Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Gamesmanship over Iran continues

From BBC:

EU member states have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian crude oil to put pressure on the country over its nuclear programme.

The move is expected to be announced formally at an EU foreign ministers' meeting at the end of January.

The US, which recently imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, welcomed the news.

From Sky News:

The UK would respond militarily if Iran carries out its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the Defence Secretary has warned.

Philip Hammond used a speech in Washington DC to warn Iran that any attempt to close the key Gulf trade route would be "unsuccessful" and could be stopped in part by the Royal Navy.

"Any attempt by Iran to do this would be illegal and unsuccessful," he said in a speech at the Atlantic Council.

"Our joint naval presence in the Arabian Gulf, something our regional partners appreciate, is key to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for international trade.

"It is in all our interests that the arteries of global trade are kept free, open and running. Disruption to the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz would threaten regional and global economic growth."

Iran has threatened to block the 34-mile wide strait in retaliation for a planned EU trade embargo on Iranian oil.

From Christian Science Monitor:

If Iran is hoping that China will buy more of its oil to make up the exports it is slated to lose because of a European embargo on Tehran’s crude it will be disappointed, Chinese analysts here predict.

Beijing “will not take the risk for Iran’s benefit” of angering the United States and becoming too dependent on one source of oil, says Ma Xiaolin, a commentator on Middle East affairs and head of the Beijing-based BLSHE economic consultancy.

From NYT:

If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally, the impact would be immediate: Energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days.

(h/t Ian)

Islamic Jihad more powerful than Hamas?

Islamic Jihad may have the edge on Hamas in weaponry in Gaza, according to Israeli military intelligence sources quoted by Israel's Channel 10.

According to the article, Islamic Jihad rocket have a range of 74 km.

Sources say that Iran is supplying the group with sophisticated weapons and with training through Hezbollah, who have a presence in Gaza. They add that Islamic Jihad is surpassing Hamas' weaponry both in quality and quantity.

If Hamas loses control of Islamic Jihad, it could inflame the entire area and lead to another war.

It is a sad state of affairs when the anti-semitic, relentlessly terrorist and philosophically genocidal Hamas is considered the most reliable and peaceful group in an area.

A rocket with a 74 km range which would easily reach Tel Aviv - and even Jerusalem. In fact, if the targeting is accurate, they could conceivably attack Jewish communities in parts of Judea, such as Efrat.

(h/t Yoel)

Kotel Photoshop kerfuffle causes Ha'aretz to incite Muslims

From Ha'aretz:

IDF rabbinate edits out Dome of the Rock from picture of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

Israel’s military rabbinate released an educational document ahead of the holiday of Hanukkah last month, featuring a photo of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount without the Dome of the Rock, Haaretz learned on Thursday.

The photo was featured in a packet prepared by the Military Rabbinate issued to Israel Defense Forces bases ahead of Hanukkah, under the section titled “The Festival of Jewish Heroism,” which included an article and a quiz on the Jewish struggle against Hellenistic rule.

One reserves officer talking with Haaretz said that when he “received the materials from the battalion rabbi something seemed strange about that picture.”

“We get material from the rabbinate every week and it’s mostly positive things,” the IDF officer said, adding that the edited picture was part of an “official release, which is why it’s problematic the army is distributing it.”

The IDF Spokesman’s Office said in the response that Haaretz’s description was “absurd and biased, a fact which we can only regret,” adding that the educational packet included a photo meant to illustrate Jerusalem during the period of the Second Temple.

“As was explained to the reporter, the Dome of the Rock did not exist at that time, so there was no need for it to appear in the picture,” the IDF said.

Based on the photo in the story, I tracked down the original.

It was definitely Photoshopped, as the base of the Dome of the Rock is still there.

The original photographer/artist is Mikhail Levit, who apparently did the editing. I've seen the photo on websites as far back as 2008.

So obviously the IDF rabbinate did not edit the photo. It was a nice picture, the people behind the pamphlet found it somewhere online, and put it on the pamphlet. (The IDF's explanation that it represents the time of the Second Temple is silly as well - where is the Temple? Moreover, notice that the photograph still includes the Al Aqsa Mosque on the far right side!)

This does not look deliberate. It is easy enough to take or find a photo of the Kotel where the Dome of the Rock isn't visible - without editing. Here's one I took a couple of years ago:

Or a painting of the Temple could have been used.

The graphic designer probably just Googled "kotel" and picked the nicest photo he or she could find. This is not a huge story about IDF hate for Islam.

But the officer who brought it to the attention of Ha'aretz, and Ha'aretz itself by quoting him approvingly, show more than a little hypocrisy:

Speaking with Haaretz, the reserves officer said he expected “the Military Rabbinate to be more alert about the educational messages it passes on, especially considering the Temple Mount’s history,” adding: “A world war could break if someone would try to do something about that place, and I think they should be more cautious when approaching the subject.”

“It’s infuriating that the rabbinate isn’t more being more responsible about this,” the officer added.

He's infuriated that the rabbinate wasn't more careful? Because it is so incendiary?

Let's see. Chanukah ended weeks ago.

No one noticed this photo. No Arab riots, no angry op-eds in Al Jazeera, nothing.

Now, this incensed officer is so angry about how dangerous this pamphlet cover photo is that he brings it to Ha'aretz weeks later, which splashes the story prominently in its online edition. Where everyone can see it!

The story got picked up by Islamic Jihad (top story), Hamas and Fatah websites, and probably around the Arabic press worldwide. Tens of millions of easily excited Muslims will see the story and potentially be incited to violence.

Thanks to Ha'aretz for bringing this story to their attention!

Because it is responsible journalism to publicize something silly the IDF rabbinate did with little intent and twist it into a story that could incite millions of people to believe that it is an attack directly on their souls. And to pretend that you are doing it because of potential problems that didn't occur!

Ha'aretz, by pretending to position this story as a warning against incitement, has done far more to incite hate against the IDF than the rabbinate did.

But Ha'aretz doesn't have to follow the same rules it insists the IDF does.

Fishy story: Turkey claims they almost shot down Israeli UAV

From Today's Zaman:

An Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was observed spying above the 14th Hawk B. Brigade Command in Hatay’s Kırıkhan district for four hours, the Taraf daily claimed on Tuesday.

The aerial vehicle was hovering over the brigade command post in order to capture pictures of missile batteries and radar equipment.

