Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, March 16, 2012

Man arrested in Italy for plotting to bomb synagogue

From ANSA:

Police arrested a suspected terrorist in the northern city of Brescia early on Thursday who they believe may have been planning an attack on Milan's synagogue.

Milan synagogue

The 20-year-old, a Moroccan citizen who has lived in Italy since he was six, is also suspected of setting up secret Facebook pages providing training on making bombs and using weapons for budding terrorists.

Police said they found evidence on the man's computer that he has conducted a thorough inspection of Milan's synagogue, with information on the security measures used and the police who guard the building. Investigators added that they had intercepted messages in which the man talked about a "jihad mission".

They said he was identified as a suspect terrorist during monitoring of websites that feature forums and publish documents on the 'jihad'.

Correlated investigations are being carried out in the United States and Britain and London police have detained a woman who has been in contact with the 20-year-old.

WaPo has the story as well.

Now, why would peaceful Muslims who love their Jewish cousins consider an attack on a synagogue to be "Jihad"?

It's a real mystery, I tell you.

(h/t jzaik)

A bit of BBC bias

No matter what your opinion of settlers are, you cannot deny that Judea and Samaria is their home.

Well, if you are the BBC, maybe you can.

From Kevin Connolly at the BBC:

A French parliamentary report, for example, recently concluded that the 450,000 Israeli settlers who live on the West Bank of the River Jordan, in defiance of international opinion, use more water than the 2.3 million Palestinians whose home it is.

The article itself is also quite misleading about water usage in the Middle East, as much as it tries to pretend to be unbiased. But as we see, anti-Israel bias is part and parcel of the discussion, often without people even realizing it.

For some facts, see this JPost article that details how Palestinian Arabs are stealing Israeli water, and this useful factsheet as well.

(h/t Russell)

Islamic Jihad claims current rocket fire comes from "individuals"

YNet reports:

The rocket fire from Gaza continued on Thursday night but the Palestinians are saying that the truce has been in effect for a few days: Te deputy secretary-general of Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nakhleh, discussed the recent bout of rocket fire on Israel and said that his organization was committed to the ceasefire agreement. He noted that the latest rocket fire on Israel was the act of individuals.

There were at least two Grads fired on Israel on Thursday, besides a few Qassams and mortars.

If anyone believes that "individuals" can get hold of Grad rockets in Gaza, I have some penny stocks that are guaranteed to go through the roof I can sell.

Hamas monitors every single import into Gaza, if only to tax them. It is aware of where every Grad rocket, machine gun and bullet goes. And no individual in Gaza is importing Grads, nor are terror groups handing them out like candy.

The lies are so transparent, yet even the Israeli news media cannot bring themselves to point out how obvious they are.

Two more Gazans killed during funeral gunfire

A couple of days ago, an 8 year old boy was killed in Gaza as a result of gunfire shot during a funeral. His death was initially blamed on Israel.

On Thursday, two more people were killed during gunfire at funerals in Gaza. A 17-year old died immediately and the other died of his wounds in Shifa hospital in Gaza.

Here are two more civilians whose deaths no one will condemn, because they weren't killed by Israel.

BDSers target unabashedly liberal Jewish deli in Olympia, WA

From Living In Olympia website last November:

Standing in front of Hava Aviv I can sense that I am in the presence of a very bold, ambitious woman. Hava is co-founder of Kitzel’s Deli in Olympia, a Jewish restaurant set to open its doors on Capitol Way next month. Their mission is simple and refreshing. Bring quality food from local sources to your plate while creating an environmentally responsible, employee-empowering atmosphere.

Hava describes herself as an agent of social change. Earning a Masters degree in Environment & Community from Antioch University in Seattle, she is very conscious of the impact a business can have on both the environment and the community they serve. She believes that choices like whether or not to compost, how to treat employees, or where to buy supplies from can not be made from a traditional cost analysis where profits are the only consideration. Taking a big picture approach to cost analysis, she says that even if a program such as composting requires more time or a higher financial cost doesn’t mean it should be tossed out, because the cost to the environment and to the community will be higher as a result.

It is this big picture perspective and the desire to be a positive influence on the world that has driven Hava to tackle some even more challenging social issues.

As Hava delicately explains to me, Kitzel’s Deli was born out of a desire to promote a healthy, positive conversation. Citing the Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors’ decision to join the BDS movement to boycott Israeli goods, she explains that she saw the local Jewish community being forced into an unenviable corner. “Lines began to be drawn. The conflicts became very black and white in town. You were either for BDS’s stated mission of being pro-Palestinian and pro-humanitarian or you were not. And there was no room for: ‘I love Israel, but I am highly critical of their government and their military actions’, which represents a large percentage of Jews in Olympia,” she says. She describes the resulting feelings as very reactionary. It was those feelings that drove her to facilitate the Jewish community in coming together to develop a dialogue around the issues. “I don’t want to be that person that is always standing up against something. It’s just too much darkness in one’s being. At some point you have to take an internal inventory and say okay, I’m anti all these things, so that means I’m pro…what?”

Hava and her business partner, Irina Gendelman, worked hard to promote an open conversation but found that non-Jews interested in learning more about the issues were reluctant to participate because the only location around town willing and able to accommodate meetings was the local Jewish temple. “We began to look around and noticed there was nowhere around Olympia where there is a sense of Jewish pride outside of religion. There is not a Jewish bookstore, there is not a Jewish cafe, there is nothing that says we are a Jewish something, where the average Joe or Jane feels like they can just walk in and participate.”

Kitzel’s Deli in Olympia is poised to change that. Through food they hope to showcase a proud piece of Jewish culture to the public and remove some of the barriers to understanding and awareness. “Who doesn’t love a good knish?” Hava jokes.

But in Olympia, being pro-Israel or even having an open mind about Israel - even if you have impeccable liberal credibility, even if you are dead-set against Israeli policy - is verboten.

From StandWithUs:

Just this week, anti-Israel intolerance showed its ugly face in Olympia, Washington. For those who don’t know, Olympia, Washington, is a center of anti-Israel activity. It’s a place where college professors don’t speak openly of their support for Israel because they may lose researchand that the college divest its endowment from companies doing business with or in Israel.

Kitzel’s Deli offered to work with StandWithUs to host speakers from Israel who were to talk about their lives, about their community, about the progressive nature of Israel.

Because Kitzel offered to host these Israeli speakers, BDS supporters are attempting to bully the deli. They’ve threatened to protest, boycott and to cause economic damage to stop Israeli voices from being heard in Olympia. Already, Kitzel’s weekly sales have fallen 50 percent and they’ve had to lay off half their staff.

