Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, May 04, 2012

Weekend Links, part 2 (Ian)

From Ian:

Honest Reporting replies to the Guardian
Tel Aviv is Israel's Capital (According to the Guardian)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyMRUyRmvk0

Co-op bans settlement produce in Israel boycott
But the JC can reveal that at least two of the four companies with which the Co-op is now refusing to do business - Arava Export Growers and Mehadrin - had no contracts to sell produce to the UK
group before the boycott.

Mehadrin's Rami Hesel said: "We were not dealing withthe Co-op, even before the boycott. We had no business with them and didn't sell them anything. For us it is irrelevant.

"We have many Arab workers with us in the fields and packing houses. There are families who have been with us for many years. Any attempt to harm us harms the Palestinians, too."

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/67113/co-op-bans-settlement-produce-israel-boycott

Daphne Anson points out

'Despite the Co-op’s claims that they are applying their policy even-handed, goods from Occupied Northern Cyprus, for example, may still be sold in Co-ops and labelled as “produce of Turkey”.

"Produce Of Turkey": The Co-op, The Boycott, & Double Standards

http://daphneanson.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/produce-of-turkey-co-op-boycott-double.html

Released bin Laden papers show Al-Qaeda with Israel in its sights

“Al-Qaeda considered the use of drugs to infiltrate Israel’s borders and security infrastructure, thought of the Arab Spring as a positive development, called on Christians in Israel to convert to Islam, and slammed the Mubarak regime for its relations with Israel in newly declassified papers found by US
commandos in Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound.”

AQ Received funding from Iran and Fatah
http://www.timesofisrael.com/released-bin-laden-papers-show-al-qaeda-with-israel-in-sights/

Letter Excerpts: What al Qaeda Thought of Fox News, CNN, ABC
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/03/media-strategy-what-al-qaeda-thought-of-fox-cnn-abc/

Al Qaeda Loves Keith Olbermann, Hates Fox
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/03/Al-Qaeda-Loves-Olbermann-Hates-Fox

Revealed: How bin Laden plotted to bring down Air Force One to kill Obama and replace him with 'totally unprepared' Biden

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138851/Osama-bin-Laden-files-reveal-plot-bring-Air-Force-One-kill-Barack-Obama.html#ixzz1tpy6pQdq

More shameful BBC propaganda against Israel
The BBC has now sunk to pinning its stories against Israel on people who refer to the Jewish state in terms of Nazism and Apartheid
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1172/more_shameful_bbc_propaganda_against_israel

DOJ Refuses to Prosecute Palestinian Terrorists
Tamimi was released even though she has admitted – on television – that she participated in the Sbarro terrorist bombing. In the interview, she even expressed her delight at the number of children among the dead.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/03/DOJ-Refuses-to-Prosecute-Terrorists

Former Egyptian PM Says He'd Visit Israel
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/03/Former-Egyptian-Prime-Minister-Israel

Hamas denies Israeli report on contact with Olmert
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-denies-israeli-report-on-contact-with-olmert/

How The Palestinian Authority Fights Corruption by Khaled Abu Toameh

“Palestinians say that the campaign of intimidation and harassment against the media is designed to prevent "negative reporting" about the Palestinian Authority government. The Palestinian Authority does not want anyone to report about corruption and abuse of power out of fear that this would affect financial aid from the US, EU and other countries.”
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3043/palestinian-authority-corruption

What about UN crimes?
Op-ed: IDF actions pale in comparison to crimes committed by UN peacekeeping forces
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4223342,00.html

Pat Condell - Hello Saudi Arabia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnLTHHpKl60

London won't hold minute of silence for 1972 victims
http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=268493

USS Cole Commander Slams Obama Adhttp://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/05/02/USS-Cole-Commander-Slams-Obama-Ad

Six army battalions called up under emergency orders to meet growing threat on Egypt, Syria borders
http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-approves-call-up-of-22-idf-battalions/

American Methodists vote against divesting from Israel
http://www.timesofisrael.com/american-methodists-vote-against-divesting-from-israel/

Also, Barry Rubin's article on new NYT Israel correspondent Jodi Rudoren's romanticizing terrorists who are hunger striking.

Weekend Links, part 1

Camera: Desmond Tutu Assails Israel, Gives Palestinians a Pass (Again)

and Elie Wiesel Challenges President Obama; Washington Post Misses Story

HuffPo: Israel, Canada has Accepted your Friend Request
Deputy Leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel Kamal Khatib: Our Babies Are a Demographic Time Bomb for Israel

WSJ: Inciting Genocide is a Crime (partial paywall but Google search it to read it)

JPost: Egyptian-Jews seek rehearing in Coca-Cola case

BBC: Swastikas daubed on Jewish woman's car in Brighton

Times of Israel: Israeli teacher aims to galvanize Syria fly-in, to highlight need for global intervention

The Commentator: UK ignores Palestinian incitement

NYT interview with "The Dictator" plus the latest trailer

Guess what country was in the top ten Lonely Planet destinations for 2011? Yup - Syria.

(h/t Sophie, John, D., Ian, Joel B, Shmuel)

Lebanon outsourcing education to - Iran!

A couple of months ago I posted about how Hezbollah was imposing its curriculum on all schools in Lebanon by forcing everyone to take a class on "the resistance." Afterwards, I wrote sarcastically, "When will they cut out the middleman and just let Ayatollah Khamanei write the course materials for every class?"

Maybe they read my blog.

Education Minister Hasan Diab expressed hope Thursday that Lebanon would soon sign a cooperation agreement in education with Iran.

“We look forward to signing an agreement in the near future to benefit from the educational experience of Iran,” Diab told reporters after receiving his Iranian counterpart Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee, who is accompanying Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi on an official visit.

Diab said the agreement would help the implementation of the ministry’s “salvation” plan for the sector.