According to the daily’s report, the Israeli drone was first noticed by a military lieutenant, who saw a white light flashing in the sky. Later he asked an air defense senior sergeant to verify what he had seen, who confirmed that a drone was hovering over the command post.

All the military personnel then left the post in preparation for a possible attack.

Radar followed the Israeli drone as military officials waited for the order to shoot it down. Higher ranked military officials did not reply to the radar center’s call before the drone moved out of range.

At the same time as the events in Hatay, the Diyarbakır 2nd Air Force Command Strike Center was also tracking the drone. Upon an insistent request of the Hatay command, the Diyarbakır command center sent two F-16 fighter jets to the region, where they tracked and followed the drones, and eventually returned to their base in Diyarbakır.

In a related story, Turkey purchased 10 Herons from Israel in a 2004 arms deal at a cost of about $183 million. Turkey has been using Israeli-made Heron drones in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But the Herons purchased by Turkey were not able to reach the altitudes indicated in the contract, and five of the Herons had engine-related problems. These five and at least two others that had other problems were sent to Israel for repair.

There were significant delays in the return of the drones, prompting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to publicly complain in September. This, intelligence sources say, sped up the delivery process, and Israel recently returned all of the Herons. Israeli technical personnel in charge of renovating the crafts left Turkey due to security reasons, following a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel in September 2011.

I am not a military expert, but as far as I can tell:

Herons probably do not have flashing lights
Herons don't hover
Herons don't carry missiles
The story first talks about one drone, and then "drones"
The second part of the story with the F-16s tracking the "drones" seems inconsistent with the first part. It seems strange that Hatay command could "insist" that Diyabakir send jets to the area without going through a normal military chain of command.

Also, there are other countries besides Israel that use Herons (if they were positively identified as such) and, of course, other surveillance drones.

It seems that if this was true there would be an official complaint, although I suppose that pride might play a part here.

Hatay juts out of Turkey and borders Syria as well as the Mediterranean. It would be interesting to know which direction the drone supposedly left Turkish airspace.

(h/t Yoel)

Apartheid?

Time to start on the 2012 series of posters to counter "Israel Apartheid Week."

All of my "Apartheid?" posters can be seen here.

(h/t M)

Iranian Revolutionary Guards caught in Syria?

From Albawaba:

IRGC logo. Looks a lot like Hezbollah's.

Syrian rebels insist that Iranian mercenaries are trying to help the Syrian regime in the suppression of the uprising. A brigade of the "Free Army" had taken five Iranian hostage, said Colonel Abd al-Razaq Tlass, one of the commanders of the rebels in the city of Homs.

The rebels have shown a German reporter the Iranian passports and identity cards. They were dressed as civilians, but were taken up in a combat zone, said Tlass. According to him, the five were also appear in images wearing military uniforms. The Syrian rebels claim these five Iranians are actually officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian embassy in Damascus announced last month that the five Iranians were technicians working in a power plant in Syria. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Wednesday called for their release, saying "according to the latest information we have…they are in good health."

On Tuesday, an unknown group calling itself "The Movement against Shiite tide in Syria" claimed responsibility for kidnapping the five Iranians, adding "we take upon ourselves the task of detecting and hit all the forms of support provided by both Iran and Hizbullah to the offender." The statement said that the kidnapping is a "first warning to Iran and Hizbullah for their continued support of the Syrian regime in suppressing the revolt."

Its very hard to know what is really going on, and without any reporters there the Free Syria Army has just as much incentive to lie as the Assad regime does.

But the story is quite believable. Iran does not want to lose its major ally it has in Syria.

(h/t Yoel)

EoZ being reported to Facebook as "spammy"

When people try to post a link to my homepage on Facebook, they are now receiving this message:

Similarly, when they try to click on some of my links in my Facebook page, including my homepage, they are seeing this:

The first message gives a link where one can report that this is not an abusive page, so for the people who are seeing this pop up on Facebook, please go to that link and fill out the form.

Apparently there are people out there who are uncomfortable with the things I write, and prefer to silence me by pretending that my blog is abusive or unsafe or spam.

Even though this blog is probably one of the least incendiary websites out there on the Middle East, from either side.

Israel might become an exporter - of water!

A very important story that I had missed from a month ago (YNet only published it last week):

Israel's national water company signed a financing agreement to build a desalination plant, which officials said could allow drought-ridden Israel to export water to its neighbors upon completion in 2013.

Israel's ADL, a subsidiary of state-owned Mekorot, will build and operate the plant in the coastal city of Ashdod for 25 years, supplying 100 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Israel is two-thirds arid and to avoid further depleting its fresh water sources it has become a world leader in desalination and wastewater recycling. The new Ashdod plant will join four other desalination facilities that to provide, by the end of 2013, 85% of the country's household water consumption.

"In the coming years we will be able to return water to nature and even sell water to our neighbors," said Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau.

The Finance Ministry had previously put a $400 million price tag on the plant, which will use reverse-osmosis to desalinate seawater from the Mediterranean.

Israel produces about 2 billion cubic meters of water annually. I think that the idea of export is quite a few years away.

Even so, this is big news.

Israeli company teaching kids math and science with Lego

From Israel21C:

Sometimes the best ideas are born of misfortune.

"The project started when I was injured in an accident during my military service and was forced to spend seven months at home, on crutches," says Amir Asor, who went on to conceive uniquely innovative programs that teach children the intricacies of engineering as they play with Lego.

From a diversion, internalizing the thought process behind lego model-building became a mission for Asor during that period. "I had the time and frame of mind to explore the possibilities, and built dozens of prototypes of each idea," he tells ISRAEL21c.

Still only 26, he now heads the Decade Group, a rapidly growing business that conducts extracurricular programs for schoolchildren around Israel, and has just won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year prize from Britain's Youth Business International non-profit organization.

The video really picks up around the 3:30 mark when you see kids building his team's designs on their own.

I want that!

"Infidel Santa" murdered

From Russia Today:

A young man dressed up as Father Frost, the Russian counterpart of Santa Claus, has been brutally killed in Tajikistan. The assailants reportedly shouted “infidel” as they stabbed him to death.

The tragedy unfolded in the capital, Dushanbe, on Sunday night. Parviz Davlatbekov put on a traditional Father Frost costume to visit his friends and celebrate New Year with them. But before reaching his destination, the 24-year-old encountered a group of youths who beat him up and stabbed him. He died in hospital shortly after.

According to some local media and reports on social networks, the attackers were Muslim radicals who had targeted Davlatbekov for wearing a Father Frost outfit. They are said to have called their victim an infidel during the attack. Reports say some 30 people participated in the killing.