The boycott activists in Olympia call themselves open-minded and liberal. But for people who claim to be liberal, to be open minded, their actions show them to be the most close minded, trying to silencing dialog and deny anyone with whom they disagree the right to speak. Apparently the only perspective that BDS activists will tolerate is their own perspective. Their actions are the most undemocratic – an unbridled, unapologetic attempt to deny Israelis and Israel's supporters the right to speak and be heard.

My understanding is that the boycotters are upset at the fact that Kitzel's hosted Israeli speakers arranged by SWU.

You can offer your support at Kitzel's Facebook page.

(h/t mishamb)

Syria plants landmines to stop flood of fleeing refugees

From Ya Libnan:

Syria has planted landmines near its border with Turkey along routes used by refugees fleeing the regime’s deadly crackdown on dissent, the Turkish deputy prime minister said on Thursday.

“The Syrian administration has been planting mines, taking measures not to allow refugees to flee to the other side of the border,” Besir Atalay said in televised remarks.

Up to 500,000 Syrians may cross into Turkey seeking refuge from the deadly year-long crackdown on protests by the Damascus regime, the head of the Turkish Red Crescent warned Thursday.

Ahmet Lutfi Akar said his organisation expected more refugees “to cross into Turkey through the border province of Hatay in the upcoming days, as there is an extreme situation. There are various scenarios that this figure may climb up to 500,000,” the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.

Atalay said the Syrian army was militarily intervening in any attempt by the people fleeing the unrest. “Many have lost their lives,” he added.

The number of Syrians arriving at the Turkish border is increasing daily. Around 1,000 Syrian refugees, including a defecting general, flocked into Turkey in the last 24 hours, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Video from HRW:

Jihadists tally up their missile counts (updated)

Every Gaza terror group loves to give out statistics on exactly how many rockets they shoot at Jews. Here are the totals through Monday:

Islamic Jihad: (Al Quds Brigades)

91 Grads
31 "Jerusalem" missiles
24 "107" missiles
31 mortars

PRC (Nasser Salah Din Brigades)

47 "Nasser" rockets
9 mortars

Fatah (Al Aqsa Brigades - al-Nedal Division)

19 Qassam-type rockets
7 mortars

PFLP

9 Grads
32 Qassam-type rockets
5 mortars

DFLP

1 Grad
17 Qassam-style rockets
3 Mortars

Al-Ahrar and Jaysh al-Jumma
4 Qassam-style rockets

So the total through Monday is 101 Grads, 174 short range rockets and 55 mortars, or 330 projectiles for these groups. There may have been others that shot rockets as well.

Interestingly, they are not counting any rockets fired since the "cease fire" on Tuesday night.

The fragile armistice between Israel and the Gaza terror groups was stretched further on Thursday night as several rockets were fired at western Negev communities from the Strip.

Gaza terrorists fired a Grad rocket at Ashdod, which was intercepted by a nearby Iron Dome battery. Moments later Qassam rockets hit open areas in Eshkol Regional Council and the outskirts of Ashkelon.

Thursday morning saw a Gaza-launched rocket explode in an open area near Netivot. Several hours later a Grad rocket fired at Beersheba was intercepted by the Iron Dome system.

None of the terror groups are taking responsibility for these rockets. So, by the logic of the Western world, they cannot be considered "cease fire" violations.

Only when Israel responds is it a violation.

Those are the rules of the media, and who am I to argue?

UPDATE: Added PFLP, DFLP and the others to my original post (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

BDS Fail: Methodists reject divestment

From JTA:

The Methodist Pension Board rejected a proposal to divest from companies that supply products to Israel's military.

The United Methodist General Board of Pension and Health Benefits unanimously approved a resolution earlier this month that would allow the board to continue to invest in Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard. Petitioners had called for divestment from the three companies, saying that they supply products to Israel that are used to violate the human rights of Palestinians.

The board resolved to continue to urge the companies to protect and respect human rights, as well as to seek a remedy for any human rights violations including, but not limited to, the Palestinians.

“The board of directors strongly believes that divesting of stock in a company where you have a dispute is not an effective tool to impact a company’s policy or practices," said Tim Smith, a member of the board of directors’ United Methodist Church Principles Committee. "If you sell stock as a protest, another investor simply purchases it. As an investor, having a seat at the table with a company has generally proved to be a more powerful means of communicating with a company’s management.”

I guess the BDSers better concentrate on tiny Yuppie food co-ops and insecure second-tier pop singers.

(h/t Mike)

A mass murderer lectures about Israeli "apartheid" in South Africa

From the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa, last week:

The Muslim Judicial Council on Wednesday received Palestinian exchange prisoner, Dr. Abdul Aziz Umar. Dr. Abdul Aziz is a true symbol of hope as he in many ways represents the attitude and strength of the Palestinian people in their continuous struggle for freedom against the Israeli Zionist occupiers. Dr. Abdul Aziz related some of his experiences as a prisoner of the corrupt occupying forces and gave detailed accounts of how he was tortured and how on numerous occations the Zionists tried to break his spirit and his resolve.

“I was used as a guinea pig for Israeli medical experiments in order that they could enjoy and display medical genius, even though I have lost the blessing of sight. However, they could not conquer and overpower my will and desire to turn prison into an educational academy.”

With this introduction the blind deported prisoner, Dr. Ábdul Ázīz Úmar (51 years old) started his discussion with “ar-Risālah Net” talking about his suffering and torture that he experienced in Israeli prisons. The emancipator Úmar (i.e. Dr. Ábdul Ázīz Úmar) is the first blind prisoner that carries a doctorate degree and who received a prison sentence of “7 life sentences and 30 years” when he was imprisoned on 27/09/2004.

Unforgettable Memories

He said about losing his sight: “I lost my sight when I started my university studies (i.e. undergraduate level) but that wasn’t a stumbling block in front of me. I completed my Bachelors Degree at Beir Zayt University thereafter I obtained a PhD. (Doctorate Degree) from the Hebrew University in English Literature.”

The academic Úmar speaks about his “incarceration journey”: “I was excelling in my studies despite my disabilities. The occupation forces tried to involve me in some issues by running some medical tests and exams on me but I disagreed. I was imprisoned in a very barbaric way in 1996 and they accused me of aiding and abetting the brave Mujāhid and Martyr Muḥyiddīn ash-Sharīf. After a while they released my innocense but placed me under house arrest for two years.”

He added: “The imprisonment did not stop there. I was arrested again in 2004 in front of my children in a very horrible way and without any charges. This impacted very negatively and adversely on my small children resulting in them having to receive treatment for the traumatic experience.”

He follows up: “Some months after my seizure (imprisonment) I was convicted and given a prison sentence of “4 life sentences and 30 years”.The charge was that I was spreading new and strange ideas in my intellectual and academic works.” " ...ideas are more dangerous than weapons..." this was the message wispered in the ear of Dr. Abdul Aziz, by an Israeli soldier whilst being arrested and with a gun pointed to his chest. Úmar further explained that he didn't abandon the quest to seek knowledge and further studies, despite this severe sentence that was handed to him. He dedicated himself to teach the prisoners English and Arabic in the precincts of the prison, as well as conducting different symposia and seminars.