Asked by reporters about remarks that the agreement would amount to a “Persian invasion,” Diab said: “This is untrue ... the Education Ministry is a sovereign ministry and in many aspects, it is crucial for all Lebanese.”

There are many reasons to overthrow Bashir Assad, but one of them not often mentioned often enough: it would weaken Hezbollah and give hope that Lebanon can become independent of Islamist rule again.

And dangerous ideas like having Lebanon depend on the mullahs in Iran to teach their students would not even be considered.

(h/t @JCampbellUKIP)

The PLO's "acceptance" of two states, 1977

From JTA, February 28, 1977:

In London, Said Hammami, the PLO's representative there, said in an interview today in the Observer that the Palestine National Council when it meets in Cairo March 12 cannot amend the charter because it represents ideology rather than a practical program.

However, he said the PLO is ready to accept two states in Palestine "because since 1948 there has been a new factor, the Israeli people, not the Jewish people." But he said that Israel cannot survive in the long run as a Jewish State but will eventually become a Hebrew-speaking corner of the Arab world.

Hammami listed three points that comprise the PLO policy: a demand for complete withdrawal of Israel from occupied territory; that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip be handed over to the Palestinians to form an independent state under the PLO with the option later of deciding whether it wanted to join with Jordan and/or Syria; and the recognition of the right of all Palestinians to return to their homes, although this right might not be exercised "for a number of years."

Over the past 35 years Israel has changed its position drastically towards concessions to the PLO - and the PLO has not changed its position one iota towards peace with Israel.

It still considers Israel a temporary anomaly; it still rejects the idea of a Jewish state or of "two states for two peoples;" it still insists on the "right" to have millions of Arabs immigrate to Israel to destroy it demographically.

The only difference is that 35 years ago they were explicit about their ultimate goal of using the territories as a stage in the ultimate destruction of Israel, and after Oslo they pretend that they really want peace. Yet in Arabic they are still quite clear, and their people know it.

And in the 35 years of Israel giving up land, making unilateral concessions and accepting the concept of two states, it has not moderated the Arabs one tiny bit from their hard-line position of 1977 - which is in fact identical to the infamous 1974 Phased Plan for the destruction of Israel, piece by piece.

Saudi women's only village bans "indecently dressed" and "tomboys"

From Al Arabiya:

An all-female village in Saudi banned women who are not dressed conservatively or dressed like men from entering the village grounds in an attempt to combat “alien” phenomena that violate social traditions and spread negative practices.

The Women’s Village in Sakakah, the capital city of al-Jawf Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia, issued a statement banning the entry of women who are deemed to be “dressed indecently” as well as those who look or behave like men, the Saudi newspaper al-Sharq reported.

The statement, which was sent by the village administration via mobile text messages, was issued after a large number of girls engaging in behavior that contradicts the conservative character of the Saudi society started frequenting the village and taking part in many of its activities.

In several women-only parties, the statement explained, teenage girls dressed in revealing clothes or maintained a manly appearance and some of them performed what was seen as “provocative” dances, considered not in line with social norms of the place.

“Those phenomena are alien to our society and do not reflect its conservative character. That is why they need to combated and have their causes uprooted,” said the statement.

The clampdown on “indecent” behavior is not the first in Sakakah. The village administration had issued an earlier statement banning visitors from entering with mobile phones with cameras and prohibiting events that involve noisy music and dancing.

The implementation of such resolutions is overseen by a team of Saudi security women who are in charge of maintaining law and order in the village and detecting violations committed by visitors throughout the year.

The decision of the Sakakah administration is also not the first to target tomboyish girls as they are also banned from entering public schools and universities together with men who maintain an “effeminate” or “punk” appearance.

So if you are a woman in Saudi Arabia, you cannot even dance in front of other women!

Other articles make it appear that makeup is also prohibited.

I cannot find out much about this women's village; it certainly does not take up the entire town. And since cameras seem to be forbidden, there are no photos except for the outside gate.

I wonder if they built roads for cars in this "women's village"?

Latest Latma

Very "inside" this week.

Death penalty for those who mock God, Koran, prophets in Kuwait

From Al Arabiya:

Kuwait’s parliament on Thursday passed a bill stipulating the death penalty for Muslims who curse or mock God, the Muslim holy book, all prophets and the wives of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

The same punishment is applied to those who “describe themselves as new prophets or messengers from God,” the Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported.

“But if the accused is a non-Muslim, the punishment would be lowered to jail for no more than 10 years,” the report added, according to the bill.

Forty MPs, including cabinet ministers, voted for the bill in the second and final round of voting, against six opponents who included all five Shi’ite MPs present and liberal MP Mohammad al-Sager.

The bill introduces two new articles to the Gulf state’s penal code specifically to stiffen penalties for such offences.

Defendants who repent in court will be spared capital punishment but will get a jail sentence for five years and a fine of $36,000 or one of them, while repentance by those who repeat the crime is not acceptable, the bill says.

“We do not want to execute people with opinions or thought because Islam respects these people... But we need this legislation because incidents of cursing God have increased. We need to deter them,” opposition MP Ali al-Deqbasi said during the debate.

Nothing says "respect" like threatening to kill someone.

Oh, and the reason that the Shi'ite MPs opposed the law?

Shiite MPs also demanded that the bill impose the death penalty on anyone who curses their sect’s 12 revered Imams, but the Sunni-dominated parliament rejected their request.

But once their amendment was defeated, then they became advocates of freedom of expression:

Shiite MP Abdulhameed Dashti said the bill breaches the Kuwaiti constitution and the principles of Islam.

“Why are we trying to show Islam as a religion of death and blood when it is actually the opposite of that,” Dashti said.

Hamas cynically celebrates World Press Freedom Day

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh held a ceremony yesterday to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.

