustainable growth remains hampered by Israeli restrictions on access to land, water, a range of raw materials, and export markets, to name a few. WB&G has experienced growth for the third year in a row, including a recent reduction in unemployment. It must be kept in mind, however, that the economy is rebounding from a low base, particularly in Gaza. In addition, the growth is mostly confined to the non-tradable sector and reflects the importance of donor aid in driving the Palestinian economy – though recent easing of restrictions by the Government of Israel has probably had a positive impact as well. Sustainable growth will require the unleashing of the private sector’s potential, including its ability to trade. And while unemployment has declined recently, it remains very high, especially for the youth – a fact inexorably tied with the stifled private sector.

The Palestinian Arabs aren't actually producing anything. And what little they produce is mostly going to Israel.

Thus, growth is mostly confined to the non-tradable sector and probably reflects the importance of donor aid in driving the Palestinian economy. Israel remains WB&G’s largest trading partner, yet in the first three quarters of 2010, exports of goods and services to Israel were only about US$480 million in nominal terms. This is only 6 percent higher than in the same period in 2009 and nearly 22 percent lower than in 2008. Since Gaza has been closed since mid-2007, these figures are not affected by the situation there. Consequently, the fact that growth has taken place recently despite the slowdown in exports to Israel probably reflects the importance of aid in driving growth.

The budget deficit is over a billion dollars a year, which has been made up by - donors.

More:

Because of the need to fund development projects for which designated aid was not received, the PA was forced to increase bank borrowing and accumulate arrears at an unsustainable rate. Net domestic bank financing increased by about US$84 million, with gross borrowing of US$200 million, so that at the end of 2010, total domestic debt stood at about US$840 million, which may be close to the PA’s borrowing limits. In 2010, the PA paid close to US$23 million in arrears in net lending, but it accumulated another US$144 million in new arrears. While most of this was to the pension system, about US$50 million was in non-wage and development spending. This suggests that some private providers of goods and services to the PA may be facing delayed payments.

The only good news has been an increase in tax revenues - not because there is a particularly larger tax base, but because the PA is now doing a better job at collecting taxes.

In the end, all of the promising indicators - the decrease in unemployment, decrease in poverty and similar - are directly because of donor aid, and to a smaller extent to Israeli policies.

But what about the future? What sort of a private-sector economy will the nascent state of "Palestine" have?

As a small open economy, the future Palestinian state will depend upon increasing trade, especially the export of high value added goods and services that exploit its comparative advantage arising from a relatively low wage but well educated workforce. Increasing trade and integration into the international markets will provide consumers access to a wider range of products at lower prices, while producers will benefit from higher prices found on the world market. The Palestinian market’s small size means that, without access to the world market, Palestinian producers will not be able to achieve minimum efficient scale. In addition, becoming competitive on the export market will force Palestinian producers to improve their productivity, thereby increasing employment, raising wages, and lowering poverty. Since 1967, trade in WB&G has been overwhelmingly oriented towards Israel. As of 2008, Israel accounted for nearly 89 percent of WB&G’s exports and 81 percent of imports. The majority of exports were for low value added goods that required a minimal level of processing. In order to achieve sustainable growth, the WB&G economy must increase overall trade, expand trade beyond the Israeli market, and increase the value added in exports. To do this, an appropriate trade policy regime must be in place, including the necessary institutional, regulatory, and physical infrastructure that will facilitate trade.

In other words, the Palestinian Arab economy has not adapted to survival in the real world. The World Bank says what must happen - but shows no indication that any of this is even on the drawing board.

What countries will buy the mythical Palestinian Arab goods? The obvious candidates would be the rest of the Arab world - but their own unskilled labor is cheaper than that of the PA. So what would the PA export to Europe or the Americas? What value added will the "well educated workforce" give to goods and services needed worldwide? Is there a serious initiative to build software companies, or R&D facilities? Because if the PA economy is dependent on selling tomatoes and olive oil, it will never be viable.

The World Bank glosses over these problems, instead insisting that a transparent monetary policy and an improving judicial system are somehow the only pre-requisites for a functioning state.

PA prime minister Salam Fayyad, who last year said that the PA could be financially independent by the end of 2013, just asked for another $5 billion over the next three years "to launch a Palestinian state."

The entire PA economy is a shell game, where donor money pays for basic needs but nothing is being done to actually build a functioning, independent state. It is wonderful that all the government is apparently not as corrupt as it was a few years ago, but that doesn't mean that the donor money is doing anything forward-looking. Fayyad's latest demand makes the PA economy a pyramid scheme as well, as the money coming tomorrow will keep propping up the untenable situation today. Meanwhile, there is no real economy, where people are actually building and growing and discovering and creating products that the world needs.

And these are just the economic problems with "Palestine." This doesn't even touch the much worse problems that it has.

UNRWA workers in Gaza on strike

UNRWA workers belonging to the "Union of Arab Employees" in Gaza re now on strike.

Schools, clinics and medical facilities are shut down.

Ma'an reports:

An estimated 11,500 employees of UNRWA's Gaza Strip sub-offices went on strike Wednesday morning, protesting the dismissal of a group of workers, and demanding permanent contracts for staff.

Certain employees of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, currently renew a one-year contract annually, and when a group of workers lost their jobs at the end of their contract, union officials threatened to strike.

The union called the strike for Wednesday, pulling teachers, doctors, maintenance staff, and security personnel from their posts, and keeping an estimated 220,000 students out of class.

Firas Press adds that the issues also include lack of respect for the "Palestinian judiciary" (this must mean Hamas courts, as the strike is in Gaza) and - if I am reading it right - workers being upset over the possibility of teaching about the Holocaust in UNRWA schools.

Another dopey Jewish college student opines on Israel

I wonder if you would look back at college newspaper articles written by today's political leaders, were they just as stupid as this sophomore named Jonathan Rich at the University of Georgia?

Zionist actions only spread anti-Semitism

In 1948, the state of Israel was declared in the land of Palestine.

Unfortunately, the indigenous population living in Palestine presented a problem for the Zionist desire for Jewish separatism.

As a result, 725,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homes and sent into exile, according to Israeli historian Ilan Pappé.

Isn’t it ironic that Jews, who were exiled from Egypt in ancient times, were the ones doing the ethnic cleansing?

How dare those Egyptians exile their Jewish slaves! To the desert, no less!

I also love the imagery of Jewish soldiers dragging 725,000 people out of their homes. Amazing they found the time to defeat five Arab armies at the same time. But, hey, it is sourced by a "historian" who admits that he doesn't care about the truth, so it must be true!

Our esteemed editorialist, who says he is Jewish to buttress his credentials, goes on to flaunt his keen understanding of the subject:

If Israel accepted Palestinian refugees as equal citizens, it would force Jews to live and interact with gentiles. And Zionists will not allow that.