He specifically said with regards to his “journey of punishments” in the prisons of the occupation forces: “The occupation forces were artists/ masters in torturing me, trying and hoping to breakdown and destroy my mind more than my body. They used truth serums, electric shock instruments as well as sleeping and relaxation tablets on me. They were the ones who always suffered from fatigue in the end, because my mind remained completely awake and alert.

He further relates about certain tortures he had to endure: “One day they tied me up on the confessions chair and they forced a strong electric and painful x-ray apparatus on my head for more than two hours leading to my body suffering from severe limpness. Some hours after that I was moved to another room whilst I was shackled and they threw me down spread out. They then shocked me with electricity that resulted in me suffering from paralysis in my entire skeleton (bone) structure, and a lost the ability to move.” He continued: “The physical torture barely stopped when they started with psychological torture. They brought the prisoner and the freedom fighter Nāil Bharghūti to us, in order to inform us that “your destiny will be like his” seeing that he (Nāil Bharghūti) is the longest serving political prisoner that they have in their prisons. However, he overpowered them when he said to us: Do not despair and loose hope, victory and freedom are near.”

Really? He was arrested for no reason and sentenced to seven (or four, he says) life terms for "spreading new and strange ideas"? He was tortured mercilessly but still managed to teach other prisoners? The prisons service brought Barghouti to break his will and Barghouti fooled them?

What kind of moron would believe this garbage?

Well, obviously, people who hate Israel - and the entire Muslim population of South Africa.

Let's see what the truth is. From a press release by the South Africa Zionist Federation:

Former Palestinian prisoner Dr Abdul Aziz Umar, who is visiting Cape Town to give a series of lectures, has claimed that he was arrested by the Israelis for “spreading new and strange ideas” in his academic works.

The reality is very different

The real reason why Umar was sentenced to seven life sentences by Israel in 2004 was because of his participation in the Café Hillel bombings in Jerusalem on 9 September 2003. Seven Israeli civilians were killed in this cold-blooded terrorist attack. They included Dr David Appelbaum, head of the emergency room at Shaare Zedek Medical Centre and his daughter Nava, who was to have been married the following day.

Whilst in prison, Umar was allowed to further his academic qualifications by studying through an Israeli university, at the Israeli tax payer’s expense. He was freed last year as part on a prisoner exchange deal, in which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for a single Israeli one.

Those responsible for bringing Abdul Aziz Umar to South Africa have falsely depicted him as an innocent victim of Israeli oppression and prison brutality. The truth is that he is a convicted terrorist with innocent blood on his hands. He has never expressed any remorse for his murderous actions, and he remains a committed supporter of terrorist violence against Israel.

The South African Zionist Federation questions the motivations and the morality of bringing someone with Umar’s record to South Africa. There can be no place in our country for those who propagate hatred and falsehood and who have chosen the path of violence over that of peace.

As long as no one challenges the lies, they will continue to spread.

Muslims and other Israel-haters will not even think twice about inviting and honoring a mass murderer - as long as he hates Israel along with them.

Was there a single Muslim in South Africa who publicly opposed the honor of a mass murderer? Just one, out of over 700,000 South Africa Muslims? Was there even one Muslim who had the moral strength to criticize an unrepentant terrorist and obvious liar whose actions led to the vicious murder of seven people?

This, my friends, is the problem.

(h/t zozosophie)

Hamas leader in Tehran - mending fences?

From Daily Star Lebanon:

A senior Hamas figure in Gaza, Mahmud Zahar, is visiting Tehran for meetings with top Iranian officials, media reported on Thursday.

Zahar's trip was taking place shortly after Gaza militants and Israel agreed a fragile truce that ended four days of deadly cross-border violence.

Zahar, who serves as Hamas's foreign minister, met his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, who voiced his country's support for the Palestinians.

Salehi condemned Israeli air strikes on Gaza as "savage attacks by the Zionist regime against the innocent Palestinian population," the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Support for the Palestinian population is part of our principles and religious beliefs and we are certain that the Palestinian people will triumph," he said.

Zahar, in return, thanked Iran for its "limitless support."

Mahmoud Zahar, aka Mr. Sunshine, with pals

On Wednesday, Zahar met the head of Iran's supreme national security council, Saeed Jalili, and the leader of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Zahar's visit followed one by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last month, who shared the podium with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on February 11 to commemorate the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel and the United States consider Hamas to be an armed proxy of Iran able to strike Israel with Iranian-supplied rockets should the Islamic republic be threatened militarily.

Hamas has reportedly lost a lot of funding over Iran's displeasure at Haniyeh's support of the Syrian revolution. And recently we have seen that Hamas using exorbitant taxes to make up the shortfall, causing Gazans to complain.

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad, which just waged a mini war against Israel, still has its Iran funding intact. And Islamic Jihad gained in popularity in Gaza for shooting rockets at civilians, while Hamas did not join in.

So it sounds like Zahar is trying to mend fences with Iran to get back on the mullah's good sides, replenish their cash supply, and re-establish their terrorist bona-fides.

Muslim women in England flocking to become second wives

From The Daily Mail:

Muslim career women in Britain are choosing to become involved in polygamous relationships because of a lack of suitable men.

Some of them even choosing to become second or third wives to married men, according to the Islamic Sharia Council.

The charity, based in Britain, gives legal guidance to Muslims and has said it is receiving a high number of queries from women struggling to find suitable partners.

Many of the women have also said they would prefer to hold down high-profile jobs rather than look after their husbands.

Taking more than one wife is illegal in the UK but men marry again in a nikah religious ceremony, allowing them to take up to four wives.

Mizan Raja, 35, who organises Muslim marriages around the world, told the Sunday Times, that he has had hundreds of calls in the past six months from women asking about becoming second wives.

Mr Raja said: 'The demand for these relationships is led by the women, not the men. In one generation women have become educated, entrepreneurial and professional.

'The Muslim community is struggling with this, how do you cope with women who wear trousers?'

He said that many Muslim men just wanted a 'homemaker' and to come home to a clean house and a plate of food on the table.

He added the men didn't want the 'headache' of being in a relationship with a professional woman.

It is thought the Muslim women are also actively seeking out married men because they do not want the hassle of having to cook for their husbands after a hard day at work and are quite happy to have part-time relationships.

In the end, is this any different from European men openly having mistresses?

Of course, in both cases, the feelings of the first wife are being trampled upon.

CNN Arabic recycles old "Gaza smoke" photo

In that same CNN Arabic article I just posted about, here's the photo accompanying it:

Only one problem: the photo was not taken this year.