Hamas routinely attacks Gaza journalists and who disagree with its policies. Right now, there is no freedom of the press in Gaza and reporters self-censor out of fear for their lives. They have beaten journalists who try to cover anti-Hamas demonstrations, they have banned Fatah newspapers from Gaza, and they have even attacked documentary filmmakers.

Haniyeh cynically praised the journalists who follow Hamas' propaganda goals, saying that Palestinian Arab journalists are "in the trenches" in the battle with Israel.

Journalists who spoke at the event were naturally careful to blame all their problems on the "occupation."

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, activists protested against the US Consulate holding an event in Ramallah to celebrate World Press Freedom Day. Palestinian Arab journalist unions demanded their members boycott the event. Because, after all, that's what press freedom is all about in the territories. (PalPress claims that the entire event was foiled because of the protests; however Ma'an quotes the Consul General as speaking at the event to at least some journalists.)

(h/t CHA)

Biotechnology milestone as Israeli drug gains FDA approval

From Bloomberg:

Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (PLX) soared in Tel Aviv trading after the biopharmaceutical company’s first product won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Protalix surged 14 percent to 29.14 shekels at the 4:30 p.m. close in Tel Aviv. The stock gained 13 percent in New York trading, the biggest single-day advance in more than six months. The company developed the drug, Elelyso, with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to treat the most common form of Gaucher disease, a rare genetic disorder.

The approval may help Protalix cement agreements with drugmakers for its medicines in development, Chief Executive Officer David Aviezer said.

“This is a validation of our technology,” Aviezer said in an interview in Tel Aviv. “The approval could be a harbinger for additional agreements with other companies for some of our other drugs in the near future.”

Elelyso is based on breakthrough research by Dr. Yoseph Shaaltiel, the company's chief scientist. He generated medicinal proteins from genetically modified carrot cells, rather than the more expensive and bacterial-infection prone mammalian cells generally used for biotech drugs.

Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, paid Protalix $60 million for an exclusive agreement to sell the drug globally except for in Israel, according to the company’s annual report. Pfizer also agreed to pay Protalix $55 million for meeting certain regulatory requirements. The U.S. company will get 60 percent of Elelyso sales while Protalix will keep 40 percent.

Gaucher disease can cause fat to build up in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and nervous system. About 1 in 14 individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry carries the mutated gene that can cause the illness, and as many as 1 in 500 present a form of the disorder.

This time those Zionists are selfish. Gaucher disease mostly affects Jews.

CIA report predicting that Israel won't survive, 1947

Israel Matzav found a neat CIA document that discusses what they think would happen if the UN votes to allow partition of Palestine in 1947. It was written on the eve of the UN vote.

The experts get a lot wrong; for example the report says that it is unlikely that Arab nations would attack the Jewish state directly in opposition to the UN. Yeah.

Here are its conclusions, which were not rosy for the future of Israel.

CONCLUSIONS.
If the UNGA accepts partition as the best solution of the Palestine problem, it is almost certain that armed hostilities will result in Palestine; that the social, economic, and political stability of the Arab world will be seriously disturbed; and that US commercial and strategic interests in the Near East will be dangerously jeopardized. Although the UNGA Ad Hoc Committee on Palestine is now considering establishing a Commission responsible to the Security Council to oversee the implementation of partition, it is unlikely that any sizable international police force will initially be available to the Commission. It is highly probable, therefore, that Jewish and Arab forces will clash over the attempt of the Jews to establish a Jewish state.

Into this struggle between the Jews and Arabs of Palestine, the people of the Arab states will inevitably be drawn. Although most of the Arab governments will be reluctant to act in opposition to a UNGA decision and against the wishes of the major powers, nationalist, religious, and tribal pressures will compel them to support unofficially the Palestine Arabs. Inevitably the extremists, the chauvinists, will increase their inﬂuence at the expense of those statesmen in the Arab world who believe that the development of their countries depends on the maintenance of close ties with the US and the UK. While irresponsible tribesmen and fanatic Moslems are haphazardly blowing up parts of the pipelines and attacking occasional Americans, it is possible that the responsible governments will refuse to sign pipeline conventions, oil concessions, civil air agreements, and trade pacts The various projects which are necessary to raise the standard of living cannot be carried through without US assistance and guidance. With the US committed to partition, such developments will be shelved indefinitely. The poverty, unrest, and hopelessness upon which Communist propaganda thrives will increase throughout the Arab world, and Soviet agents (already being smuggled into Palestine as Jewish DP’s) will scatter into the other Arab states and there attempt to organize so-called “democratic movements” such as the one existing today in Greece.

In the meantime, the war in Palestine, barring international armed intervention, will increase in intensity. The Jewish forces will initially have the advantage. However, as the Arabs gradually coordinate their war effort, the Jews will be forced to withdraw from isolated positions, and having been drawn into a war of attrition, will gradually be defeated. Unless they are able to obtain signiﬁcant outside aid in terms of manpower and material, the Jews will be able to hold out no longer than two years.

The UN, having recommended partition, would have to consider the serious threat to the peace resulting from the recommendation. It would, in effect, be compelled to take steps to enforce partition, with the major powers acting as the instruments of enforcement. The dangerous potentialities of such a development to US-Arab and US-USSR relations need no emphasis.

They weren't the last to predict Israel's destruction. Somehow, Israel survived despite all the expert opinions.

Here is the entire report.
CIA Report on Partition of Palestine

(h/t Norman)

Afternoon open thread Zowie!

Gotta keep things exciting!

Pilgrimage to Djerba starts despite warning

From Magharebia:

Thousands of Jews from around the world will soon make their first pilgrimage to Tunisia's Ghriba synagogue since the country's Arab Spring revolution.

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been invited to the May 9th event as a guest of honour.