However, the religious motive is being denied by the police, who say they are treating the killing as an ordinary, secular crime. Three people have been detained for their role in the assault, all of whom are university students.

That's funny. I was sure that Santa was always targeted by Zionists, not Muslims. At least that's what leftist darling cartoonist Carlos Latuff - an anti-semite who has been praised by the BBC, the Guardian and Reuters - tells his many fans:

It almost looks like the murderers used Latuff's cartoon as a model.

(h/t Serious Black)

First Temple-period bulla found

From Bible History Daily and The Temple Mount Sifting Project:

Jerusalem archaeologist Gabriel Barkay announced this week that the Temple Mount Sifting Project has discovered a fragment of a seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla impressed with the ancient Hebrew inscription [g]b’n lmlk, or “Gibeon, for the king.” According to Barkay, the bulla is evidence for royal taxation of different Judahite cities, in this case the town of Gibeon. More than 50 other such “fiscal bullae” are already known, but most lack contextual information. “All the fiscal bullae known until now come from the antiquities market, and our bulla is the first one to come from a controlled archaeological project,” wrote Barkay on the project’s Web site. “This bulla enables us to fully illuminate and discuss the entire phenomenon of the fiscal bullae.”

The bulla originates from the eastern slope of the Temple Mount, descending into the Kidron Valley.

The [full collection of] bullae include names of 19 different cities of Judah, and dates of the reign of one of the Judean kings, usually in hieratic numerals, as well as the particle “lmlk“, “for the king”. ...The fiscal bullae represent a taxation system from the different Judean cities, based on yearly taxes, which probably replaced the previous one, reflected in the royal Judean jars and their seal impressions, from the time of King Hezekiah. The discussion includes the characteristic details of the taxation systems of the Samaria Ostraca and the “lmlk” jars, in comparison to the fiscal bullae. A detailed discussion of 13 different arguments is brought to suggest the dating of the fiscal bullae to the time of King Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son (698-642 BCE). The mentioning of Lachish in some of the bullae is directly connected to the question of the date of the reconstruction of that city’s level II. The city is mentioned to pay its taxes in the 19th and 21st regnal years, which could not be in the reign of Hezekiah as the city was destroyed by Sennacherib in 701 BCE, which was Hezekiah’s 14th regnal year. According to our suggestion, Lachish was restored after being in ruins for about 16 years, by King Manasseh, rather than Josiah, as previously suggested.

The discovery of the fiscal bulla with the name of Gibeon from the slope of the Temple Mount, authenticates all the other fiscal bullae, and enables us to study a variety of subjects connected to the history of Judah in the 7th century BCE.

Those Jews, always pretending to have been in Israel for more than 63 years.

(h/t Dan)

Arab League "observers" in Syria not observing anything wrong

From Global Arab Network:

Syrian Democracy activists on denounced as "unprofessional" an Arab League observer mission in Syria, after the bloc's chief admitted snipers were still active in the country despite their presence.

The mission has been mired in controversy since the first observers arrived on December 26, with activists accusing Syria's regime of keeping the monitors on a short leash as it presses on with its lethal crackdown on dissent.

Meanwhile, as unrelenting violence continued, French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanded his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad step down for overseeing "disgusting" massacres against his own people.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed three civilians in the central city of Homs, even as state television reported observers were in the Homs region.

The group also reported two more civilian deaths in Hama, and said 18 members of the security services died during clashes with army deserters in the southern city of Daraa.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, in his first remarks since the observers arrived, defended the mission, saying it had secured the release of political prisoners and the withdrawal of tanks from cities.

However, "there are still snipers and gunfire. There must be a total halt to the gunfire," he told reporters on Monday.

There have actually been dozens of murders since the observers arrived. 29 were killed Tuesday alone.

Political cartoonists have been noticing this:

(h/t gidon)

Abbas' demands violate Oslo (Yitzhak)

From commenter Yitzhak:

There is an interesting aspect of Abbas' demand that there be a 'halt' to what he terms the construction of 'settlements'. The word 'settlement' itself is carefully chosen to convey the sense of illegality and illegitimacy which Abbas desires to associate with Jewish presence in a land that has quite literally been Jewish for millenia, and which was Arab for nineteen years - and even then, only because of a crime against international law committed by the Jordanians in 1948.

Much more insidious, however, is Abbas's demand that Israel not build in these areas. The very act of making such a demand constitutes a violation of the Oslo Accords, or more precisely of the Interim Agreements between the Israelis and the Arabs, signed and witnessed by the European Union, Egypt, Jordan, Russia, and Norway, and of course by the United States, on 28 September 1995 (see Article XVII, para. 1). See inter alia annex to UN document A/48/486-S/26560 dated 11 October 1993.

If you consult the above documentation, in particular Article 27 of Annex III (Civil Affairs Annex), you will note that full rights for construction powers are granted to the respective authorities (in this case, the Israeli Government, and the 'PA' or 'Palestinian Authority'). Judea & Samaria were split into three zones: A, B and C. In Zone A, all control (including security) was handed over to the PA. In Zone B, all control except security, was handed over to the PA. Only in Zone C - which includes Israeli villages and Israeli military installations, was full control retained by the Israeli authorities. In all of these zones (including C), the situation was agreed upon by the Israelis, the 'Palestinians', and was given official sanction in the aforementioned UN documents (supra).

So in fact, it is legal and moral nonsense, to refer to Israel as 'the occupying power' in any of the above zones, or to assert that Israel must 'halt construction' in Zone C. During the discussions which led to the Interim Agreement of 1995, the PA had requested the addition of a 'side letter' which would restrict construction in Zone C. This request was ultimately withdrawn.

As for the 'settlements' themselves, the usual rationale for 'illegality' is that their existence is a violation of the IV Geneva Convention. This is not the case, because Article II of the aforementioned Convention deals with 'partial or total occupation' of the territory of a High Contracting Party. As Jordan's seizure and subsequent annexation of Judea & Samaria came about following a war of aggression, Jordan does not enjoy this status. (International Law, Malcolm N. Shaw, Fifth Edition, Cambridge University Press 2003, pp. 1061-1063. See also Article XLII, Hague Regulations 1907 and A. Gerson, Israel, the West Bank and International Law). To accord the status of 'High Contracting Party' to Jordan from 1948 onwards would be to legitimize a posteriori armed aggression and land theft. [Obviously, the PLO is not a "high contracting party" either. - EoZ]

The second reason the Convention does not apply can be found in Paragraph 6 of Article XLIX, which states: 'The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies'. To quote Prof. Eugene V. Rostow, former dean of Yale Law School and US Under Secretary of State, 'The Jewish settlers in the West Bank are most emphatically volunteers. They have not been “deported” or “transferred” to the area by the Government of Israel, and their movement involves none of the atrocious purposes or harmful effects on the existing population it is the goal of the Geneva Convention to prevent'.