Obviously those massive IAF airstrikes didn't create images that were photogenic enough for CNN Arabic, so they swiped a photo that was used multiple times by the BBC in 2009.

This is hardly the first photo that has gone around this past week that originated years ago, but it is one thing to see tweeters misuse photographs, and quite another for CNN.

Maybe they think that their stellar journalistic standards mentioned in the last post don't have to be so high for their mere Arabic site.

Then again, why should any news organizations be expected to portray events accurately? As bad as this is, there is somewhere else this photo was used recently: by a Spanish news site to describe Syrian bombing in Homs!

(h/t Dan)

CNN's anti-Israel bias shines through in Arabic and English

From CNN:

Israeli aircraft targeted two "terror activity sites" in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said early Wednesday, in another round of tit-for-tat that appeared to end a shaky truce.

"Direct hits were confirmed," the Israel forces in a statement. The attack was carried out in response to rockets fired at Israel over the past day, the statement said.

...The attack came after a truce between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants appeared to have held much of Tuesday, despite reports of rockets being fired into Israel.

You get that? When terrorists fire rockets into Israel the truce is still in place; when Israel shoots back, then the truce has ended.

And the rockets into Israel on Tuesday? CNN, one of the largest news organizations on the planet, can't confirm them. They can only mention "reports" of such rockets.

Some more bias (and inaccuracies) in the same article:

Twenty-five Palestinians were killed in the fighting and hundreds of rockets were fired toward civilian population centers in southern Israel. Fourteen of the Palestinian victims belonged to the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad. At least 80 others were wounded.

First of all, 24 were killed, not 25. CNN is still counting the teenager who Gaza medical officials falsely claimed was killed by an airstrike.

But worse than that was CNN's note that 14 of those killed were Islamic Jihad members. The implication is that the "11" others were civilians, when in fact 6 of them were PRC terrorists. So in fact 20 of 24 killed were terrorists and most of the others seem to have been effectively human shields, as the airstrikes that killed them also injured militants.

Finally, this CNN article has a link to an Arabic version. But it is not a translation; rather a completely different article. And in CNN's Arabic world, the IDF is referred to as an "'occupation' army" - the word "occupation" is in scare quotes but it is not quoting any Arab; this is CNN's description of the IDF. (At only one point in the article is the term IDF used - and that is when they are quoting an Israeli official.)

Also, CNN Arabic claims 27 deaths, not 25 or the more accurate 24.

Moreover, here is how CNN English reports on an incident during a funeral:

Earlier Tuesday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli army opened fire at a funeral east of Jabaliya, north of Gaza, wounding three people, according to witnesses.

"They said the army opened fire at the funeral procession when it reached the Jabaliya cemetery, which is close to the Gaza borders with Israel," the news agency said.

IDF said its soldiers operating along the security fence in Gaza identified approximately 50 Palestinians gathering near a security fence and, in accordance with the rules of engagement, fired warning shots to disperse the group.

Initial reports indicate that there were no injuries to the suspects, said the spokeswoman who, in line with IDF policy, would not identify herself.

But in CNN Arabic:

Palestinian sources confirmed the fall of three wounded, shot by "the Zionist occupation forces" Tuesday, during the funeral of large crowds of citizens to the bodies of "martyrs" killed in an Israeli air strike on Monday night. The spokesman for the Supreme Committee for Ambulance and Emergency services described the injuries as "moderate."

CNN Arabic does not even make an effort to quote any IDF version of events, and it continues to gratuitously refer to the IDF as "Zionist occupation forces" in scare quotes for no valid reason.

(h/t Dan)

UN adopts resolution praising Qaddafi's human rights record

From UN Watch:

A U.N. report ridiculed worldwide for lavishing praise on the Qaddafi regime’s human rights record was unanimously adopted today by the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council, with president Laura Dupuy Lasserre overruling the objection made in the plenary by UN Watch. (Click here for video; see text below.)

After it was first exposed by UN Watch last year, the report card giving high marks to Qaddafi was mocked by the New York Times, The Economist and other major media worldwide, causing a red-faced UN to postpone the report’s adoption repeatedly — until today.

Said the Times:

“Until Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s violent suppression of unrest in recent weeks, the United Nations Human Rights Council was kind in its judgment of Libya. In January, it produced a draft report on the country that reads like an international roll call of fulsome praise, when not delicately suggesting improvements. Evidently, within the 47-nation council, some pots are loath to call kettles black, at least until events force their hand. Last week Libya was suspended from the body, and the report was shelved.”

Even ardent defenders of the council have recently slammed the report. After UN Watch’s recent protest, Suzanne Nossel, the head of Amnesty USA and former top human rights official in the Obama Administration, described the report as “abhorrent” and called for a complete “redo.”

Here is UN Watch's Hillel Neuer telling the UN what a joke the report is:

In fact, the report is even worse than Neuer implies in his short speech. Here are some parts:

Algeria noted the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote human rights, which reflected the country’s commitment to complying with Human Rights Council resolutions and cooperating with the international community.

Qatar praised the legal framework for the protection of human rights and freedoms, including, inter alia, its criminal code and criminal procedure law, which provided legal guarantees for the implementation of those rights.

The Syrian Arab Republic praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its serious commitment to and interaction with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. It commended the country for its democratic regime based on promoting the people’s authority through the holding of public conferences, which enhanced development and respect for human rights, while respecting cultural and religions traditions.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its achievements in the protection of human rights.

Bahrain noted that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had adopted various policies aimed at improving human rights.

Palestine commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the consultations held with civil society in the preparation of the national report, which demonstrated its commitment to the improved enjoyment of human rights. Palestine praised the country for the Great Green Document on Human Rights.

Saudi Arabia commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s achievements in its constitutional, legislative and institutional frameworks, which showed the importance that the country attached to human rights.

Tunisia noted progress made by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, such as the adoption of the Great Green Charter, which was very comprehensive and enshrined fundamental freedoms and rights as enshrined in international human rights instruments.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela acknowledged the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote economic, social and cultural rights, especially those of children.

Jordan welcomed the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the establishment of institutions, particularly in the
judiciary system.

Oman commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its diligent efforts in the field of human rights and for making them its priority.

Egypt commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for progress in building a comprehensive national human rights framework of institutions and in drafting legislation and supporting its human resources in that area.

The Islamic Republic of Iran noted that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya had implemented a number of international human rights instruments and had cooperated with relevant treaty bodies. It noted with appreciation the establishment of the National Human Rights Committee as an independent national human rights institution, and the provision of an enabling environment for non-governmental organizations.

Pakistan praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for measures taken both in terms of legislation and in practice, noting with appreciation that it was a party to most of the core human rights treaties.

Viet Nam congratulated the delegation on the quality of the national report. It noted with satisfaction the commitment of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to the protection and promotion of the human rights of its people.