"Tunisia, a country of tolerance and openness, welcomes the visit of Jewish pilgrims to the Ghriba site in Djerba, as they were accustomed to for decades," Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said at an April 16th World Tourism Organisation conference.

Last year, for the first time in two decades, the annual pilgrimage to Ghriba synagogue on the Tunisian island was cancelled over security concerns. The synagogue, the oldest in Africa, was also the site of a 2002 al-Qaeda terrorist attack that left 21 people dead.

Organisers of the Djerba pilgrimage decided to resume the event after the Tunisian government pledged to provide security for the visitors.

"The government will ensure through its democratic security apparatus to limit some phenomena and curtail some behaviours so as to provide favourable conditions for tourists to visit Tunisia," Jebali added.

But Israel warned against visiting there:

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a travel warning Thursday advising Israelis to avoid Tunisia.

The warning, released the PMO’s Counter Terrorism Bureau, followed an updated situation evaluation and stressed credible threats of terror attacks against Jews and Israelis.

The bureau emphasized threats to people congregating in the city of Djerba on and around the upcoming Lag B’omer holiday on Thursday and Friday next week.

Djerba, noted for it’s 2.500 year-old Jewish community, was the site of a synagogue bombing in April 2002 that killed 21 and wounded 30 more.

The advisory was given a threat assessment level of three out of four, with a “specific-high” rating.

The advisory seems well-advised. Islamists in Tunisia are warning against the "Judaization" of the island. Some are claiming that Jews buying land on the island with the intent of purchasing the entire island, something denied by the government; others called for a demonstration against the pilgrims in front of the historic synagogue. While the government is admirably saying it will provide security, there seem to be a whole lot of people who are against a Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba.

Shareholders sue Egypt over canceled gas deal with Israel

From Egypt Independent:

International shareholders in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that oversaw the now defunct Egyptian-Israeli natural gas deal, said on Thursday they were suing the government of Egypt for violating three bilateral investment treaties.

The decision to take legal action against the Egyptian government under treaties with the United States, Poland and Germany is the strongest move so far by the group, ensuring the dispute is handled diplomatically and not just commercially.

Egyptian state-owned oil and gas companies announced on 22 April the termination of gas sales to Israel, which were part of a 20-year deal, following a year of sabotage and pipeline attacks that had already disrupted supplies.

Thursday's announcement came after months of unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue through negotiation, one of the shareholders, Ampal-American Israel Corp, said.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

The investors, who include Thai energy giant PTT, US businessman Sam Zell and Israel's Merhav, are also suing the Egyptian oil and gas companies. Together they are seeking up to US$8 billion in damages.

"The investors' disputes with Egypt arise out of a series of acts and failures by the government of Egypt that have seriously undermined the value of the investors' investments in EMG," Ampal said in a statement.

The underwater pipeline, which EMG spent about $500 million on building, had been targeted by militants in Egypt's unruly Sinai peninsula numerous times, halting the flow of gas for most of the past year.

In 2010, prior to the attacks, EMG provided 2.5 billion cubic meters (BCM) of gas to Israeli customers. But that number was expected to more than double throughout the 20-year deal.

This should be interesting.

The 140 character pitch for Judaism and the Jewish state

In last night's much heralded debate between Daniel Gordis and Peter Beinart, there was an intriguing question asked at 56:36.

The question was that both of them had written about the tragedy of young American Jews who do not identify with Judaism or with the Jewish state. If they had two minutes to make a pitch for one of them to re-engage with Judaism and Zionism, stuck in the proverbial elevator, what would they say?

Gordis, who is a Conservative rabbi, answered that he wouldn't engage in the conversation at all. Bringing up the famous story of the person who demanded that rabbis Shammai and Hillel teach him the entire Torah while he stands on one foot, Gordis said that he would side with Shammai and refuse to answer - it is a dismissive, loaded question, and one cannot teach the big questions of life in two minutes.

Gordis railed against today's culture where people think that big ideas can be adequately expressed in a text message. He said that if one is serious to know the answer, he'll be happy to spend the months and years necessary to answer the question.

Unfortunately, this is the wrong answer. We do live in a time where people are thinking in soundbites and text messages and tweets, and we have to adapt to it. Arguments for Judaism and Jewish nationalism must work on all levels.

And I felt it was an intriguing question, as there was nothing in the question that presupposed that the young Jew in the elevator was hostile, but rather that he or she was clueless, as most - unfortunately - are.

I feel that Hillel's answer was good as well - because he ended it off with "go and learn." The response, both then and now, should not be a real answer - but it must be a hook to get people to want to find out the real answers for themselves

So I took it upon myself to respond to that question. But since I like a challenge, I didn't want to use a rather expansive two minutes, but I wanted to craft a response limited to the 140 character limit on Twitter.

Here it is:

Learning about other peoples and cultures is wonderful, but learning and internalizing about your own people and history is a prerequisite.

Tunisian TV executive fined over showing "blasphemous" film

Last year I reported about how a Tunisian TV director was stand trial for screening an "offensive" cartoon, called Persepolis, which shows how an Iranian girl conceives of God. Days of violent riots followed, including the firebombing of the director's house.

The director has been fined:

A Tunisian court on Thursday imposed a 2,400-dinar ($1,550) fine on a television boss over blasphemy charges after a trial that deepened the division between Islamists and secularists.

The director of Nessma television is accused of insulting sacred values by screening the film “Persepolis,” which showed depictions of God.

Nabil Karoui was charged over the decision by his Nessma television station to broadcast the award-winning animated film that includes a scene depicting Allah, which is forbidden in Islam.

“Persepolis” is a cartoon film directed by comic book writer Marjane Satrapi that tells the story of the Iranian revolution and the Islamic regime of Ayotollah Ruhollah Khomeiny through the eyes of a precocious young girl.