Also, to cite Professor Julius Stone (former Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney and visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales), 'Irony would...be pushed to the absurdity of claiming that Article 49(6), designed to prevent repetition of Nazi-type genocidal policies of rendering Nazi metropolitan territories judenrein, has now come to mean that...the West Bank...must be made judenrein and must be so maintained, if necessary by the use of force by the government of Israel against its own inhabitants. Common sense as well as correct historical and functional context excludes so tyrannical a reading of Article 49(6)'.

I repeat: there is no legal impediment whatsoever to Israeli construction in Zone C, and this is where the currently disputed 'settlements' are located. By demanding that construction be halted, Mahommed Abbas is committing yet another violation of the Oslo Accords (as he did when he went to the UN in September of 2011), and showing that neither he nor his 'Palestinian Authority' can be trusted.

I would add that the PLO leaders regularly say that Israel, by continuing to build in the areas of existing communities, are violating "signed agreements." They seem to be referring to the Roadmap of 2003. But Israel made clear at the time that it did not accept certain parts of the roadmap, and spelled them out.

Singer satirizes PA, so Ramallah police stop his show

From (of all places) The Electronic Intifada:

At the Palestinian New Year’s festival at Arafat Square in Ramallah, musician Basel Zayed and his group Turab were prevented from completing their music concert by the Palestinian police because the group sang “El-Doleh” ; a satirical song about the Palestinian promised state. The police issued a statement regarding preventing Basel Zayed’s group from continuing their concert, the statement says that the police reacted in order to maintain security because the song has provoked the feelings of the audience. Basel Zayed has strictly denied that his song has provoked anyone’s feelings; rather he said that the audience were happy and large crowds were enjoying the concert.

Basel Zayed’s group, along with many other Palestinian artists, musicians, and dance troupes, were part of the Palestinian public New Year’s festival held in Ramallah. This festival was entirely organized on a short notice by Palestinian youth as a response to some New Year’s parties hosting Israeli singers and performers in Ramallah.

Refuting the official statement issued by the police, Basel said that audience were happy and unprovoked at all by his song, he is used to sing this song at many concerts and no one has ever had any issue with it.

The song “Doleh”, as Basel puts it, is a sarcastic commentary about the state promised for the Palestinian people. It is also a message to the Palestinian leadership and the world that Palestinians don’t want half states and half solutions anymore. He continues to say that the song also raises the issues of freedom of speech and questions the kind of a state that is being negotiated on the Palestinians’ behalf by people who do not officially represent the Palestinian people.

Notice that the article has no problem with the same police stopping a concert by an Israeli Druse singer - because he was Israeli.

Like all hypocrites, Electronic Intifada is all for freedom of expression - but only for those they agree with.

Al Arabiya covers both events as well.

Mauritania claims to have broken Mossad spy ring

From Israel HaYom:

Mauritanian media reported Tuesday that the West African nation had nabbed "the largest Mossad spy ring in the country's history." The spy ring includes several businesspeople and "activists from various Arab states," the reports added.

Mauritania's security officials remarked that the capture of the spy network was made possible thanks to careful surveillance over time. They cited "suspicious activity" as having sparked the investigation.

The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is currently ruled by a government headed by Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who took charge after a military coup in 2008, abdicated his position in 2009, and won nationwide elections that year, becoming president of the country. The country was affected by the "Arab Spring" uprisings that swept through several Arab countries in 2011, with hundreds of people taking to the streets of Nouakchott, the capital city.

The El Hourriya newspaper in Mauritania goes into details on how a single alleged spy, a Jordanian, was allegedly recruited by the Mossad.

Hezbollah's Al Manar gives details:

The espionage network was revealed after the police arrested an agent, named as Fares al-Banna, who was recruited by a tourism agency.

The police found documents with the suspect, including a letter addressed to the Emirati embassy in Mauritania, in which he confirmed he is ready to confess information related to the assassination of [Palestinian figure Mahmoud] Mabhouh in Dubai, and the explosion of the Ethiopian plane in Lebanon. The suspect also vowed in the letter that he would reveal detailed information about an Israeli espionage network in Mauritania.

The daily stated that the Mauritanian authorities have opened an investigation on the issue in order to pursue details in this case.

The Mauritanian article claims that the Ethiopian Airlines crash was meant to kill senior Hezbollah leaders who were supposed to be on the plane.

Hezbollah has denied that any of its officials were meant to be on that flight.

Al-Banna, who is a Palestinian Arab with Jordanian citizenship, said that he was instrumental in creating a front company to recruit other Arab spies, pretending to sell timeshares. The company was called "Gateway to the World." At one point, he claims, Mauritanian authorities raided the offices, thinking it was a front for prostitution, but were embarrassed to find out it was legitimate.

The idea that the Mossad would trust a Jordanian Palestinian who has no ideological reason to support Israel with secrets on two highly sensitive operations is beyond absurd.

(h/t CHA)

Another victim of the toy gun that "insults Aisha"

From AFP:

The owners of a Jordanian company have been charged with inciting sectarian strife for importing toy guns with voices that say "kill Aisha," one of the Prophet Mohammed's wives, a judicial official said Wednesday.

"Prosecutors in Amman charged the importers on Tuesday with inciting sectarian strife and sent them to the state security court over charges of insulting the prophet's wife," the official told AFP.

The voice in the plastic space handgun says "kill Aisha" in a clear Arabic-language reference to the prophet's wife, the official added without elaborating on the origin of the toy.

Local news reports said "authorities confiscated the toys in a shop in the southern city of Karak after complaints from citizens."

Prominent MP Khalil Attieh has demanded that Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh investigate "this heinous crime."

Aisha was a favored wife of Mohammed.

As we noted last month, MEMRI has video of what what gun actually says:

"Go, go, go! Pull over! Save the hostages!"

(h/t Dan)

New threats by Abbas

From Al Arabiya:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned to take more unilateral steps if Israel does not agree to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank and recognize the borders of a future Palestinian state.