Yep, Israel has no gentiles. Certainly no Arabs, no Muslims, no Christians, no Baha'i, no Druze. it is an ethnically pure state, because Zionists will not allow any non-Jews to live there. Of course, they don't want to interact with those filthy goyim who happen to walk the same streets, shop the same stores, and act in the same TV shows.

After all, a Jew who doesn't even know the basic story of Passover says so!

You would think that a college student would be slightly embarrassed to display such sheer ignorance in public.

Well, looking at him...maybe not.

"Train Station" banners in German, Spanish, French

Thanks to Silke, Suso and Jean, here are the "train station" posters translated into German and Spanish. Click to enlarge.

After I did these, I saw that DO commented that he has translated these and a number of ElderToons into German himself.

Amnesty official threatens Zionist at anti-Israel event in London

You have to read this post on Richard Millett's blog. Excerpts:

Last night I went to Amnesty International for an event called Deliberate Discrimination Deliberate Deprivation: The Denial of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories chaired by Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty’s Campaign Manager.

There were five speakers who each gave a ten minute cameo talk on how Israel had stolen Palestinian land, had destroyed and stolen Palestinian water resources, had destroyed Palestinian health care, had destroyed the Palestinian education system and had destroyed Palestinian cultural and political life.

...[They displayed a photo that] was taken in 2003 and shows a Palestinian boy with a Magen David cut into his forearm. The caption reads:

“The soldier, checking student’s ability to bear pain, took a piece of glass and broke it and taking Qasem’s arm, cut into it a Star of David (April 30th 2003)”

After the event I wanted to discuss the provenance of this photo with Ala Abu Dheer. He shook my hand and invited me to visit Palestinian towns with him to show me how the Palestinians were living and promised to email me details of the case of the Palestinian boy.

He asked me what I would do about it and I told him I would try to get Israel to investigate. However, I said that if an Israeli had done this surely we would have seen the photo by now. I asked him what he would do about Hamas’ crimes.

Then events took a surreal turn. An Amnesty official went to get Kristyan Benedict who proceeded to tell Mr Abu Dheer that there was no point in talking to me as I was a war crimes denier. On the way out Kristyan proceeded to tell me, inter alia, that he would “smack me in my little bald head”. As you can hear he also suggested that I put it on my blog, so here it is:

And you can hear the audio of an Amnesty official threatening violence against someone whose views he disagrees with.

Will Amnesty apologize? Will Benedict be reprimanded or fired?

Or is the crime of being a supporter of Israel so heinous that peaceful proponents of human rights just can't help themselves?

So how many civilians were killed recently in Gaza?

Some great research by Lenny Ben-David at I-Consult:

There in the middle of a silly article about Justin Bieber's visit to Israel, The New York Times' Isabel Kershner goldstones Israel.
"Last Thursday, a 16-year-old Israeli boy was critically wounded by an antitank missile fired by Hamas militants at a school bus in [SIC] Gaza. That triggered days of intense exchanges of fire, during which 18 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, were killed."
So how much is "about half" of 18? How many dead civilians? Eight? Nine? Ten?

Actually, the real number of civilians killed is five. It's relatively easy to find out just by looking at Arab sources in English.  And according to Arab sources, four were in close proximity to terrorists firing missiles at Israel.

A list of the 18 dead can be found below and on the site of Muslim News. Next to the names, I identified them as "fighters" or "civilians."  That determination is based on linked articles in the Muslim News, the Palestinian Maan News Agency or Human Rights Watch.

1. Mahmoud Al Manasra, 50, Al Shijaeyya. Civilian
2. Mohammad Al Mahmoum, 25, Rafah.  Fighter
3. Mosab Al Sufi, 18, Rafah.  Fighter
4. Saleh Al Tarabeen, 38, Rafah.  Fighter
5. Khaled Ad-Dabary, 23, Rafah.  Fighter
6. Mo’taz Abu Jame’, Khan Younis.  Fighter
7. Abdullah Al Qarra, Khan Younis.  Fighter
8. Nidal Qdeih, 21, Khan Younis.  Civilian
9. Najah Qdeih, 48, Khan Younis.  Civilian
10. Talal Abu Taha, 55, Khan Younis.  Civilian
11. Raed Shihada, 27, northern Gaza.  Fighter
12. Bilal Al ‘Ar’ir, 23, Al Shijaeyya.  Fighter
13. Mahmoud Al Jaro, 10, Al Shijaeyya.  Civilian
14. Ahmad Ghorab, northern Gaza.  Fighter
15. Mohammad Awaja, Rafah.  Fighter
16. Taiseer Abu Sneima, Rafah.  Fighter
17. Ahmad Al Zeitouniyya, northern Gaza.  Fighter
18. Zuheir Al Bir, Al Zeitoun neighborhood – Gaza.  Fighter

Isabel Kershner promises to research it further, but I can tell you where she got her information from: PCHR.

The same PCHR that determined that so many known militants were "civilians" in Cast Lead seems to be doing the same for those killed now.

PCHR writes:

A number of the artillery shells landed near three Palestinian civilians who were sitting near the Airport. Two of them were killed immediately and the third civilian died of his wounds on the evening of the same day. The dead are:

1. Mohammed Eyada Eid al-Mahmoum, 25;
2. Khaled Ismail Hamdan al-Dabari; 17;
3. Saleh Jarmi Ateya al-Tarabin, 38, who died of his wounds in Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis city.

We see immediately that all three were fighters according to Ma'an, and I quickly found and linked to the Hamas Al Qassam obituary page for one of them, al-Tarabin. (So far I found 7 obituaries from those two days, but Hamas does not always post them all immediately; some obituaries are posted years after they are killed.)

PCHR is again trying to inflate the number of "civilians" killed.

Posters for European train stations

From YNet:

A Swiss court has ordered the state's national train service, the SBB, to allow a pro-Palestinian group to hang anti-Israeli posters in Zurich's central train station, the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported on Tuesday.

The posters appeared to argue against Israel's right to exist. "Sixty-one years of Israel, 61 years of injustice," the sign read.

"A country without a people did not exist in the Middle East for the people without a country," it claimed. "Israel was established with violence on Palestinian land. The injustice demands resistance!"

From what I can tell, these aren't even paid ads - just banners that Israel haters put up.

Here it is (h/t Dicker):

So why can't the Zionists in Switzerland - and elsewhere in Europe - put up some banners that tell the truth? (I'll be happy to translate them to other languages if someone gives me the text.)

How Israel must respond to the threat of a unilateral "Palestine"

From NYT:

The United Nations praised Palestinian Authority efforts at strengthening its institutions in a report on Tuesday, describing aspects of its governance as sufficient for an independent state.