Even Western nations would go out of their way to find something nice to say about Libya even as they voiced concerns.

The United States of America supported the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’s increased engagement with the international community. It called on the country to comply with its human rights treaty obligations. It expressed concern about reports of the torture of prisoners and about the status of freedom of expression and association, including in its legislation, which often resulted in the arrest of people for political reasons.

Canada welcomed improvements made by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in its respect for human rights, specifically the recent legislation that granted women married to foreigners the right to pass on their Libyan nationality to their children, as well as the acknowledgement of the deaths of hundreds of Abu Salim prisoners in 1996 and the first incountry release of a report by an international non-governmental organization in 2009.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland welcomed visits by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. It encouraged the country to consider further visits and to issue a standing invitation to the United Nations special procedures. It remained concerned about the enjoyment of the freedoms of expression and association, and asked for further details in that regard, including on the development of a new press law. The United Kingdom encouraged improvements in Libyan prison standards.

Only two countries had nothing positive to say:

France referred to the situation of refugees; allegations concerning arbitrary detention, torture, ill treatment and enforced disappearance; the death penalty, which remained in force for a large number of crimes; the absence of non-governmental organizations with expertise in the field of human rights; and the severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association.

Israel noted that The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya should live up to the membership standards set forth in General Assembly resolution 60/251 and serve as a model in the protection of human rights; while, in reality, its membership in the Council served to cover the ongoing systemic suppression, in law and in practice, of fundamental rights and freedoms.

If you want proof that the UN Human Rights Council is a complete and utter joke, the fact that this resolution was adopted - in 2012 - is all the proof you need.

(h/t Samson2)

Now Muslims are seething over - the Jerusalem Marathon

The Al Aqsa Foundation announced Israel's latest scheme to "Judaize" Jerusalem - the annual Jerusalem Marathon, scheduled for this Friday, March 16.

Their press release, as always slavishly copied in Palestinian Arab newspapers, say that Israel is attempting to Judaize Jerusalem through "sport."

They note that the paths of the marathon go from the Knesset to Mount Scopus and pass adjacent to the walls of the Old City, which they say are being turned into a "Talmudic path."

Here's one of the awful photos they reveal showing a landmark that the marathon passes:

The marathon website reveals the route:

JPost reports:

Two weeks ago, the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, urged the international community to boycott the marathon because it passes through east Jerusalem.

“The marathon is one more attempt by Israeli occupation to erase the Arab identity of Jerusalem,” Hussein said in a statement, according to the news website Al-Arabiya.

The route passes next to the Arab neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Issawiya as it circles the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus and threads through the Old City’s Jewish and Armenian Quarters.

Barkat dismissed the mufti’s comments.

“I am the mayor of all of Jerusalem, and the marathon runs in all of the city, period,” he said.

I'm surprised that the Muslims didn't complain about the "Jerusalem Cat Marathon" mentioned in the JPost - on Purim.

12,000 runners are expected this year.

Behind the scenes in Gaza

Some truth comes out in a BBC article from Monday:

On the northern outskirts of Gaza, I was taken on Monday to see one of the latest bomb sites.

A four-storey house had been completely destroyed. Its roof had collapsed inwards; tables and chairs, bedclothes and children's toys spilled out of its squashed floors like shopping from a torn plastic bag.

The ground around the house was charred black and smelled of burning.

Back at the bomb site, I met the man who owned the pile of rubble that was - until last night - his home.

Amazingly no-one was killed in the explosion, despite the complete devastation.

On first inspection it looked like one of Israel's missiles must have gone astray, a case of collateral damage.

But on closer questioning the picture changes.

"I have already lost one son to the struggle for liberation," the man told me. "I have two more, and I am willing to sacrifice them too."

One of his sons is in the al-Qassam brigades, he says, the other in Islamic Jihad.

"After the attack last night (Sunday) the Israeli Shin Bet (Internal Security) called me on the phone to tell me it was because of my son's activities," he says.

I asked another local how it was that so many people could have escaped relatively unscathed from a building that was so completely destroyed.

"Sometimes the Israelis call up the person beforehand and warn them that they have 10 minutes to leave the house, then they strike."

..."What do you mean when you say you are struggling against the occupation?" I asked one Gazan. "After all Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005?"

"We mean the occupation of Jerusalem, and Jaffa and Haifa and all the other places that belong to us," he said without hesitation.

(h/t Ian)

The New York Times has ignored Gaza's power outages

In 2008, Israel briefly stopped shipping fuel to Gaza's main power plant.

That was mentioned by the New York Times no less than ten times, starting with a major story on January 21:

Two days later, Israeli fuel shipments resumed, and the Times noted that the Eu called Israel's move "collective punishment."

Two days later again, it was mentioned in a story about Gazans breaking through the border to Egypt. As it was on January 26th and 29th.

On February 9, Israel cut the supply of electricity to Gaza - by 1%. This prompted another major NYT story.

And there were a few mentions of it in other stories during 2008.

Now, for the past five weeks, Gaza has suffered another fuel crisis, closing its power plant three times. Hamas stopped all shipments of power plant fuel from Israel since January 2011 and relied on smuggled fuel from Egypt; Egypt cracked down on smugglers and Hamas has so far refused to allow fuel to go to Gaza via Israel.

While the New York Times had noted Israel's brief stoppages of fuel to Gaza five times in nine days in 2008, it has yet to mention Gaza's current power woes even once. No photos of people protesting with candles, no stories about how a human rights activist was arrested for blaming Hamas for the shortage, nothing about how Hamas refuses fuel from Israel or wants to charge exorbitant taxes on the fuel or is politicizing this issue to gain concessions from Egypt. Nothing at all.

Isn't that interesting? Two identical human interest stories, one that lasted a few days and the other that lasted five weeks, and the New York Times ignores the one that is far worse.

Now, why might that be?

(The BBC isn't much better. It mentioned it - exactly once, the first time the plant shut down. )

(h/t EBoZ)

Fatah, Hamas celebrate "flying Zionist body parts" in 2004 attack

Usually nowadays Hamas and Fatah can't stand each other, but when it comes to reminiscing about terror attacks, they have nothing but warm feelings for each other.

Hamas' Palestine Times newspaper and the pro-Fatah Palestine Press Agency celebrate (and exaggerate) the twin suicide bombing attack at the Ashdod port that occurred eight years ago, on March 14, 2004.

The attack was meant to blow up the fuel tanks at Ashdod which could have killed hundreds of people. The bombers felt thwarted from that goal and instead blew themselves up hundreds of meters away, killing 10., mostly port workers.

The two bombers, one from Hamas and the other from Fatah, infiltrated Ashdod by hiding in a shipping container from Gaza.

In an unusual and possibly unprecedented move, both the Hamas and Fatah newspapers published the same article about the terror attack, using flowery language to describe the murder of Israeli civilians, including (in PalPress' headline) "flying Zionist body parts."