Speaking ahead of talks in Jordan between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, Abbas said Palestinians were ready to take "difficult" measures, but did not specify what they were.

Abbas said that if Israel agreed to halt settlement building and recognise "the vision and borders of the two-state solution", Palestinians would agree immediately to negotiations.

"If they don't ... there are measures that we could take. But we will not declare them now because they have not been finalized. But we will take measures that could be difficult," Abbas told a group of judges in Ramallah.

He said the two sides had until Jan. 26 to make progress. The date marks the three-month deadline, agreed on Oct. 26, for them to make proposals on issues of territory and security, with the aim of reaching a peace deal by the end of this year.

Ha'aretz has a list of what Abbas probably means:

* Asking the UN Security Council in February to pass a resolution that would condemn settlement construction and impose international sanctions on Israel. If a resolution were brought to a vote, all Security Council members other than the United States would be expected to vote in favor.

* Urging the International Criminal Court in The Hague to try Israel for war crimes related to Operation Cast Lead. If that fails, Palestinian officials are likely to encourage Palestinian citizens to file lawsuits against Israel in Western courts.

* Pushing for the implementation the articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention that ban the construction of communities and transfer of populations in occupied territory. The Palestinians have been trying for some time now to persuade the Swiss government to convene the signatories on the document for a special debate on the subject of applying the Geneva Convention in the West Bank.

* Asking the UN General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council to send an international fact-finding committee to look into the settlement issue.

* Renewing efforts in the UN Security Council to secure full-membership status for Palestine, or asking the UN General Assembly for status as a nonmember state. A similar move was suspended last October after UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency, accepted Palestine as a member, in response to which Israel froze Palestinian tax revenues.

* Organizing mass rallies against Israel in the West Bank, as part of a non-violent popular uprising. In reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshal, said the two movements would focus their activities on a popular uprising in an effort to draw international attention to the Israeli occupation.

Playing defense is not the way to win. Israel needs to do its own pro-active moves to put the PLO on the defensive - for example, lawfare for compensation for the terrorism committed during the intifada, or a call for a public investigation in Mahmoud Abbas' role in funding the Munich Olympic massacre.

Palestinian Arabs and their supporters use similar gimmicks all the time - so they would be far more offended when the same types of gimmicks are used against them.

"Israel is the source of all problems in the region"

From the ever-entertaining IRNA Iranian news agency:

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said here on Tuesday that the illegitimate Zionist regime was founded based on sedition and division, describing it as the origin of all the problems facing the region.

In a meting [sic] with the head of Turkey-Palestine parliamentary friendship group, Murat Yildirim, he condemned declaration of Qods [Jerusalem] as the capital of the regime as well as continuation of settlement buildings and called on the Islamic Cooperation Organization to fulfill its responsibility in this respect.

I always knew that Assad, Nasrallah, Mubarak, Saddam Hussein, the Saudi kings, the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Erdogan, Al Qaeda, Qaddafi, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad were Zionist!

But wait - there's more!

Ahmadinejad said Israel is a tool in the hands of the enemies of humanity to create discord in the region and humiliate regional countries.

He sounds humiliated.

To Reuters, they aren't just "Jewish settlers" anymore

First there were "settlers."

But that wasn't inciting enough.

So we then had "Jewish settlers."

But with overuse, it didn't bring in the hate that journalists wanted to bring across.

So then came "Right-wing Jewish settlers."

But even that didn't capture the seething disgust that objective journalists wanted to convey towards them.

So now we have, from Daylife/Reuters:

Extreme right wing Jewish settlers, one of them injured from a rock hurled by pro-Palestinian activists during a weekly protest, stand in front of their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem December 30, 2011. Some 100 activists protested against the Jewish settlement in the predominantly Arab neighborhood and threw rocks towards a house occupied by the settlers leading them to confront the protesters, to minor clashes.

So people who live in a house in Jerusalem are "extreme right-wing Jewish settlers."

But the people who throw rocks at them, literally spilling their blood, are simply "pro-Palestinian activists."

Not "violent protesters." Not "left-wing terrorists." Not "anti-Zionist provocateurs." Not "pro-Palestinian stone-throwers." Not "rioters." Nope, they are peaceful supporters of Palestinian Arabs, mere "activists" - who throw stones at people they don't like.

And who can blame them:? After years of reading Reuters describing these Jews in such terms, who wouldn't want to throw stones at them?

To Reuters, it's the people who are being hit by rocks who are "extreme."

Tel Aviv one of "world's most creative cities"

From the Globe and Mail:

For the better part of a decade, the Martin Prosperity Institute at U of T’s Rotman School of Management has been studying the complex web of factors that encourage and sustain innovation in regions around the world. First published in 2004, the institute’s Global Creativity Index measures a nation’s innovation potential, focusing on what it calls the Three Ts: technology, talent and tolerance. We used this index, but also dove deeper, to choose cities that are best positioned to nurture their creative edge into the future. "The GCI is really trying to help regions understand where they are," explains Kevin Stolarick, research director of the Martin Prosperity Institute. "Even when times are good, you have to worry about what comes next."

The entire population of Israel may only number seven million—smaller than New York City—but this Middle Eastern state spends more of its GDP on research and development than any other nation. And it shows. In April, 2011, Israeli software start-ups PicApp and PicScout sold for a combined $30 million (all currency in U.S. dollars) to Indian and American buyers, respectively. A month later, cellular company Provigent was snapped up by U.S. chip maker Broadcom for $313 million, while Google paid $70 million for app developer Snaptu. In September, eBay bought e-commerce site The Gifts Project for a reported $20 million. All are start-ups. All have offices in or near Tel Aviv. In the first three quarters of 2011 alone, 422 Israeli start-ups raised $1.57 billion in venture capital, and an estimated 250 multinationals maintain R&D operations there. What makes Silicon Wadi—as the coastal region between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is known—so special? Some say that a service requirement in the country’s famously high-tech military has given many young Israelis a technological sophistication that bolsters creativity and inventiveness. What we do know is that while Tel Aviv is small, it’s one giant innovation engine.

“In Israel, personal relationships aren’t all that relevant to business. Israelis will do business with you within five seconds of meeting you. In fact, there’s virtually no small talk at meetings. Nothing. Zero. They’re very direct.” —Dr. Neal Naimer, CEO of Woojer, a Tel Aviv-based start-up.