Nessma’s head, Nabil Karoui had earlier said in January at the opening of his hearing: “I am sorry to be here today, this is a political trial.

It’s the trial of 10 million Tunisians who dreamed of having a democratic country.”

While he could have been jailed, the penalty is still a serious setback for human rights in post-revolution Tunisia.

EoZ is an "extremist hate site!"

My well-received essay pointing out the hypocrisy of Israel haters, and the fundamental moral difference between Zionists and anti-Zionists, was quoted by Jonathan Hoffman in The Jewish Chronicle.

The very first comment, by "Mary in Brighton," was:

Jonathan why do you keep linking us to extremist hate sites ?

Another says that my post is a "far right whitewash."

I see similar comments when my posts are linked to on Reddit.

It's always amusing to see how people who have no ability to counter arguments choose instead to resort to name calling and an attempt to de-legitimize their opponents.

And if this is an "extremist hate site," then are there even words to describe the many sites to the right of EoZ?

(h/t istrue)

Sham Hamas/Fatah "unity" continues

From AFP:

A Cairo meeting between Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal and an official of the rival Fatah movement made no headway on the formation of a Palestinian national unity government, an official said on Thursday.

Two hours of talks Wednesday night in the Egyptian capital produced “nothing new,” the Palestinian official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meshaal and his deputy Mussa Abu Marzuk discussed with senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed “the possibility of advancing the reconciliation process, in particular a government of national unity, but the meeting produced nothing new,” the official said.

It's actually worse than this. Hamas denies that there was any formal meeting at all, with a spokesman claiming that at best there was an ad-hoc, unplanned meeting.

Hamas also accused Fatah of arresting six of its members in Bethlehem and further accused them of torturing Hamas prisoners.

We are now in May - the month that was supposed to be when the "unity" elections would be held.

The entire "unity" sham came about as a reaction to a series of rallies last year in Gaza and the West Bank that spooked Hamas and Fatah into thinking that an Egyptian-style revolution to topple them was imminent. They held lots of meaningless meetings pretending to unify, and it seems that their delaying tactics have been successful: even though everyone realizes by now that there has been no real movement to unify the two sides, there has also been no repetition of the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Fatah is buckling down on freedom of expression and is acting, along with Hamas, just like the other Arab dictatorships.

(h/t CHA)

When a charge of racism proves the bigotry of the accuser

I saw this tweet from anti-Zionist Joseph Dana:

Perhaps, the most racist article that you will read in the Israeli press today. Courtesy of the Israeli Onion, Ynet.

And what did this "racist" article, written by Giulio Meotti, say?

World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, afflicted with polio as a child, just attended the 60th anniversary celebration of the Israeli Foundation for Handicapped Children. While in the Arab world disabled people have been called “the invisibles,” because they are segregated and hidden from the public eye, Israel’s work with illness and disabilities would merit a book in itself.

Then, after eight paragraphs on Israel's accomplishments in promoting the rights of the disabled, the author writes:

In Palestinian society, the most famous disabled was Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin. In Iraq, terrorists used many disabled women for suicide attacks. In Israel, Down syndrome youth can ask to be inducted into the army. This is the story of the Middle East conflict: death cult vs. Israel’s right to life.

The focus of the article is Israel's accomplishments, not Arab attitudes, concerning the disabled. Yet Dana, like all those who self-righteously obsess over supposed Israeli crimes, seizes upon this as a sterling example of Israel's "racism" against Arabs.

According to Dana, noting that Arab society shuns handicapped people is racist.

However, the Arab Human Development Report said:

In many Arab countries, vulnerable groups are subjected not only to institutional discrimination but also to the prejudices of the population at large. Such vulnerability is not confined to women; it extends to other marginalized groups such as minorities, the elderly, youth, children, disabled persons, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. The neglect and marginalization of these vulnerable groups is a blemish on the human rights records of Arab countries, which must be removed without prevarication or delay.

The Guardian's Comment is Free quotes a disability advocate in Egypt as saying:

"The idea that children with cerebral palsy could be self-dependent and integrated with Egyptian society is completely alien; most people think they'd be better off dead."

In The National, a UAE paper that Dana writes for, it was reported:

With her six-year stint as the UN's special rapporteur on disability drawing to a close, Sheikha Hissa Khalifa Al Thani questions whether handicapped people in the Arab world will ever get a fair deal....The UN's outgoing disability watchdog describes the Arab region as lagging behind the rest of the world. "Disabled people are more marginalised and more isolated than other people. But specifically in the Arab region, they are invisible, because of negative social attitudes and the lack of a human rights culture," Sheikha Hissa said.

Does Dana consider all these experts on disability in the Arab world to be racist?

Of course not. That toxic word, according to self-righteous moralizers like Dana, only applies to Zionists and Israelis.

If an Italian quotes Arabs about Arabs in an Israeli newspaper, Dana thinks that this proves that Israelis are racist.

Which means that the only bigot here is Dana himself.

UPDATE: Here are some of those Zionist racists and their disability-washing (including helping Arab families with disabled children - h/t Raizel.) It is a very worthwhile video to watch.

On the Middle East reaction to foot and mouth disease in Gaza (Zvi)

Comment from Zvi on this posting about how Hamas seems blasé about a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Gaza, and how Israel is doing everything it can to help stop its spread:

"the Agriculture Coordinator at the DCL was urgently called to Erez Crossing in order to receive samples of the disease from his Palestinian colleagues."

There was no assistance from Iran in this hour of need; in mid-April, Iran was busy threatening the US. There was no assistance from Syria, which in mid-April was busy faking a truce and shelling its own civilians using tanks. There was no assistance from Egypt, where the disease originated; there was not even an attempt to cut off the smuggling tunnels from the Egyptian side in order to prevent the smuggling of disease-carrying animals. There was not even a breath of assistance from the Bigotry/Double Standards movement, which in mid-April was busy preparing to swarm-attack Ben Gurion International Airport. There was not a whiff of assistance from the Salafists, who in mid-April were busy calling for the annihilation of Israel.