Israel responded to the attack by killing Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a week later.

Moroccan girl commits suicide after being forced to marry her rapist

From Washington Post:

Morocco’s internet activists mobilized on Wednesday in outrage over the suicide of a 16-year-old rape victim who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist.

An online petition, a facebook page and countless tweets expressed horror of the case of Amina Filali, who swallowed rat poison on Saturday to protest her five months of marriage to the man who raped her a year earlier.

Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code allows for the “kidnapper” of a minor to marry his victim to escape prosecution, and it has been used to justify a traditional practice of making a rapist marry his victim to preserve the family’s honor.

“Amina, 16, was triply violated, by her rapist, by tradition and by article 475 of the Moroccan law,” tweeted activist Abadila Maaelaynine.

The victim’s father said in an interview with an online Moroccan newspaper that the court pushed the marriage on her.

“The prosecutor advised my daughter to marry, he said ‘go and make the marriage contract,’” said Lahcen Filali in an interview that appeared on goud.ma Tuesday night.

In many societies, the loss of a woman’s virginity outside of wedlock is a huge stain of honor on the family. In many Middle East societies, there is a tradition whereby a rapist can escape prosecution if he marries his victim, thereby restoring her honor. There is a similar injunction in the Old Testament’s Book of Deuteronomy.

I hope no one thinks that the Washington Post is an authority on Deuteronomy. Jewish law is explicit: the woman may never be forced to marry against her will.

Guess who is encouraging foreign investment in the Pal territories?

Israel's Defense Ministry is.

The Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories just instituted new procedures meant to streamline the process for foreign investors to be able to visit and evaluate investment opportunities in the Palestinian Arab territories.

The document is entitled "Encouraging Foreign Investment in the Palestinian Territories" and its stated purpose is "Presenting a process for dealing with foreign investors, with the goal of encouraging the development of the Palestinian economy."

At the same time that the PA and its official media are doing everything they can to demonize Israel, and even as they refuse to even speak with Israel to bring a lasting peace to the region, Israel continues to work towards cooperation and peace. At the same time that Palestinian Arabs are trying to cripple Israel's economy by boycotts and sanctions, Israel is trying to help the Palestinian Arab economy by encouraging foreign investment.

It is just one more proof that there is only one side that is truly interested in peace and co-existence.

Azerbaijan detains 22 suspected Iranian spies aiming at Jewish, Israeli, US targets

From Journal of Turkish Weekly:

Azerbaijan’s National Security Ministry has detained 22 people accused of spying for Iran and other crimes, the ministry said on Wednesday.

They had been secretly cooperating with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), “collecting and passing information that could harm Azerbaijan’s security,” and recruiting people for Iranian intelligence services.

They were charged with high treason and illegal acquisition and storage of firearms and ammunition.

The ministry did not say when they were detained.
Azerbaijan announced on February 22 it had uncovered a terrorist group with links to Iran’s IRGC and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The group, led by an IRGC officer called Hamid and Hezbollah operative Hadji Abbas, was planning to stage attacks against the Israeli embassy and a Jewish cultural center in the Azeri capital Baku.

AFP adds the US embassy to the list of targets.

(h/t Philtheman)

How many missiles did Israel shoot? I'll tell you!

Ali Abuminah of Electronic Intifada asks what he thinks is a damning question:

Whenever you hear Israel’s tired hasbara refrain about rockets, rockets, rockets, remember to ask the question Yousef Munayyer recently asked: Why don’t Israel’s spokespeople ever tell us how many rockets, missiles and bullets Israel has fired on Gaza?

Of course the answer is because it is by orders of magnitude greater in both number and explosive power than anything Palestinian armed groups have or ever could muster against Israel.

Well, luckily for Abuninah, we can know how many missiles Israel shot into Gaza over the past few days - because PCHR counts every report of a missile, even those that cause no injuries or damage, and even some that never happened.

So using the numbers provided by a biased, lying anti-Israel organization that cannot even call the IDF by its name, we can count:

11 missiles fired on Friday and Saturday,
10 missiles fired on Sunday, and
8 missiles fired on Monday.

That's a whopping maximum of 29 missiles the PCHR claims (including at least one that was fictional) that Israel's dreaded war machine shot at Gaza over four days.

Not exactly carpet bombing, is it?

In comparison, Gaza terror groups shot about 250-300 rockets at Israel in the same time period. Meaning they shot ten times as many projectiles at Israeli towns as Israel shot at specific terrorist targets.

And most of the rockets fired by the Gaza terrorists were not the small "homemade" Qassams, but professional 122 mm Grad rockets, probably of Chinese or Russian manufacture, often with a payload of about 20 kg of explosives. They are not firecrackers.

Needless to say, when Israel shoots a missile, it generally hits the exact target intended. When Islamic Jihad fired a rocket, it aims at the general direction of where ever it thinks it can kill the most civilians. For moral midgets like Abuminah to pretend that somehow Israel's actions are worse than those of terror groups in Gaza is simply an attempt to justify terrorism.

Yes, Israel has far more firepower, but in no possible universe can you say that Israeli fire was disproportionate to the rockets that came out of Gaza.

You're welcome, Ali.

AFP ignores its own report; blames Israel for two child deaths from fictional airstrike (UPDATE)

From AFP:

A Gazan child died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in four days of Israeli-Palestinian violence, but a truce deal appeared to be holding, despite more rocket fire and two Israeli raids.

Gaza emergency services spokesperson Adham Abu Selmiya said Baraka al-Mughrabi, aged 7, died from severe injuries sustained during an Israeli bombing raid on Gaza City on Saturday.

The boy's death, which raised to 26 the number of Palestinians killed in four days of bloodshed, came 24 hours after Israel and militant groups in Gaza agreed to observe a ceasefire deal in a bid to end the confrontation, which saw more than 200 rockets fired at Israel.

Yet Mughrabi was injured not on Saturday, but in the same Monday morning incident that killed teenager Nayif Qarmout.

Which an AFP reporter (and photographic evidence) confirmed was not an Israeli airstrike.

AFP described the incident where Qarmout and now Mughrabi were killed as a kind of "work accident" where an explosive device carried by 15-year old Qarmout went off. The IDF denied any strike in the area and AFP confirmed that.

It is no surprise that "Gaza medical officials" will lie and blame Israel for the deaths, but AFP reporters should presumably know what they themselves reported.

The number of victims from the airstrikes is 24, not 26, of whom 20 were terrorists (and at least one, a farmer, was effectively a human shield as Islamic Jihad terrorists were injured in the same strike.)

Sloppiness or bias?

UPDATE: Ma'an was wrong; Mughrabi was not one of the kids with Qarmout. He was killed by a terrorist bullet. From AP:

A Palestinian boy accidentally struck by a bullet when militants fired in the air during a funeral died of his injuries Wednesday, family members and witnesses said.