In the six areas where the United Nations is most engaged — governance, rule of law and human rights; livelihoods; education and culture; health; social protection; and infrastructure and water — it said that the authority’s “functions are now sufficient for a functioning government of state.”

The report said that the Palestinian economy was helped by Israeli measures to facilitate movement and access, but that further steps were needed.

“I believe Israel needs to roll back measures of occupation to match the PA’s achievements,” Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement. “I also stress the urgent need for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations on a two-state solution to resume, if the state-building and political tracks are to come together by September.”

The report itself also says:

[T]he institutional achievements of the Palestinian statebuilding agenda are approaching their limits within the political and physical space currently available, precisely at the time that it is approaching its target date for completion.

Notice that Serry's formulation is not that Israel should reward the PA for acting against incitement, or for negotiating in good faith, or for acting to ensure Israel's security needs are met. No, the UN holds that Israel should unilaterally give more and more to the PA so that they can screw Israel and hundreds of thousands of Israelis by unilaterally declaring a state.

Let's look at what Israel has done over the past year to help the PA.

In a report released today (available at the moment here, I received a copy via email,) the Government of Israel says in part:

In 2010, the Palestinian economy continued to grow at a quick pace, with economic growth reaching 9.3%, due to a very quick recovery of the Gaza economy (15%), accompanied by continued growth of the West Bank economy (8% 1). The PA's GDP in 2010 amounted to USD 5,728 million, and the GDP per capita increased by 6.1%, in comparison to the previous year.2 Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza contributed significantly to this growth. Increased Palestinian sales to Israel, a higher volume of commercial goods shipped from the West Bank via the land crossings to Israel and abroad, growing numbers of tourists visiting the West Bank, and increased construction, are all additional indications of the growth of the Palestinian economy.

Israel wishes to resume peace negotiations with the PA, with the aim of reaching a bilateral agreement for a two-state solution. Israel lent its support to efforts led by the international community to implement projects and build capacity and institutions in various fields.

...In 2010, Palestinian employment in Israel increased, and the average daily salary increased, due to an expansion of Palestinian employment by Israeli employers (legal employment only). In 2010, there was a 5.4% increase in the number of Palestinians employed by Israeli employers, compared to 2009.

...There have been intensive efforts to upgrade the facilities of the commercial crossings between Israel and the West Bank: in the framework of the biennial budget for 2011-2012, the GoI increased its investment in the Crossings Authority by NIS 120 million over two years. The budget of the Crossings Authority will stand at NIS 230 million in 2011 and a projected NIS 232 million in 2012, compared to NIS 167 million in 2009 22 . At present, the capacity of all .
commercial crossings is greater than actual demand, while the passage time through the crossings has been cut dramatically. No fees are charged for the passage of commercial goods, vehicles or passengers.23

...In 2010, movement in the West Bank became smoother and quicker, due to further Israeli measures in this area:

98 roadblocks have been removed throughout the West Bank.

Roads have been opened, including a number of roads in the Hebron and Ramallah districts.

The 443 Highway was opened to Palestinian traffic.

The hours of operation at the land crossings and checkpoints were extended and infrastructure at the land crossings was upgraded.

A pilot to extend working hours at the Allenby Bridge was made permanent in 2010, contributing for an increased volume of traffic.

There are 16 checkpoints, most of them operating under "normally open" status.

Permits were issued in 2010 to facilitate movement between Israel and the West Bank, including:

651,734 permits were issued for entry into Israel, a 42% increase compared to 2009. This, in addition to extension of the permits' validity.

200 VIP certificates were allocated to the PA in 2010.

More than 46,000 commercial permits were issued to merchants for entry into Israel.

511 cards were issued to ease the movement of public officials in the West Bank.

Approximately 23,000 foreign nationals who were in the West Bank illegally received authorization to remain in the West Bank, for humanitarian reasons.

It goes on and on, over 40 pages of specific things Israel has done to support a the autonomy of an eventual Palestinian Arab state. It details cooperation on electricity, water, telecommunications, private sector growth, agriculture, tax revenues and more.

Israel has been criminally silent on how much it has done to prop up the Palestinian Authority.

Now, the UN report doesn't discuss on the possibility that the PA might make unilateral moves to declare a state in September, as they have been threatening. Even though that goes against the entire peace process, the UN does not seem to be too concerned. Based on Serry's words, it appears almost as if the UN is supporting such a unilateral move by the PLO.

Israel's path is clear.

Israel must say that all of the concrete actions detailed above that have been done out of good faith in order to help the PA's economy and institution building will end immediately, until the PA goes back to the negotiating table. It is beyond belief that the PA can wantonly threaten to declare a unilateral state at Israel's expense at the exact same time that Israel is doing so much for the PA (despite Robert Serry's implications that Israel isn't doing nearly enough.)

Israel must stress that it continued to support Palestinian Arab state building even as the PA/PLO refused for well over a year to engage in any significant negotiations. That support must end, now, absent any indication of compromise on the PalArabs' part. If Israel doesn't cooperate with the PA, there will be no chance for a viable Palestinian Arab state no matter how much the world says they support it. Until the threat to declare a state in September is withdrawn, Israel cannot continue to do so much to facilitate a move that would cost Israel so much monetarily, defensively - and spiritually.

The PA economy is dependent on two external factors: billions of dollars in aid from the West and continued cooperation with Israel on jobs and trade. Israel can cut the strings without affecting her economy unduly, but the effect on the PA would be immediate and devastating. Unemployment would soar, its GDP would plummet and the EU and US would not be keen on picking up the slack.

If the PLO can act unilaterally, then they are forcing Israel to do the same.

If the UN complains, hey, Israel can just quote Robert Serry's own words that the existing efforts were not considered to be all that significant anyway.

(h/t David G)

Passover: A celebration of nationhood

The upcoming Passover holiday is, in essence, a celebration of Jewish nationhood. It is the anniversary of the creation of Jewish national consciousness. Its annual commemoration is proof positive that the Jewish people do not merely share a faith, but that we are all part of the historic Jewish nation.

Today's Arabs and their ideological partners have been espousing the myth that there is no such thing as a Jewish nation. Their desire to create a modern Palestinian Arab nationalism, which has no historic basis at all, forces them to deny the obvious: the nationhood of the Jewish people and their millennia-old, deep emotional attachment to the Land of Israel. There is no Arab or Muslim phrase comparable to "Next year in Jerusalem!", and there never will be, despite their fake newfound attachment to a city and a region that Arabs and Muslims roundly ignored and never recognized as distinct for hundreds of years.