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Moroccan king appoints Islamist cabinet

From Al Arabiya:

Benkirane

Morocco's King Mohammed on Tuesday appointed members of a new power-sharing cabinet, the official MAP news agency reported, more than a month after the Nov. 25 elections in which the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party won the biggest share of seats in the parliament.

“The king named the members of the new government at the royal palace in Rabat,” an official said.

On Nov. 29, King Mohammed appointed PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane as prime minister-designate after the moderate Islamist party won a Nov. 25 parliamentary election.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party took 11 of 31 cabinet posts, including foreign affairs, justice, and transportation and communication.

While a new constitution gives the new Prime Minister Benkirane unprecedented powers, the king still holds final veto over any of his decisions.

In a Q&A on their website, the PJD indicated that it would not be as friendly towards Israel as Morocco had been, with unofficial and economic ties.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood might get a majority of seats

The third and final round of Egypt's parliamentary elections have started today.

There have been some reports of illegal campaign activities at some polling places; one judge closed two polling stations because of violations by the Muslim Brotherhood FJP party.

After the first two rounds of voting, according to Wikipedia, the Muslim Brotherhood has taken over 48% of the parliamentary seats even though it won only 36.6% of the votes. This seems to be because of the runoff system, where the top two candidates - usually FJP and the Salafist Nour parties - go head to head.

Some areas where the voting is being held today are considered Islamist strongholds, like the North Sinai. It is possible that the Muslim Brotherhood will end up with an absolute majority of seats in Parliament, meaning that they will not have to rely on a coalition to rule and considerably weakening the role of any partners they choose to ally with.

According to The New York Times, the exact formula for allotting seats has not yet been determined by the military rulers of Egypt so things are a bit up in the air. They also quote MB leadership saying that they doubt that they will gain over 50% of the seats.

The Muslim Brotherhood has stated that they have not made any deals with any potential coalition partners. The Salafists said that they will refuse to serve in a coalition with the liberal parties in parliament.

Interestingly, in the second round of voting, the liberal Egyptian Bloc's share of the vote plummeted from 13.4% to 7%. The second liberal party, Al Wafd, went up a little from 7.1% to 9.6%, but altogether things are looking even worse for the liberals than they did in the initial round.

Iran escalates rhetoric; its currency hits new lows

Last Wednesday, the Pentagon said that any Iranian moves to close the Strait of Hormuz would "not be tolerated."

Iran just finished war games exercises intended to show how they could close the strait at will.

The latest escalation of words and deeds:

USS John C. Stennis

A senior Iranian Army commander has warned the U.S. Navy not to move an aircraft carrier which left the Persian Gulf during Iran's recent military drills back into the body of water which forms much of Iran's southern border.

According to the Reuters news agency, army chief Ataollah Salehi suggested to the IRNA network on Tuesday that Iran would take unspecified action if the carrier returned to Gulf waters.

The USS John C. Stennis and another U.S. Naval vessel headed out of the Gulf and through the Strait of Hormuz last Tuesday after a visit to Dubai.

"Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," Salehi reportedly told IRNA.

"I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once," Salehi told the semi-official Fars news agency, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Iranian currency is not doing so well. From Emirates 24/7:

Iran's currency, the rial, slipped to a record low on Sunday, the day after the United States imposed extra sanctions targeting the Islamic republic's central bank and financial sector.

The state news agency IRNA and an Iranian website tracking the currency said the rial's street value at money changers' slid to around 16,000 to the dollar.

That represented a huge difference with the official central bank rate of 11,179 rials to the dollar.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama signed the new sanctions into law.

The measures aim to further squeeze Iran's crucial oil revenues, most of which are processed by the central bank, by making foreign firms choose between doing business with the Islamic republic or the United States.

They were being imposed as part of a Western push to force Iran to halt its nuclear programme, which the United States and its allies believe is being used to develop atomic weapons despite Tehran's denials.

Iran, the second-biggest producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, depends on oil sales for 80 percent of its foreign revenues.

The European Union is mulling an embargo on buying Iranian oil, on which a decision could be announced at an EU foreign ministers' meeting at the end of the month.

Iranian leaders and military officials have warned that extra Western sanctions could push them to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf.

(h/t Yoel)

Hamas blames Fatah for "unity" problems

Over the past week I reported about the many arrests by Hamas of Fatah leaders in Gaza.

Today, Hamas made the same accusations of Fatah, putting out a report that said that 72 people were arrested by the Fatah-dominated PA in December, including ex-detainees, imams and preachers, and university students, many of them Hamas members. He also accused the PA of torturing their prisoners.

In addition, Hamas said that contrary to reports, the PA has not sent enough blank passports to Gaza to allow citizens to leave the sector.

Those two issues - political prisoners and passports - were top two priorities since the original "unity" meeting between Hamas and Fatah in May. Apparently, little has changed.

Meanwhile, Fatah official Nabil Sha'ath has visited Gaza. According to Ma'an, he will meet with "all political factions" in Gaza, which sounds like it includes terror organizations like Islamic Jihad who have been considered as PLO members.

Hamas leader admits Gaza isn't occupied

From YNet:

Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar dismissed a statement made by Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal, who claimed recently that the group will hold mass rallies against Israel within the Gaza Strip.

"Popular resistance is inappropriate for the Gaza Strip," al-Zahar said. "Against whom exactly would be rally? Such resistance would be fitting if Gaza was occupied." However, he claimed that all forms of resistance – including the armed kind – are appropriate for the West Bank, as it is "still under occupation." (Elior Levy)

So in this one brief news story we confirm three things that "Middle East experts" insist are not true:

Hamas has not given up on armed resistance
Hamas leaders in Gaza and Damascus are still at loggerheads
Gaza is not occupied by Israel

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch insist, against all legal arguments and logic, that Israel still occupies Gaza.

(h/t CHA. Interview done by Ma'an.)

Israel: "Hollywood's hottest spawning ground"

From the LA Times:

When the season finale of the Showtime thriller "Homeland" ran last month, it didn't just cap Claire Danes' triumphant return to series television — it marked the latest milestone for a small country that lately has become an improbable player in Hollywood.

"Homeland," which broke Showtime's ratings record for a first-year series finale, is adapted from the Israeli show "Hatufim" (Prisoners of War). It's one of a host of U.S. programs that began life as a Hebrew-language series in this Mediterranean nation of only 8 million people. "Who's Still Standing?," the new NBC quiz program in which contestants answering incorrectly are dropped through a hole in the floor, is also an Israeli import. So is the former HBO scripted series "In Treatment," which starred Gabriel Byrne and ran for three seasons.