When the crisis hit, the country that mobilized its own resources to help... was Israel.

You can say that Israel has self-interest in the matter. And it does. So does every other country in the region - the same ones that spend put so much effort into trying to destroy Israel, and the ones where only a simple majority of the population obsesses about doing so.

Well, it's a good thing for the region that there is ONE country in the middle east that has advanced capabilities. It's a good thing that there is SOMEONE in the region who cares about win-win solutions, rather than obsessing about repulsive vendettas.

When really bad, dangerous things happen, there is no substitute for being responsible adults.

Did Al Akhbar get punk'd?

From Al Akhbar, later picked up by Hezbollah's Al Manar newspaper and many others:

The Lebanese government has said it will look into the legality of a “Lebanese society” at an American university hosting a joint event with an Israeli one.

The Lebanese Social Club (LSC) at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) is organizing a charity fundraiser with the Israeli Leadership Council “for the disenfranchised children of Israel and Lebanon.”

The group is part of the Lebanese Collegiate Network (LCN), which Al-Akhbar revealed earlier this month is heavily sponsored by the CIA, leading to claims that it was little more than a recruitment center for the American spy network.

The tagline for the “Night of the Arts” event, scheduled for May 6 in the Ackerman Student Union at UCLA, says it “will be a grand celebration of the culture, passion, and ethos of the Israeli and Lebanese peoples.”

It adds “all profits will be divided equally 50/50 among orphanages in Israel and Lebanon,” without mentioning the thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians killed by Israel in recent decades.

Adnan Mansour, Lebanese foreign minister, said the government was to look into whether the event was legal under Lebanese law.

“We will investigate whether the Lebanese Social Club consists of Lebanese citizens or Lebanese Americans,” he said.

Lebanon and Israel are in a state of war and according to Lebanese law it is illegal to communicate with any person from an enemy state.

Al Manar even has a copy of the poster for this event.

Only one problem: I cannot find any mention of this event anywhere besides Arab websites.

The UCLA Lebanese Social Club website is down, although the group certainly exists and has a national presence.

The Israeli Leadership Council has a webpage with listings of many events - but not a word about this one.

The poster looks like a typical college poster, complete with the logos of both these organizations. But it doesn't mention the names of the charities, for example.

This is very fishy.

Was there a planned event that was canceled? If so, there would still be traces of it on the web.

Was this a hoax played against Arab newspapers? The article quotes a real person, who does go to UCLA:

Event co-organizer Patrick Malkoun, from the university's Lebanese Social Club, said he had not been aware of any legal issues concerning Lebanese citizens having dealings with Israelis.

"We are all here as college students to prove our worth in this world, what we can do in the business world. If we can put on events, if we can put on charity fundraisers, if we can contact people to show off communication skills and business skills," he said.

If this was true, I would imagine that Zionist organizations would be making a big deal out of cooperation between Arabs and Jews for charity. (Zionists seem to like things like that. Go figure.)

So I have a hard time believing that this was ever a real event, and while I also have a hard time thinking that some students set out to play a practical joke on Al Akhbar, that seems like a more likely explanation at this time.

The Arab and anti-Israeli blogosphere, for their part, are playing their roles to the hilt - each one of them aghast at the very idea that Lebanese and Israeli American students could possibly cooperate for charity. This story is all over the place.

Except for UCLA.

The Rhythm of Israel (video)

Another excellent video that just came out.

(h/t Shmuel)

The first Israeli humanitarian rescue mission - in 1953

A fascinating article in Israel Hayom:

In 1953, the first Israeli navy flotilla sailed to the Aegean Sea for a month-long exercise. Just as they were about to return, a terrible earthquake hit the Greek islands and the Israelis, as inexperienced and under-trained as they were, rushed to help.

...The soldiers began unloading anything that could be used in assisting the wounded. They set up a triage station on the port’s main pier. The highest-ranking physician on the flotilla, Dr. Ashkenazi, together with a younger physician, Dr. Seelenfreud, were in charge of treating the wounded. They decided who would receive immediate treatment and who would have to wait, and performed emergency surgeries. Here a fractured pelvis, there a brain injury, a premature labor, broken bones that needed setting and hemorrhages that had to be stopped.

Although the two Israeli physicians tried to set things in order, they were surrounded by countless wounded people, panic and despair. Chaos reigned.

...The small motor boats that set out to locate the wounded had brought many back for first aid treatment. The Israeli vessel K-28, known as the Mivtah, which was under the command of Arie Brosh, was converted into a maritime hospital, a kind of giant ambulance that ferried the wounded to hospitals on the Greek mainland, a day’s sail away.

Each time, about a hundred victims who had received first aid on the island were brought aboard the K-28. They were later taken to the city of Patras, five hours away. The ship would then turn around, go back to Cephalonia for more wounded, bring them to Patras and its hospitals, and return for another round of evacuation. Some 400 critically wounded people were evacuated aboard the Mivtah.

For three full days, the Israeli officers and sailors labored “with endless dedication and immense devotion,” as Shlomo Erel recalls. The Israeli flotilla was the first to set up aid stations on the beach in Cephalonia. Later, they had assistance from the British. By the end, the soldiers had treated thousands. They used up nearly all of their supplies, food, medicine, water and fuel. They gave everything they had to help the people of Cephalonia.

...When they left the bay, all the other fleets blew their foghorns simultaneously to salute the Israeli flotilla, Erel recalls with pride. The king also came to say goodbye and thank the Israeli sailors. When the Israeli ships entered the port of Piraeus, Greek Prime Minister Marshal Alexandros Papagos came to thank the officers and soldiers and ordered that the vessels be loaded with “the best of everything.” Erel recalls that the Greek press, and even newspapers in other countries, reported on the rescue mission on their front pages.