The nationhood of the Jews, on the other hand, was well known to even the most dispassionate observer. One of thousands of examples can be seen in this New York Times article on Passover, April 9, 1855, which may be the first description of the holiday in that newspaper. It is a surprisingly good description of the holiday for that time. Highlighted are the parts that show how Passover and Jewish nationhood are intertwined.

Israel hasn't allowed items into Gaza for a week

From Ma'an:

For the sixth day in a row crossings into the Gaza Strip were closed by Israeli forces maintaining a blockade on the coastal enclave, who told Palestinian liaison officers that the closure was for "security reasons."

Closures began on Tuesday, two days ahead of spike in border violence which saw 18 killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza -- including at least six civilians -- and two injured in Israel. The closure continues despite an announced ceasefire deal that went into place before midnight on Sunday.

Perhaps the continued closure is related to this small story out of the Islamic Jihad Saraya website:

At 6 o'clock Sunday morning 4/10/2011, the artillery unit of the Al-Quds Brigades shot 4 80 mm mortar shells toward the site "Karm Abu Salem," [Kerem Shalom] located east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where shells hit their targets precisely, leading to the interruption of electricity to most parts of the site and spreading a state of confusion the soldiers present inside.

Kerem Shalom is one of the major goods crossings into Gaza, and Islamic Jihad was bragging about targeting it.

Iranian news questions why Bahrain's US ambassador is Jewish

From Iran's Fars News:

The Zionist regime's spy agency (Mossad) is teaching the worst torturing techniques and methods to the Bahraini security forces to help Manama suppress protests in the Persian Gulf country, a Bahraini activist revealed on Tuesday.

"Mossad agents have been teaching torturing methods to the forces of the Al-Khalifa regime," Sadeq al-Jamari told FNA on Tuesday, adding that all torturing methods used by the Mossad agents against the Palestinians are practiced by the Bahraini security forces on arrested protestors and kidnapped citizens.

He underscored the close relations between the Al-Khalifa regime and Israel, reminding that al-Khalifa has signed several security pacts with the Zionist regime.

Reiterating the Al-Khalifa regime's close and rather intimate ties with Tel Aviv, the activist pointed out that Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa meets Israeli rabbis and officials on a regular basis, and asked why Manama's ambassador to Washington is a Jewish woman.

UK's list of "countries of concern" for human rights includes Israel

The United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office came out with its Human Rights and Democracy:
The 2010 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report, where they list what the UK is doing to promote human rights worldwide.

It includes a detailed breakdown of the human rights situation in 26 "countries of concern."

And what are these countries?

Afghanistan
Belarus
Burma
Chad
China
Colombia
Congo
Cuba
Eritea
Iran
Iraq
Israel and the territories
Libya
North Korea
Pakistan
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Syria
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
Zimbabwe

They explain their criteria:

[These are the] 26 countries where we have some of the most serious wide-ranging human rights concerns. When deciding on which countries to include, we also considered whether the country had been the target of a high level of UK engagement on human rights in 2010, and whether it would be likely to effect positive change in the wider region if its human rights record improved.

I don't need to go into why including Israel in this rogue's gallery of states is ridiculous and insulting. Israel compares quite well to Western Europe in its dedication to human rights, and the methods that the report uses to make Israel look bad could be used to make any nation look equally bad or worse. (It does give some lip service to looking at abuses by the PA and Hamas.)

It is worth pointing out that, in the few months since 2010 ended, we have seen uprisings and major protests regarding human rights in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait - but none of these are on the list. Neither is Turkey, that bastion of human rights, with its institutionalized discrimination against non-Muslims. Nigeria doesn't make the list either.

But hey, seriously. How could the UK even consider a list of human rights abusers without including Israel? There could have been riots!

(h/t Emet)

Hamas playing Arafat's game (Toameh)

From Khaled Abu Toameh:

Although Hamas has been in full control of the Gaza Strip since 2007 -- and its security forces and militias have been employing an iron fist against any individual or group that defies the Islamist movement's authority -- lately Hamas has lately been trying to avoid responsibility for rocket and mortar attacks on Israel by claiming that other groups in the Gaza Strip were responsible.

By holding others responsible for the anti-Israel attacks, Hamas is signaling to the world that it has learned a thing or two from Arafat and Abbas. But if in the past Arafat and Abbas were allowed to get away with it, there is no reason why Hamas should be absolved of any responsibility for what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

If Hamas is now saying that it does not have control over other groups that are firing the rockets and mortars at Israel, then its leaders should resign and pave the way for a new regime

On a number of occasions, Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, did take credit for firing some of the rockets and mortars. However, Hamas spokesmen continue to maintain that smaller and more radical groups like the Islamic Jihad were behind most of the recent attacks.

Hamas's line of defense -- "It's not us, it's someone else" -- is not unfamiliar to those who have been closely watching the situation in the Palestinian territories over the past two decades.

For many years, Yasser Arafat used the same argument to explain why the territories under his control were being used as launching pads for anyone who wanted to attack Israel.

Ar first, Arafat said he was unable to stop terror attacks against Israel because they were being carried out by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on instructions from Tehran and Damascus.

Then he said he was unable to take action against the terrorists because of Israel's military response, which also targeted Arafat's security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

So, first Arafat tried to evade responsibility by blaming other Palestinians for the terror attacks on Israel. Then, when the Israel Defense Forces took the initiative to halt terror assaults emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Arafat put the blame on Israel for "escalating tensions" and foiling his efforts to stop the attacks.

Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, appears to have endorsed the same policy of putting the blame on others.

Abbas did too little, if anything, to stop the rocket and mortar attacks on Israel after he came to power in January 2005, although he had more than 35,000 armed policemen -- trained and paid for by the US amd Europe -- at his disposal in the Gaza Strip.

He too defended his failure to tackle the problem by first saying it was not his men who were firing the rockets and mortars and, second, blaming Israel whenever the IDF took action to stop the attacks.

In keeping with this policy, Abbas was quick last week to issue a statement condemning Israeli "aggression" after a rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip hit a school bus, critically injuring an Israeli teenager. Instead of directly and clearly condemning the attack on the bus, Abbas urged Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip "not to give Israel an excuse" to step up its military strikes.

Actually, in Arabic the Al Qassam website takes credit for lots of rockets, and even has videos of them shooting rockets - from among buildings in a city:

Just another war crime of putting civilians at risk. No big deal.

"Mossad is on Facebook inciting against Egypt's army"

Egyptian media are reporting that Egyptian security services are monitoring Facebook and are saying that calls for youths to rise up against the government are really from the Mossad, trying to instigate a revolution against the army.

They warn the youth of Egypt not to believe everything they read on Facebook - because it might just be a dastardly Israeli plot.

Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.

Just another Arab attempt to murder Jews. Hardly worth mentioning.

Palestine Press Agency quotes Israeli sources as saying that there was a shooting at a car "belonging to one of the settlers" near the village of Azzam, probably near Ma'aleh Shomron.