And that's just the beginning: Nearly half a dozen shows in development at U.S. networks — including the divorce sitcom "Life Isn't Everything" (CBS), a time-travel musical dubbed "Danny Hollywood (the CW) and the border-town murder-mystery "Pillars of Smoke" (NBC) — are based on hit Israeli series, their themes and language tweaked for American audiences.

Unbeknown to most viewers, a small group of creators and industry types has built a pipeline between Israel and the Los Angeles entertainment world 9,000 miles away. Although many American Jews have a political relationship with Israel, the entertainment pipeline is a new development born of the maturation of the Israeli television industry — and has turned a nation known for politics into Hollywood's hottest spawning ground.

..."When you don't have a lot of money, you find more interesting and clever ways to write a script," said Daniel Lappin, the creator of "Life Isn't Everything," a sitcom about a divorced couple that can't get out of each other's lives that ran for nine seasons in Israel. Lappin — who like Raff and Stollman, also spent some of his formative years in the U.S. — is working with "Friends" writer Mike Sikowitz on the CBS version of "Life."

American executives, who for years looked to more established territories for imports, say they've felt a certain kinship with Middle East creators.

"God bless those Israelis," said NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt, whose network has "Still Standing" and "Pillars of Smoke." "They've somehow done a great job of finding things that translate well."

Wow. "Zionists" really do control Hollywood!

At the rate things are going, BDSers might have to throw out their TVs.

(h/t David H)

Muslims at Madame Tussaud's

From FrontPage:

With all the major official sites closed the day after Christmas, my wife and I headed over to Madame Tussaud’s to take in the famed tourist trap. As we strolled the halls filled with famous cultural figures, most from the 20th century, we came across the wax doll for Albert Einstein. And there, crowded around the figure, stood five young Muslims – two male, three female. While other guests stood next to the model and smiled, or put an arm around it, these Muslim worthies stood next to the wax model – and put their hands around its throat, simulating strangling it. At first, I couldn’t believe what I was watching – did Einstein do something to offend these people? – but then it dawned on me that they were doing this because Einstein was a Jew. In fact, Einstein was the only prominent Jew in Tussaud’s. And who wouldn’t want to strangle a prominent Jew, after all?

That suspicion was confirmed a few minutes later when we reached the wax statue of Adolf Hitler. Britons and Americans tried to choke the figure, or pointed their fingers at it in imaginary guns, or yelled at it. These young Muslims happily stood next to it, and took smiling photographs with it as though they’d stumbled upon a friendly uncle. Which, in a way, they had.

And, of course, nobody said anything to these delightfully diverse young people. Mustn’t show evidence of that old, imperialist spirit, you know.

And from Edgar Davidson:

I was not actually going to post about my visit to Madame Tussaud's in London yesterday because I wasn't sure how much could be extrapolated from a single visit, but by a remarkable coincidence, Daphne Anson reports today on a very similar recent experience written by American Ben Shapiro.

What I saw were several different groups of Muslims (women with hijabs and men) queuing to have their photo taken with the Hitler waxwork and two of the men actually gave the Nazi salute. As it was a bank holiday (and raining heavily) it was incredibly crowded in there and I did not want to stay long. I looked at the scene around Hitler for about 3 minutes. I also saw two other European looking men have their photo taken while giving the Nazi salue, so it would be wrong to say this was a uniquely Muslim phenomenum, although these two guys seem to be doing it as a joke. In contrast the Muslims, as similarly observed by Ben Shapiro, seemed to regard Hitler is a genuinely admired leader.

Unlike Ben Shapiro I did not witness any anti-semitic scenes around the Einstein waxwork. Perhaps not many people know he was Jewish.

(h/t Daphne Anson)

Fatah Youth Movement, Women's Brigades honor master terrorist

Ma'an Arabic reports that the Jerusalem branch of the Fatah Youth Movement marked the anniversary of Dalal Mughrabi's birth last Thursday at her sister's house.

Mughrabi was the ringleader of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre which killed 38 Israeli civilians including 13 children.

The movement recalled stories of her "heroism."

Meanwhile, the Fatah Women's Brigades celebrated the anniversary of the PLO's founding with a celebration of all woman terrorists, featuring Mughrabi, highlighting that they are no longer just staying in the kitchen but that they are also in the forefront of the resistance.

While looking up the Fatah Youth Movement I stumbled on this webpage which may be associated with that group. This screenshot tells you everything you need to know:

Hamas again denies abandoning violence

Qatar's prime minister, Hamad bin Jassem al Thani, said that Hamas has ended "armed resistance."

And, once again, Hamas denies it:

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, would never give up armed resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel, a Hamas official said, rejecting reports that the group has accepted to end its armed struggle against the Israeli regime.

"Hamas has not abandoned any method of resistance since the very first day of its establishment 24 years ago and it will continue the same path in future," Ismaeil al-Ashqar, who also represents Hamas in Palestine's parliament, told FNA on Sunday.

He made the remarks in response to the claims made by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani that Hamas has ended armed resistance.

"Hamas will never give up armed resistance," al-Ashqar underlined.

Al Ashqar told FARS that "Hamas deals with resistance as an overarching concept that impacts all aspects of intellectual life: cultural, artistic, political, military, and security. We apply our understanding by following the appropriate methods [of resistance] depending on the circumstances and conditions....Armed resistance is one of the ways in which we pursue our goals, and how to use this method or tactic is subject to circumstances at the time."

As Hamas tries to play both sides of the fence, we will be seeing lots more of this type of thing.

Summing up Cast Lead (Jonathan Sacerdoti in New Statesman)

A rare, and welcome, dose of reality in a decidedly liberal publication:

Three years ago, Operation Cast Lead saw Israel send troops into the Gaza Strip in response to the thousands of rockets and mortars launched into Israeli civilian areas. Which other government in the world wouldn't defend its citizens in such circumstances? If some wish to portray this operation as a "massacre", they would have to ignore the facts to do so.

John Stuart Mill wrote in 1862 that "war is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things". Indeed today, even with laws, regulations and technology intended to lessen the horrors of battle, war is always ugly and tragic. But sometimes, it is still an essential response to something far uglier.

In 2006, following the Israeli disengagement and pullout from the Gaza Strip, there was an increase of 436 per cent in the number of Palestinian rockets launched towards Israel from that very territory. For some time, Israel resisted a large-scale military response to such acts deliberately aimed at civilians. As a result, the attacks got worse, and every country, including Israel, has the moral responsibility to defend its people from such actions.