Read the whole thing.

I found a brief mention of Israel's involvement in this newspaper article written a week after the quake:

(h/t Yoel)

I will be in a panel discussion on Israel Advocacy in NYC 5/21

From the American Zionist Movement:

Now,I just have to find an appropriate disguise....

Hope to see many of you there!

Foot and mouth disease hits Gaza; Hamas says "don't worry"

AP reports:

A U.N. agency says Egypt’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has reached neighboring Gaza Strip and could soon spread across the Middle East.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday the disease was detected in Gaza’s southern border town of Rafah on April 19.

Juan Lubroth, FAO’s chief veterinary officer, says vaccines are in short supply and animal movement must be limited. He says the disease risks spreading to the Gulf, southern and eastern Europe and further.

But the Hamas government in Gaza says, relax!

An official in Gaza's ministry of agriculture said farmers had received 20,000 doses of vaccine to fight the disease and played down the seriousness of the outbreak.

"The problem surfaced at one farm in Rafah and we isolated the farm and stopped the movement of animals across Gaza," Adel Attalah told Reuters.

"We received the 20,000 vaccines a week ago and ... I can say that most of the animals were given the vaccine," he said, adding that his ministry had now lifted restrictions on the movement of animals. "The situation is not worrying," he said.

What he doesn't say is that those vaccines - and probably the diagnosis - came from Israel, which has taken this very seriously starting two weeks ago:

Today (4/22) a meeting was held between veterinarians from Israel and Gaza at the Gaza DCL due to a concern that the foot and mouth disease might have begun spreading in Rafah, which is in the Gaza Strip.

During the meeting the participants discussed the issue of handling the disease and stopping it from spreading to the rest of the Gaza Strip.As a first step 20,000 doses against the disease were delivered through the Erez Crossing this last Thursday(19\4).

Israel began to handle the spreading of the disease starting on April 13th during the Passover holiday, when the Agriculture Coordinator at the DCL was urgently called to Erez Crossing in order to receive samples of the disease from his Palestinian colleagues.

These samples were transferred to the laboratory of the veterinary services in order to examine the disease and ways to deal with it.

And this is a new, rare strain of FMD:

With vaccines in short supply the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations warn that animals should not be moved around Gaza to stop the spread of a new strain of foot and mouth disease. The UN body says international efforts need to step in to stop the virus from spreading further in the Middle East and North Africa.

Following outbreaks of the SAT2 strain of the virus in Egypt and Libya in February, fears that it might jump to neighboring areas were confirmed on 19 April when sick animals were detected in Rafah, a town in the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt. The SAT2 variant is new to the region, meaning that animals do not have any acquired resistance to it.

“Diseases simply do not respect international boundaries, and if FMD SAT2 reaches deeper into the Middle East it could spread throughout vast areas, threatening the Gulf countries – even southern and eastern Europe, and perhaps beyond” said Juan Lubroth, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer and head of the organization’s Animal Health Service.

With vaccines against the SAT2 virus still in short supply, the priority at the moment is to limit animal movements to prevent its further spread, he said. Heightened surveillance of animal populations to quickly detect and respond to new outbreaks is also critical.

Right now Israel is the firewall between this disease and the center of the Arab world, not to mention Europe.

At this point is sounds like Hamas doesn't give a damn.

PA glorifies a terrorist and his terrorism

From Palestinian Media Watch:

During the week of the anniversary of the death of PLO arch-terrorist Abu Jihad, the Palestinian Authority held events and broadcast TV programs celebrating him and his terror attacks. One of the striking components of the Abu Jihad festivities was the presentation of the 125 Israeli civilians and soldiers killed in terror attacks he planned and directed, as a positive achievement. Six sporting events were also held in his honor.

"Abu Jihad was killed by the Israeli Mossad in Tunisia on April 16, 1988... and was crowned the Prince of the Martyrs of Palestine... Among the military operations planned by Abu Jihad: the explosion at the Zohar reservoir in 1955; the operation to blow up the Israeli National Water Carrier in 1965; the operation at the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, which killed 10 Israelis, in 1975; the blowing up of a truck bomb in Jerusalem in 1975; the killing of Albert Levi, the senior sapper, and his assistant, in Nablus in 1976; the Dalal Mughrabi operation, in which more than 37 Israelis were killed, in 1978; the shelling of the Eilat Port in 1979; the Katyusha fire on the northern settlements [in Israel] in 1981 and the capture of 8 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, and their exchange for 5,000 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners and 100 of the detainees from occupied territory in 1982. He planned the infiltration and bombing of the headquarters of the Israeli military governor in Tyre, leading to the deaths of 76 officers and soldiers, including 12 senior officers, in 1982; he led the war of attrition during the years 1982-1984 in southern Lebanon, and planned the Dimona Reactor operation in 1988, which was the principle reason for his assassination." -[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2012]

Here's one video shown on PA TV:

Abu Jihad: "After we strike the [Israeli] headquarters, Allah willing, we will close off the streets [of Tel Aviv]. On one street, for example, we will hold 500 people [hostage]. 500 people at once. Can anyone bargain over them? No one, without exception, is allowed to go there unless he sets up the fuse and the explosives. At any moment, he can blow up everyone. Blow up their building, or the whole thing, no matter how many people are there. Our dagger will be a poisoned dagger in our enemy's heart, and we will take down as many as possible. We want to land on enemy territory (Israel) and to be like a single fortress. When we get there, Allah willing, we will begin to fire, to fire on our enemy. We will dig in his throat and heart with the massacres that we spoke about. We want to turn the Tel Aviv day black. We want to turn the Tel Aviv day into destruction, Allah willing. We will turn the Tel Aviv day so it will be remembered in the history of Tel Aviv as black Saturday, black Sunday. Tel Aviv will be closed that whole day with blood and destruction."