There were no injuries, so what is essentially an everyday attempt at murder goes largely unreported.

The army is sweeping the area looking for the shooter.

No doubt the army's actions in trying to find a would-be murderer are disproportionate.

Report: Egypt refuses Hamas request for consulate in Gaza

The (anti-Hamas) Palestine Press Agency reports:

Informed sources said the Hamas delegation to Cairo were told of the absolute rejection of the request made by the Hamas to opening a representation office for the Arab Republic of Egypt in the Gaza Strip.

The sources said the shock hit a delegation of Hamas after the rejection, as they expected the approval...

The sources said that the Egyptian side emphasized that they would not help foster the continued division [between the PA and Hamas].

It appears that while the new Egypt is more conciliatory towards Hamas, they are not willing to throw the PA under a bus as Hamas expected.

E-Book: "Arab Theologians on Jews and Israel"

This full e-book, just released on the Web, contains a excerpts of the official English translation of the Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research, September 1968, at Al Azhar University in Egypt.

It is essentially a treatise on why all Muslims should hate Jews and (of course) Israel.

Here is just one of countless examples from the "scholarly" papers in this book:

As the introduction states:

Arab spokesmen contend that they differentiate meticulously between Zionism and Judaism and that they are against Zionism and not against Judaism. There cannot be a more trenchant disproof of this allegation than the arguments used at the Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research, at least as regards it participants. The odium of Zionism is described as emanating from the perversity of Judaism. Zionism and Jews are treated synonymously.

Arab Theologians on Jews and Israel 4th Edition

Thanks to Brian of London who emailed this around, and to David Littman who is one of the co-editors (along with the late Professor Yehoshafat Harkabi) and who decided to release this on the Web. (The name D. F. Green is a pseudonym for the two.)

BDSers: Hating Israel trumps helping Africa

From TheJC:

Pro-Palestinian campaigners have launched a campaign to stop Bob Geldof from visiting Israel next month on the basis that going there would damage the singer's "credibility as a defender of the rights of the dispossessed".

The former Boomtown Rats singer is to make his first trip to the country to accept an honorary degree from Ben Gurion University (BGU) in recognition of his anti-poverty work.

But Raymond Deane, the cultural and academic boycott officer for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Camp (IPSC) has demanded that the star reject it and also pull out of a conference the same week on Israel's humanitarian aid work in Africa.

He also said Mr Geldof should consider whether it was "appropriate" to attend the IsraAid conference because "the criminal actions of the Israeli state have resulted in the Palestinians being more dependent on humanitarian aid than any people on earth".

Mr Deane went on to add that if his appeal was ignored, the singer "may well stand accused of placing the oppressor's flattery above the victim's plea for solidarity."

He wrote: "You will have lent yourself heedlessly to exploitation by a rogue state that has mastered the art of propaganda and whitewash".

So not only are the BDSers trying to convince people to boycott Israeli products, but also to boycott Israeli charitable organizations that help thousands of people worldwide!

IsraAid coordinates Israeli charity responses to disasters and other needs around the world. Part of its mission statement is:

To provide humanitarian assistance to people in need, regardless of religion, race, gender, nationality, age, disabilities.

To provide aid with full respect to culture and custom of the beneficiaries, while building on local capacities and involving program beneficiaries in the process.

The conference that Geldof will attend is about how to most effectively help people in Africa in need.

BDS advocates hate Israel so much that they would rather hurt thousands of people in need worldwide than allow Israel to help them! They would rather see Africans starve than have them accept any aid from those awful ~~Jews~~ Zionists.

BDSers don't give a damn about helping people. Their entire purpose is simply to slander a single state as the worst human rights violator on the planet. A state that, by sheer coincidence, just happens to be the only nation that is meant to support the human rights of Jews to self-determination.

How's that Egyptian democracy going?

From the NYT:

An Egyptian blogger was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for criticizing the military in what human rights advocates called one of the more alarming violations of freedom of expression since a popular uprising led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak two months ago.

The blogger, Maikel Nabil, 26, had assailed the Egyptian armed forces for what he called its continuation of the corruption and anti-democratic practices of Mr. Mubarak. Mr. Nabil often quoted from reports by established human rights groups.

The charges against Mr. Nabil included insulting the military establishment and spreading false information about the armed forces. The tribunal charged him with spreading information previously published by human rights organizations like Amnesty International on the army’s use of violence against protesters, the torture of those detained inside the Egyptian Museum and the use of forced pelvic exams, known as “virginity tests,” against detained female protesters.

The main evidence against Mr. Nabil, who blogged under the name “Son of Ra,” was a CD containing 73 screen shots of entries on his blog and his personal Facebook page, according to Heba Morayef, a researcher in Egypt for Human Rights Watch, which is based in New York.

Mr. Nabil has the unusual political position in Egypt of being a pacifist as well as a champion of Israel, often praising its democracy, educational standards and innovations.

Mona Seif, a rights advocate, said Mr. Nabil may have been singled out as an easy target partly because of previous run-ins with the military and partly because of his pro-Israel views.

Apparently, the Egyptian military figures that most Egyptians won't get too worked up about a Zionist being arrested.

Here is Nabil's blog post, in Arabic, describing why he is pro-Israel.

(h/t Silke)

Accidental Islamic education in Australia

From the Herald Sun, quoting The Australian (I cannot find the original):

A MOSQUE in western Sydney was selling copies of the inflammatory anti-Semitic book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion on the same weekend it opened its doors to the wider community to dispel some of the myths surrounding Islam.

The bookstall on the ground floor of the Lakemba Mosque had in stock about 15 bright-pink paperback editions of The Protocols for sale for $8.

The Protocols is a hoax document first published in Russia in 1903 that purports to be an account of a meeting of Jewish leaders discussing plans for economic world domination. The books were for sale in a small makeshift bookshop lined with ornate copies of the Koran in a room off a car park underneath the mosque.

On a large table in the middle of the room was a jumble sale of books ranging from early childhood education to cookbooks, including a couple of stacks of The Protocols among the piles of Islamic literature.

When asked by The Australian why the mosque was selling The Protocols, the bookshop volunteer hurriedly grabbed the books and said he would take them off the table. ``We’re not racist. I don’t want any trouble,’’ he said. ``I can’t read, I don’t read the books, I don’t know what’s in them. I don’t decide what books are chosen."

I'm not sure, but it might have dispelled one myth about Islam - the Muslims have no problem with Jews.

Egyptian Salafis attack Copts, Sufis; hundreds of Copts fleeing Egypt

Remember how optimistic everyone was about Egypt in February? Apparently, not all Egyptians are quite as sanguine.