Increased Palestinian terror attacks from Gaza were the cause of Operation Cast Lead. Yet Israel's is a conscript army. Indeed Israel goes to extraordinary lengths to protect its young soldiers (witness the efforts make to secure the release of the kidnap victim Gilad Shalit), and does not send them to war easily.

In the three years since the operation, there has been an unprecedented 72 per cent decline in the number of rockets launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza. No surprise, then, that Israel's Defence Forces Chief of Staff should call the operation "an excellent operation that achieved deterrence for Israel vis-a-vis Hamas". (However, that deterrence is still not enough to have prevented Palestinians from launching 1,571 rockets since the operation, including one attack with an anti-tank missile on a clearly identifiable Israeli school bus.)

Just as Israel's erection of a security fence to prevent homicide bombers from infiltrating Jerusalem saw a bigger than 90 per cent reduction in such attacks, Operation Cast Lead was undeniably effective in reducing terror attacks from the Gaza strip. The numbers speak for themselves.

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British troops in Afghanistan, has repeatedly commented that, "during its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare." Furthermore, he points out that the steps taken in that conflict by the Israeli Defence Forces to avoid civilian deaths are shown by a study published by the United Nations to have resulted in, by far, the lowest ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in any asymmetric conflict in the history of warfare.

Kemp explains that by UN estimates, the average ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in such conflicts worldwide is 3:1 -- three civilians for every combatant killed. That is the estimated ratio in Afghanistan. But in Iraq, and in Kosovo, it was worse: the ratio is believed to have been 4:1. Anecdotal evidence suggests the ratios were very much higher in Chechnya and Serbia. In Gaza, it was less than one-to-one.

Since the 22-day Gaza operation, Israel has also been demonstrably fastidious in its efforts to protect civilian lives while targeting combatants. The Israel correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly sites Israel's record this year, saying "the IDF killed 100 Gazans in 2011. Nine were civilians. That is a civilian-combatant ratio of nearly 1:10."

In fact, Israel's effort to combat the Hamas regime in the Gaza strip, while still safeguarding the rights of civilians, can be seen in her actions away from the battlefield as well. Despite the continued and sustained terror attacks from the area, around 60 per cent of Gaza's electricity comes from Israel, rather than from Gaza's other neighbour, Egypt, against whom no missiles are launched by the Palestinians.

Israel allows thousands of tonnes of goods to pass into Gaza weekly, and provides a large amount of the strip's water. If destroying infrastructure were truly Israel's aim, as some claim, this goal could be achieved without the risk to Israeli soldiers inherent in operations which see them sent into the Gaza strip.

It is time to stop blaming the Israeli government and defence forces for protecting Israeli civilians. Instead, we must demand that Palestinian leaders (and their apologists) work towards improving the welfare of their own citizens, rather than constantly attacking Israel's.

One point about the civilian to combatant death ratio:

I have not seen the statistics to back up the IDF's claim that only nine civilians have been killed this year in Gaza. PCHR's numbers make it look like the ratio is more like one civilians for every 3 terrorists killed. As we know, the PCHR is hardly reliable either, but they do give the names and ages of each victim.

Even if you take PCHR's numbers at face value, a 1:3 ratio is still nine times better than the 3:1 ratio that is considered normal for these kinds of wars.

(h/t Ian)

PLO members moving money from Jordan banks to foreign accounts

Jordan's Ad Dostour is reporting that there has been a large amount of money being transferred recently by Palestinian Arab officials from Jordanian banks to foreign banks.

The paper reports that a major investigation into PA corruption has been postponed. The conjecture is that PLO and former PLO officials are scrambling to hide their embezzled money before the investigation starts up again. (Or maybe some of them were tipped off.)

There have been a number of resignations lately in the PA because of embezzlement.

Meanwhile, the PLO plans to create a special committee to figure out exactly where all of its assets are hidden. According to the article, most of the PLO's real estate holdings are still unaccounted for. They are assumed to be in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

The New York Times' anti-Israel op-ed index (DG)

For six months, the former blogger previously known as Soccer Dad, now known by his initials DG, has been keeping track of the op-eds in the pages of the New York Times that had to do with Israel, seeing if they were pro-Israel or anti-Israel.

Here is his roundup of the past six months:

July 2011 - Anti-Israel 5 / Pro-Israel 2
August 2011 -  Anti-Israel 4 / Pro-Israel 0
September 2011 -  Anti-Israel – 14 / Pro-Israel 1
October 2011 - Anti-israel - 6 / Pro-Israel - 3
November 2011 - Anti-Israel - 6 / Pro-Israel - 2
December 2011 - Anti-Israel 4 / Pro-Israel 0

The final tally for the last six months of 2011, is 38 anti-Israel opinion articles and 7 pro-Israel opinion articles; a ratio of more than 5 to 1. (I double counted one of each at the end of October and beginning of November. The dates in the papers archive differ from the actual date appearing in the article.)

Clearly September was the worst month with fourteen anti-Israel op-eds. It's important to remember that in September Mahmoud Abbas was pursuing the unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) at the UN. The opinion articles therefore served as providing support for the UDI effort.

Even though the official New York Times editorial position was that Israel and the Palestinians needed to negotiate, at least four of the op-eds I counted either implicitly or explicitly supported the UDI. Despite the official editorial stance, it's pretty clear that the editors of the New York Times were not especially upset by Abbas's effort to bypass the negotiations. (Additionally Abbas wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in which he explicitly spelled out his intent to use the UDI to pursue diplomatic action against Israel. An editorial appearing ten days later didn't even mention the op-ed.)

Perhaps the lowest blow was the publishing of an op-ed by Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert. Olmert argued that even though he made an offer to Abbas that was rejected, it was up to Netanyahu to make the same (or better) offer to Abbas because it was essential to make a deal. Aside from the absolutely incomprehensible negotiating advice (tell the guy who refused to negotiate in good faith that he hasn't lost anything) the op-ed was written by a disgraced politician, who has no credibility in Israel.

Prior to the UDI effort, it was reported that the PLO had hired a PR firm. Given the editorial support of the Palestinians by the New York Times, one has to wonder if the money was wasted.

I would argue that the PR firm might have been successful in pushing the NYT even further in the direction it already was going.

Ron Dermer's letter to the NYT a few weeks ago also tallied up its op-eds and found that 19 out of 20 were negative towards Israel in a three month period.