Palestinian health official Adham Abu Salmia initially said that 8-year-old Barka al-Mugrahbi died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.

However, Israel's military said it did not carry out a strike in the area at the time.

The boy's relatives and witnesses later said the boy was marching in the funeral procession for a Gaza militant Monday when he was struck in the head by an errant bullet.

At the time, gunmen were firing in the air, they said.

But did AP go back to Adham Abu Salmia and ask him why he lied? Will AP and other wire services keep quoting him even though they know he is a liar?

Delhi police confirm Iran behind embassy attack

From Economic Times of India:

The Delhi Police has cracked the Israeli embassy car blast case and traced the conspiracy to Iranian secret agents. According to sources privy to the investigation, it has now been 'conclusively established' that Syed Mohammad Kazmi, the freelance journalist recently arrested in the case, was in touch with an Iranian intelligence officer and had even visited Iran as part of the conspiracy.

Sources in the security establishment told ET that the breakthrough in the February 13 blast on an Israel diplomat's car, will be announced by the Delhi Police in a "day or two." They added that another couple of detentions have been made in the case.

The questioning of these two persons is underway and their arrests will follow soon. A senior official of the security establishment claimed that the Delhi Police had identified the bomber.

Even before the details of the investigation are placed in the public domain, India made it a point to share them with Israel. On Monday, home minister P Chidambaram is said to have briefed the visiting Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror on the alleged breakthrough in the case.

Putting its weight behind the Delhi Police, the MHA on Monday said it completely backs their line of investigation. "Wait for the announcement from the Delhi Police, which will unravel the entire conspiracy and the role of each individual and agency in the attack," a senior home ministry official told ET.

The outcome of the blast probe confirms Israel's assessment soon after the blast. Israel had claimed that the blast was carried out by Iran or its protege Hezbollah, given Israel's stiff opposition to its nuclear ambitions.

Kazmi has been charged with helping the bomber conduct reconnaissance of the Israeli embassy several times and keeping tab on the movement of Israeli diplomats. He allegedly helped terrorist who planted the magnet bomb on the diplomat's car.

Kazmi, a freelance journalist, is said to be running a feature news agency, Media Star, besides being a part-time worker with an Iranian broadcaster and also a columnist with Persian newspapers in Iran.

It is worth mentioning that an article in Al Jazeera by an "investigative journalist" that claimed this was an Israeli "false flag" operation was given credence by anti-Israel journalists.

Which proves yet again that for most Israel haters, there is no journalistic integrity - skepticism simply does not exist for the most moronic claims.

(h/t Yoel)

Rabid Israel-haters say Gilad Atzmon is too Zionist for them

A group of people whose single-minded aim is to take away the Jewish right of self-determination has decided that Gilad Atzmon's nutty anti-semitic rantings is too crazy - even for them.

From the "US Palestinian Community Network," quoted in Electronic Intifada:

For many years now, Gilad Atzmon, a musician born in Israel and currently living in the United Kingdom, has taken on the self-appointed task of defining for the Palestinian movement the nature of our struggle, and the philosophy underpinning it. He has done so through his various blogs and Internet outlets, in speeches, and in articles. He is currently on tour in the United States promoting his most recent book, entitled, The Wandering Who.

With this letter, we call for the disavowal of Atzmon by fellow Palestinian organizers, as well as Palestine solidarity activists, and allies of the Palestinian people, and note the dangers of supporting Atzmon’s political work and writings and providing any platforms for their dissemination. We do so as Palestinian organizers and activists, working across continents, campaigns, and ideological positions.

Atzmon’s politics rest on one main overriding assertion that serves as springboard for vicious attacks on anyone who disagrees with his obsession with “Jewishness”. He claims that all Jewish politics is “tribal,” and essentially, Zionist. Zionism, to Atzmon, is not a settler-colonial project, but a trans-historical “Jewish” one, part and parcel of defining one’s self as a Jew. Therefore, he claims, one cannot self-describe as a Jew and also do work in solidarity with Palestine, because to identify as a Jew is to be a Zionist. We could not disagree more. Indeed, we believe Atzmon’s argument is itself Zionist because it agrees with the ideology of Zionism and Israel that the only way to be a Jew is to be a Zionist.

Palestinians have faced two centuries of orientalist, colonialist and imperialist domination of our native lands. And so as Palestinians, we see such language as immoral and completely outside the core foundations of humanism, equality and justice, on which the struggle for Palestine and its national movement rests. As countless Palestinian activists and organizers, their parties, associations and campaigns, have attested throughout the last century, our struggle was never, and will never be, with Jews, or Judaism, no matter how much Zionism insists that our enemies are the Jews. Rather, our struggle is with Zionism, a modern European settler colonial movement, similar to movements in many other parts of the world that aim to displace indigenous people and build new European societies on their lands.

...Indeed, we regard any attempt to link and adopt antisemitic or racist language, even if it is within a self-described anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist politics, as reaffirming and legitimizing Zionism.

...As Palestinians, it is our collective responsibility, whether we are in Palestine or in exile, to assert our guidance of our grassroots liberation struggle. We must protect the integrity of our movement, and to do so we must continue to remain vigilant that those for whom we provide platforms actually speak to its principles.

When the Palestinian people call for self-determination and decolonization of our homeland, we do so in the promise and hope of a community founded on justice, where all are free, all are equal and all are welcome.

Until liberation and return.

I don't know if it is worth fisking the absolute stupidity and purposeful lies seen here - for example, the ridiculous idea that Zionism is colonialism, or the myth that Palestinian Arab nationalism would accept Jews as equals, or even the sheer hypocrisy of stating that "Palestinians," who have enjoyed peoplehood for a few decades at most, have a greater claim for self-determination than the 3000 year old Jewish nation (which these signatories deny even exists.)

The people who signed this are attempting to put on a "moderate" facade on their sheer hate by distancing themselves from a Holocaust denier and anti-semite, but their excuses are hardly more moral than Atzmon's sickening rhetoric. It is equally anti-semitic to deny Jewish peoplehood and Jewish self-determination.

And who signed it? A score of Arab academics and thinkers, whose signatures to this letter show that there is no relationship between being an intellectual and being a moral human being. They include Ali Abunimah, Joseph Massad, Omar Barghouti and a host of prominent Palestinian Arab professors and activists who cloak their hate in big words and lofty-sounding concepts - that only apply to their own people.