From Al Masry al-Youm:

Since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February, many Coptic Christians have begun making plans to leave the country, fearing instability and the rising power of Islamist political groups.

Lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic Egyptians, who account for around 10 per cent of the country’s 80 million citizens, say that in the past few weeks they have received hundreds of calls from Copts wanting to leave Egypt.

Naguib Gabriel, a prominent Coptic lawyer and head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, said his office had been receiving at least 70 calls per week from people wanting to know how they can emigrate.

“Every day people come to me and ask how they can get to the American or Canadian embassies. They are insisting on leaving Egypt because the risks of staying here are too great," Gabriel said.

“We’re at a crossroads,” he added. “Many Christians are afraid of the future because of the fanatics in the mosques.”

At least 15 people, Christians and Muslims, were killed last month in a chain of violence which erupted because of a relationship between a Coptic man and Muslim woman in a village south of Cairo. At least 10 people were killed in similar clashes in the Cairo neighborhood of Moqattam in March.

In recent days there have also been clashes involving the Salafi movement -- a hard-line, literalist Islamic sect that has recently been flexing its political muscle throughout Egypt.

According to recent reports, a Coptic service center in Cairo was closed down last month after being picketed by Salafis, while fights broke out in the Fayoum Governorate south of the capital after the sect tried to force the closure of a shop selling alcohol.

It all seems a far cry from the days when demonstrators in Tahrir Square were declaring, “Muslims and Christians are one hand."

Sam Fanous, who runs a company helping Egyptians emigrate and settle in Canada, said that over the past month his office had been “bombarded” with requests from Copts who wanted help in leaving the country.

“I have people coming to my Cairo office until midnight. Often I tell my assistant to shut down the phones because we have so many people calling,” he said. “The majority of people want to emigrate. Some ask about asylum, but I explain they cannot get refugee status from Egypt.”

Fanous said most of the people coming to him were well-off professionals.

“Some want to go and not come back. Some want to take their families and then come back until it becomes time to leave," he said.

Some details:

In the last two weeks three attacks on churches were undertaken by Salafis or Islamic Fundamentalists in Egypt. The Salafis demanded churches move to locations outside communities and be forbidden from making repairs, "even if they are so dilapidated that the roofs will collapse over the heads of the congregation," says Father Estephanos Shehata of Samalut Coptic Diocese.
...
On Sunday March 27 nearly 500 Salafis, armed with swords, batons and knives, stood in front of St. Mary's church in the Bashtil district of Imbaba, Giza demanding its closure because "this is a Muslim area and no church should be allowed here." They closed the church door and held a number of the parishioners inside, including children. The terrorized Copts called the army to get them out, especially the children, who were traumatized. The military police arrived, freed the congregation and dispersed the Muslim mob, who lurked nearby "to see if they need to attack again in case the Copts returned to the church," said a Coptic witness.

St. George's Church in Beni Ahmad, 7 KM south of Minya was also subjected to Muslim intimidation. The 100 year-old church received three years ago an official permit from Minya governorate allowing for the expansion of its eastern side as well as the erection of a social services center within a small plot of land belonging to the church. Three Salafis together with a large crowd of village Muslims visited the church on Wednesday, March 23 and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately and undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers. They also demanded the church priest, Father Georgy Thabet, leave the village with his family.

...The Diocese stepped-in and contacted the authorities who in turn asked them to contact the military governor. A meeting was held between representatives from the church, the Salafis, the army and security in Minya. The Salafis requested the demolition of what was built and the departure of the priest and his family. In the end the military told the Copts they cannot interfere in this case. "In other words the authorities have sold the Copts to the Salafis, to do what they like with them and the church," commented local Coptic activist Mariam Ragy.

Catholic Online adds:

People are anxious to know where this wild ride will end. They are anxious because what happens to the Copts will signal the fate of many others. The Copts are the largest religious minority in the region, and Egypt holds a certain preeminence in the region. Consequently, if it does not end well for the Copts, it is not likely to go well for other Christians throughout the region. Unfortunately, at this point all we know for certain is that life for the Copts in Egypt after Mubarak hangs in the balance.

The Salafis are also attacking Sufi mosques:

16 historic mosques in Alexandria belonging to Sufi orders have been marked for destruction by Salafis. The newspaper notes that Alexandria has 40 mosques associated with Sufis, and is the headquarters for 36 Sufi groups. Half a million Sufis live in the city, out of a municipal total of four million people.

Aggression against the Sufis in Egypt has included a raid on Alexandria's most distinguished mosque, named for, and housing, the tomb of the 13th century Sufi, al-Mursi Abu'l Abbas. Born in the then-Muslim city of Murcia in southeastern Spain, al-Mursi emigrated to Alexandria. He was a disciple of and successor to the Sufi sheikh Abu'l Hassan al-Shadhili, founder of the powerful Shadhili Sufi order, which remains influential throughout north Africa, south Asia, the Muslim communities of the Indian Ocean, and Indonesia.

Salafis have alleged that Sufis are agents of the west as well as heretics. The extremists want to take control of Sufi mosques, after they destroy shrines within their precincts. One object of their manoeuvres is the Qaed Ibrahim mosque in Alexandria, which was the site of mass protests, involving thousands of people, co-ordinated with those in Cairo's Tahrir Square, during the movement against ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

The Alexandrian Sufi leader sheikh Gaber Kasem al-Kholy has said: "Coptic Christians are a main target for those extremists, but we need to speak out about the suffering of the Sufi people. We have a considerable number of followers, and we are willing and able to protect Egypt's legacy."

Insane anti-Israel quote of the day

From our old pal Ken O'Keefe, who is so crazy that even the Free Gaza movement has distanced themselves from him, talking about an Israeli attack on a suspected weapons factory in March:

What is taking place in Gaza is as bad as anything in history.

"Wall of Lies"

The David Horowitz Freedom Center has been publishing a full page ad in various college newspapers called "The Palestinian Wall of Lies" and has a companion website that highlight many lies that are constantly told about Israel and Jews. It has caused some controversy but it is worth looking at.

An EoZ fan, taking my Hasbara advice, took each of the points in the ad and turned it into a simple video. This is a great example of how to move information from one medium to another, and help find a new audience for it. It is something that needs to be done much more often.

The DHFC itself made its own much more elaborate video to back up the facts mentioned in the Wall of Lies.

Write a message to Gilad Shalit!

A new initiative called MeetGilad has been launched to send messages to Gilad Shalit.

I joined the initiative as an organization, so you can write your message to Gilad Shalit here. I am aiming to get 250 messages from readers of this blog.

After you write your message you can write to the Red Cross, UN, EU , PA and various NGOs to pressure the Gaza government to allow messages to be sent to Shalit. You can also write to Shalit's family with words of support.

Go write to Gilad Shalit now!

More information on who is behind it.

Israeli Arab MK defends Gaza rockets

Firas Press quotes Maariv as reporting that Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi said that Gaza armed groups have a right to fire rockets at Israel - her country.

She said, "Those who live under siege and hardship will do everything for their freedom and Israel understands that."

Zoabi was on the flotilla that included the Mavi Marmara last summer.

Would any democracy in the world tolerate a member of their parliament publicly supporting war against their own country?

Wikileaks: US confirms Syrian nuclear weapons site

From a new Wikileaks cable, dated April 25, 2008:

- You will recall reports that the Israeli air force conducted a mission over Syria on September 6, 2007.

- I want to inform you that the purpose of that Israeli mission was to destroy a clandestine nuclear reactor that Syria was constructing in its eastern desert near a place we call al-Kibar.

- The Israeli mission was successful - the reactor was damaged beyond repair. Syria has completed efforts to clean up the site and destroy evidence of what was really there, constructing a new building on the old site.

- We have delayed sharing this information with you, because our first concern was to prevent conflict.

- We believe - based on strong evidence - that North Korea assisted Syria with the reactor at al-Kibar.
...
- Our intelligence experts are confident that the facility the Israelis targeted was in fact a nuclear reactor of the same type North Korea built indigenously at its Yongbyon nuclear facility. The U.S. intelligence community conducted an intensive, months- long effort to confirm and corroborate the information Israel provided us on the reactor and to gather more
details from our own sources and methods.

- We have good reason to believe this reactor was not intended for peaceful purposes.

- First, we assess this reactor was configured to produce plutonium: it was not configured for power production, was isolated from any civilian population, and was ill-suited for research.

- Second, Syria went to great pains to keep this secret by taking very careful steps to conceal the true nature of the site.

- Third, by maintaining secrecy and not declaring the site to the IAEA and providing design information, as Syria's NPT-mandated IAEA safeguards agreement requires, Syria undermined the very purpose of IAEA safeguards - to provide the international community with the necessary assurance/verification that the reactor was part of a peaceful program.

- Finally, Syria's concealment and lies about what happened for months now after the Israeli air strike is compelling proof that it has something to hide. In fact, after the attack on the site, Syria went to great lengths to clean up the site and destroy evidence of what was really there. If there were nothing to hide, Syria presumably would have invited IAEA inspectors, other experts, and the news media to the site to prove that.

...- The existence of this reactor was dangerous and destabilizing for the region, and we judged that it could have been only weeks away from becoming operational at the time it was destroyed by the Israeli air force.

- Specifically, we assessed that once the pumphouse and pipe system were complete in early August, the reactor could begin operation at any time. Once operations began, certainly a military option would have been much more problematic with radioactive material present.

...
- We discussed policy options with the Israelis, but in the end Israel made its own decision to destroy the reactor. This decision was made by Israel alone - they did not seek our consent. Nonetheless, we understand Israel's decision.

- <> saw this reactor, and what Syria may have intended to do with it, as an existential threat that required it to act to defend itself.

- Syria's secret construction of this nuclear reactor is the latest in a series of unacceptable actions by the Asad regime.

- Syria is a state that supports terrorism, destabilizes Lebanon, and is the largest conduit for foreign fighters and suicide bombers entering Iraq to kill Iraqis, Americans, and Coalition forces.

- The Syrian Government supports terrorist groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, and others, including by playing host to leaders of some of these groups.

- Syria is a proliferator in every sense - of terrorism, of instability to its neighbors, including Lebanon, and now as a recipient and developer of dangerous nuclear technology.

- The Syrian regime, in going down this path, has shown a disregard for the security of the region and of its own people.

- We call upon the Syrian regime to reveal the full extent of its nuclear activities, as it is required to do under the NPT and its safeguards agreement, and verify that its covert nuclear-related activities have stopped.

- For better relations with the international community, in addition to full disclosure and
cooperation regarding its covert nuclear program, Syria needs to end support for insurgents and foreign fighters in Iraq, support for Palestinian terrorists, and interference in Lebanon. If willing to do so, Syria can expect to be welcomed by the international community.

I wonder what happened between 2008 and 2009 that prompted the US to ignore all this known information about the country and reward it with a new ambassador.

Or, as David Shenker notes in TNR,

Support for the regime goes beyond the standard “devil you know” rationale. To wit, one commentator in The National Interest recently opined that “Washington knows [Syrian President] Bashar well and it knows how rational and predictable he is in foreign affairs.” No doubt, Assad hasn’t killed millions like Stalin. But he has spent his first decade in power recklessly dedicated to undermining stability—and U.S. interests—in the Middle East.

Here’s the devil we know: Since 2006 alone, Assad’s Syria has exponentially increased the capabilities of the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, providing the organization with advanced anti-ship and highly accurate M-600 missiles, top of the line anti-tank weapons, and has allowed the organization to establish a SCUD base on Syrian soil. At the same time, Assad continues to meddle (and murder) in Lebanon, harbor and support Hamas, and subvert Iraq. Damascus remains a strategic ally of otherwise isolated Tehran. And in 2007, it was revealed that Assad’s Syria was progressing toward building a nuclear weapon. Given the pernicious effect of Assad’s policies on U.S. interests and the region, it’s difficult to imagine that a successor or replacement regime could be worse.

Anyone can get a Grad rocket!

An interesting item from Ma'an:

A group calling itself the Marwan Haddad division of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a new Palestinian military group in Gaza, said its fighters had launched a homemade projectile toward Israel late Sunday night.

"Israel is not safe from the resistance," a statement from the group said, adding that the projectile was aimed at the Ashkelon power plant.

The group said it would not accept truce conditions with Israel, and announced the launch less than an hour before a ceasefire deal was set.

On Sunday morning, the group issued its first statement, saying fighters had fired a Grad-style missile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and two homemade projectiles at the Zikim military base.

A little-known group in Gaza can get their hands on a Grad rocket?

This means that either this tiny group is:

Lying.
In contact with arms dealers from Egypt and likely Sudan in order to smuggle Grad rockets through the Rafah tunnels.
Purchasing or stealing extra Grads from Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Working with existing terror groups in Gaza like Hamas to be able to shoot rockets into Israel while giving the larger groups plausible deniability when they announce "cease fires."

I would guess the chances of each are 20%, 0%, 20% and 60%, respectively.

Does this mean that France is more Islamophobic than Israel?

From AFP:

France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim population, on Monday officially banned women from wearing full-face veils in public places.

Other European countries have drawn up bans on the burqa and the niqab but France is the first to risk stirring social tensions by putting one into practice.

Police on Saturday said they arrested 59 people, including 19 veiled women, who turned up for a banned protest in Paris over the ban, while two more were detained as they attempted to travel to the rally from Britain and Belgium.