ISIS identifies likely secret Iranian nuclear site

From ISIS Online:

ISIS has identified in commercial satellite imagery a building on the Parchin site in Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to visit because it contains, or used to contain, a high-explosive test chamber (see figure 1). The building is located on a relatively small and isolated compound within the Parchin military site and has its own perimeter security wall or fencing. A berm can be seen between this building and a neighboring one, which is consistent with a description of the compound in the November 8, 2011 IAEA Safeguards Report. The compound is located more than four kilometers away from high-explosive related facilities also at the Parchin site which the IAEA visited in 2005 (see figure 2). 1

The IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano recently noted that the IAEA has “information that that some activity is ongoing” at the Parchin site.2 When asked if he was concerned that Iran was cleansing the site, Amano said that the “possibility is not excluded…” and that “we have to go there.” If Iran is engaging in clean up work to hide evidence at the Parchin site then it could be occurring inside this building as well. Thus, the IAEA deserves international support to visit this site without delay to inspect the inside of this building and other locations in Parchin as well.

In the November 8, 2011 Safeguards Report , the IAEA described evidence, including satellite imagery, indicating that Iran built the large explosive test chamber at the Parchin site and used it to conduct hydrodynamic experiments in the early 2000s, possibly related to the development of nuclear weapons. The IAEA has evidence that test chamber was placed at Parchin in 2000 and that a building was subsequently constructed around it.

The Associated Press has reported that satellite imagery in early November 2011 and satellite imagery from more recently shows increased activity at the Parchin site.4 It is not clear if this reported activity is occurring specifically at this compound, or at other areas at the Parchin site.

Hat tip to Challah Hu Akbar, who keeps getting better and better. He found this location on Google Maps so you can pan and zoom. It is a pretty remote area.

View Larger Map

See also CNN and Atlantic Wire.

Don't look at Juan Cole, though, because he's convinced that secret nuclear activity in military zones in Iran are completely innocuous. Iran's Supreme Leader said so himself - at least this decade.

Zahar: Hamas will accept fuel through Israel via UNRWA

From Hamas' Palestine Times newspaper:

Leader of the Political Bureau of Hamas Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar denied the report published by some Arab and Zionist media of a deal between Hamas and Egypt to accept the truce contingent on the introduction of fuel into the Gaza Strip, and said: "This is not true at all and has no basis in truth" .

Al-Zahar confirmed that there is nothing new on the subject of electricity, and expressed the approval of Hamas on the introduction of fuel for the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing by "UNRWA" for the power plant in the Gaza Strip.

So it looks like Hamas is going to allow fuel to reach Gaza via Israel after all, and is using UNRWA to make sure it does not receive the fuel directly, in a bizarre way to save face after depriving Gazans of fuel and power for well over a month now because of their refusal to do exactly that.

No confirmation yet from COGAT or UNRWA.

It is possible that by using this mechanism of going through UNRWA, Hamas will avoid giving taxes to the PA and will be able to tax it themselves. It will be interesting to find out how much Egypt (the presumed supplier) will be charging for the fuel.

Does this mean that UNRWA is going to be complicit in Hamas collecting taxes on fuel, and therefore in strengthening Hamas?

Crazy rumor that Netanyahu said he would destroy Lebanon

A bizarre rumor has been floating around. Here is the most embellished version I could find, from a Malaysian blog, but parts of it are all over the web:

At a news conference in Switzerland, on the occasion of the building an Israeli railway there, the German newspaper Die Zeit interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Congratulations Mr. Netanyahu, my first question is that does the beginning of the large train line’s construction confirm the announcement of the dissident Syrian Intelligence Office that you will strike Lebanon?”

In reply, Netanyahu stated:

“Yes, and it is not a secret that it will happen with U.S-Gulf support and that is why they have been warned, but before you ask, you have a look at the new map of the world and see that there is no nation with this name.” Given that the UN Security Council has listed 388 Israeli airspace violations by Israel against Lebanon, there is no doubt what Israel is planning regarding Lebanon.

President Michel Suleiman condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements on Lebanon, saying that its existence will not be affected by his remarks.

"Lebanon is the only country to have defeated Israel militarily and the Jewish state is still recovering from it.” Indeed, the only thing that stopped Israel in 2006 from wiping Lebanon off the map was the defense against them provided by Hezbollah, who sent them crying with their tails between their legs.

...
Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon are on high alert in anticipation of an Israeli attack on Lebanon, the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat daily reported recently. According to the report, Hezbollah has been monitoring with caution the reinforcement of IDF troops along the Lebanon border.

It is also interesting to note that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, admitted that the Israeli train line is funded by Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Asked if he was not afraid of his people, he affirmed the close friendly relations between the two countries. Qatar, the one that has had a vested interest in formenting terrorism and and ‘regime change” in Libya, Syria and elsewhere.

As Victor Ivrii writes:

This quotation has been broadcasted all over anti-Israel websites and blogs despite being obviously bogus. Those who invented it were smoking pretty mighty stuff or had a great albeit pervert sense of humour. They only failed to mention that Netanyahu made this announcement on the board of the Israeli submarine—aircraft carrier on the Geneva lake

Israel possesses an expertise in many areas but railway building is not among them and many foreign companies are building railways and light rails in Israel. On the contrary, Swiss are experts here. And even if Israel was building a railway in Switzerland how could this construction be used to strike Lebanon?

Ivrii speculates that the quote originated in this Pravda article, but in fact it was created out of whole cloth a week earlier.

From a website called The Islam Times, February 22:

Qatar (Islam Times) – The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani confirmed that Israel is a friendly country and considered that using Qatar for the military operation in Libya is a Qatari mandate.

At a news conference in Switzerland, on the occasion of building the first and largest Israeli railway, the German newspaper “Die Zeit” asked the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Congratulations Mr. Netanyahu, my first question is that does the beginning of the large train line’s construction confirm the announcement of the dissident Syrian Intelligent Office that you will strike Lebanon?

Netanyahu replied: Yes, and it is not a secret that it will happen with U.S.-Gulf support and that is why they have been warned, but before you ask you have look at the new map of the world and see that there is no nation with this name.

The German journalist directed a question at the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and said: The Israeli train line is funded by Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, are you not afraid of your people.

The Emir of Qatar answered: Israel is a friendly country and there is no fear of our people.

When this completely bogus quote was reported to Lebanon's president, he indeed responded as if it was true. From Naharnet, February 23:

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements on Lebanon, saying that its existence will not be affected by his remarks.

He added in a statement: “Lebanon is the only country to have defeated Israel militarily and the Jewish state is still recovering from it.”

Netanyahu had said on Wednesday that an Israeli strike against Lebanon would be supported by the United States and countries of the Arab Gulf.

In addition, he remarked that there is no such thing as Lebanon on the world map.

He made his statements at a press conference during a trip to Switzerland.

This is just one way how a stupid, easily provable lie can get repeated across the world, and even be believed by Arab leaders and ostensibly respected newspapers without the slightest bit of skepticism.

But if you disagree and believe this idiotic nonsense, all you need to do is find me the article in Die Zeit.

(h/t Samson2)