Of course, Israel has no ban on burqas. Or minarets. Or muezzin's amplified public calls to prayer.

Europe is making Israel look like a model of tolerance for Islam!

World Bank calls health of PalArab children "outstanding" (updated)

From the BBC, 2009:

The Lancet medical journal report highlights how 10% of Palestinian children now have stunted growth.

An Israeli government spokesperson said the Lancet had failed to seek its view, and said many Palestinians had accessed medical care in the country.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, called the report one-sided.
He said: "This is propaganda in the guise of a medical report."

"Mortality rates among infants and under-fives haven't declined much. This is unusual when compared with other Arab countries that used to have similar rates but have managed to bring them down.

"The trend for stunting among children is increasing, and the concern is about the long-term effects. It is caused by chronic malnutrition, and affects cognitive development and physical health.

"There are pockets in northern Gaza where the level of stunted growth reaches 30%.

"It's very important that women and children have access to quality care."

The New York Times quoted a Harvard researcher who slammed the Israeli reaction:

The Israeli government’s dismissal of the report as “propaganda in the guise of a medical report” is disheartening. Measuring stunted growth among children represents objective health data collection. Regardless of partisan persuasions, the percentage of Palestinian children who now suffer from stunted growth remains ten percent. Dismissing the report as one-sided does not change the medical facts on the ground, which clearly indicate that the Palestinian population in Gaza is facing a dangerous and worsening health situation, one that certainly has implications on any future prospects for peace.

The Lancet (and, to an extent, the BBC and NYT) were pushing the idea that a 10% stunting rate in children is horrible.

Naturally, Israel was blamed as part of the problem.

Yet the World Bank report just came out with a report designed called "Building the Palestinian State: Sustaining Growth, Institutions, and Service Delivery." The point of this report is to say that the Palestinian Arab territories are ready for statehood.

Look how they report roughly the same statistics:

In terms of indicators of early childhood nutrition, WB&G is an outstanding performer. Among children under the age of 5, only 11.5 percent suffer from stunting (low height for age) and a mere 1.4 percent from wasting (low weight for height). In the average middle income country, 3 out of 10 children are stunted, i.e. more than three times the figure for WB&G. Performance in terms of wasting incidence is even more compelling: one in 10 children in a middle income country suffers from wasting, i.e. the rate is 7 times lower in WB&G. Thus, judged by anthropometric outcomes, WB&G performs better than most other countries in the world, irrespective of income. ...It is important to note that the pool of countries in the sample includes a variety of middle income countries from the region, such as Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco -- and WB&G fares better than these in terms of early childhood nutrition indicators. In addition, overall incidence rates of stunting and wasting have been relatively stable over time.

How is a 10% stunting rate considered terrible in 2009 and 11.5% considered outstanding in 2011? It depends on what propaganda goal you have in what you are writing. When you want to demonize Israel, you cherry pick numbers to make the health situation look bad; when you want to make the PA look good and ready for a state you do the exact opposite. That "objective data" mentioned in the NYT is now seen to have been presented in the most subjective manner possible - by not comparing it to similar territories worldwide.

And by the way, both those numbers seemed to have been taken from studies made in 2006. Did things worsen?

Well, the Lancet followed up in 2010, and reported on a newer 2008 Bir Zeit study:

6% of 1883 children who were assessed were stunted (8% of 930 boys vs 3% of 950 girls, p=0·01), less than 1% had wasting, 2% were underweight, 11% were anaemic (7% of boys vs 14% of girls), and 15% were overweight and obese (11% of boys vs 20% of girls; 11% were overweight, and 4% were obese).

Between 2006 and 2008 - when Israel already had the blockade in Gaza - children in the territories got a lot fatter, and stunting went down seemingly dramatically, from 11.5% to only 6%! (The sample ages may have been different in the two studies; the second study was for schoolchildren. Yet the study implied that young children were in better nutrition programs than older schoolchildren.)

It is hard to come up with a better example of lies, damned lies and statistics.

(h/t Zach N)

UPDATE: Here are the stunting statistics for various Arab countries, according to UNICEF:

Qatar 8%
Palestinian Territories- 10%
Algeria - 15
Lebanon - 11
Jordan - 12
Oman - 13
UAE - 17
Saudi Arabia - 20
Libya - 21
Morocco - 23
Kuwait - 24
Iraq - 26
Syria - 28
Egypt - 29
Yemen – 58

(h/t Dusty)

New IDF video of Iron Dome

YNet got hold of a video put out by the Defense Ministry, seemingly done with a night-vision camera, showing Iron Dome intercept and destroy Qassam rockets on April 7:

Nice!

(So why doesn't YNet just put it on YouTube directly instead of making bloggers like me jump through hoops to be able to capture it and put it on YouTube ourselves?)

Yemen kicks Al Jazeera out of the country; Syria stops photographs

From Bloomberg:

Yemen has closed the office of Al Jazeera television and withdrawn the Doha, Qatar-based network’s license to report from the country, state-run Saba news agency reported, citing an unidentified official.

The decision to permanently close the news bureau followed what the report called a "sabotage scheme aimed at inciting strife."

Yemen recalled its ambassador to Qatar for consultation following remarks by Qatar’s prime minister about political tensions in the Arabian Peninsula country, Saba reported yesterday.

Al Jazeera has an interesting blog entry about how Syria's secret police are stopping journalists from taking pictures - so they acted like tourists:

We wanted to get a better view - and perhaps some other pictures - so we walked all the way around the mosque to the other side of the protest. As soon as we got to the other side, I took out my camera. Before I could even lift it to my face, three pairs of hands grabbed it, and myself, saying: “No, no pictures.”

They tried to wrestle the camera from my hands but I managed to pull it back, saying I was a tourist, that I was sorry for the trouble.

“No trouble,” they said. “But no pictures here.”

“You go now please," they said. So we walked towards the protest and I jammed the camera back in my bag. We walked the perimeter of the protest and I standed there looking at Afaf, the mosque, Afaf, the mosque ... trying to get the police to lose interest in us.

It was at that point when a colleague from another network (which will remain nameless for their safety) came up to us. A few quick jokes were exchanged at which point he noted the situation was getting "a bit dodgy”. We agreed. He said he had a car stashed down one of the back alleys and off we went.

Back to the hotel in one piece. They’re not tremendous photos but what can you expect in Syria? Even when you have permission to film, this is a place where you’re better off acting like a tourist.

I hope to finish Michael Totten's excellent new book this coming weekend so I can review it here, but he talks a lot about how Hezbollah tries to limit what can be filmed, photographed or reported from the parts of Lebanon they control. That story, of how jurnalists are limited in their ability to report, needs to be part of all reporting from any area.