Narrator: "It occurred to Abu Jihad to publish a Fatah journal named The Call of Life - Palestine. The first issue, published in October 1959, called for an armed revolution to uproot the Zionist entity. [Abu Jihad] was the mastermind of the armed struggle against Israel. He is a symbol of Palestinian armed struggle. Abu Jihad fell as a Martyr, and symbolized the generation of the fighting commanders who adopted the path of resistance as the first and last solution for the nation's cause. He was known as a tough fighter and an extraordinary commander who was always in a state of war and never lost his way."
[PA TV (Fatah), April 16, 2012]

And another:

Narrator: "The Palestinian revolution was at its peak, and many times Fatah carried out 60 special operations a day. Among the leading operations of the Prince of Martyrs (Abu Jihad): the explosion of the Zohar reservoir in 1955, the explosion of the Israeli National Water Carrier in 1965, the 1975 Savoy Hotel operation in Tel Aviv, in which 10 Israelis were killed, the Dalal Mughrabi operation in 1978, in which more than 37 Israelis were killed, the shelling of the Eilat Port in 1979, and the Dimona Reactor operation in 1988 (bus hijacking and killing of 3 civilians), which was the principle reason for his assassination on April 16, 1988."
[PA TV (Fatah), April 16, 2012

I have seen people argue that when the PA honors Abu Jihad it is no different than Israel honoring political leaders who were active as underground militants from the pre-1948 Irgun. Abu Jihad was also a political figure, they say. But these articles and videos prove that the glorification of Abu Jihad is precisely because of his terror actions, not for any political activities.

Indeed, this list of attacks credited to him shows that he was an active terrorist up until the end of his life - and those attacks are praised.

By the way, I had never heard of an attack at a "Zohar reservoir" in 1955. There were some fedayeen attacks from Gaza around then, but it is unclear if Abu Jihad had anything to do with them; Wikipedia says he received military training in 1956 a few months after being released from Egyptian prison for being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, so the claim seems exaggerated at the least.

"Iran biggest cyber threat to US"

From Government Computer News:

Iran has demonstrated a willingness to attack the United States and the intent to develop a cyber war capability, eclipsing Russia and China as a threat to the nation, a panel of policy and technical experts told House lawmakers.

“Iran appears to be moving from defensive to offensive in the way it thinks about cyberspace,” said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, in an April 26 hearing before joint subcommittees of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Berman called an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, uncovered in October, credible and said it is an example of the country’s willingness to carry out attacks on U.S. soil. He said it would be unreasonable to expect Iran could balk at a cyberattack against U.S. critical infrastructure.

“Iran is not at the top of the list” of cyber adversaries, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University. Those spots usually are given to Russia and China. “But what it lacks in capability, it makes up for in intent.”

Iran also is investing heavily in developing a cyber war capability, having established an Iranian Cyber Army that has taken credit for attacking the online services of the U.S. Voice of America last year. “Intent and cash will take you a long way,” Cilluffo said.

The joint hearing of the Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies, and Counterterrorism and Intelligence subcommittees, was called to assess the threat posed by Iran in cyberspace.

In an April 24 hearing before the Homeland Security Committee's Oversight, Investigations and Management Subcommittee, James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he was not worried about cyber war with Russia and China, with whom the United States has stable diplomatic relationships. “They aren’t going to start a war just for fun. I don’t know if we can say that for Iran and North Korea,” Lewis said.

Iran has not yet shown any serious expertise in cyberwar capabilities, certainly not on par with Russian or Chinese hackers. However, the time it takes to ramp up that ability can be measured in months, not years.

Not to mention that there are plenty of relatively easy targets that could still severely impact the infrastructure of the US, or any country, if taken down. Denial-of-service attacks are easy to do and hard to defend against.

(h/t Yossi)

Handicapped rowing champion sings Hatikva at medal ceremony

When Moran Samuel won the gold medal at a pre-Paralympic international competition in Italy, the organizers did not have a recording of Israel's national anthem Hatikvah to play at the medals ceremony.

They started playing some other anthem, and Samuel indicated that they were playing the wrong song.

So she asked for a microphone - and sang it herself.

The inspiring athlete, who became disabled when she was 24 because of a rare spinal stroke, summed up her reasons for doing what she did:

"If you see an obstacle as a barrier, it might defeat you. If you see it as a challenge - then do your best to overcome it."

Hebrew article here.

(h/t O)

UPDATE: Commenter Jack notes that the song being played really is a version of Hatikvah, with a very long introduction. See here.

Israel: Small but outstanding (video)

Some nice hasbara that will make the haters' heads explode:

Galloway trying to prop up Assad with Gaza convoy

Honest Reporting notes an article in The Times of London:

The Gaza aid convoy spearheaded by George Galloway is splitting apart because the overland route passes through Syria. The Times of London (paywall) reports:

In February, leaked e-mails between Mr Galloway and President Assad’s media adviser were published in which he referred to the Syrian President as “His Excellency” and the Baathist state as “the last bastion of Arab dignity”.

The Syrian Government has responded brutally to a popular uprising in the country, leaving more than 9,000 dead and leading to widespread diplomatic condemnation. Opponents say that the Viva Palestina mission will lend credence to the regime.

The move has caused a rift with other groups due to take part in the convoy, two of which have pulled out in protest at the “sudden and unilateral decision” by the UK group’s sister charity Viva Palestinia Arabia to travel via Syria . . . .

Abdul Wahab el-Sayed Omar, of British Solidarity for Syria, said: “They could easily go through Egypt instead. The only explanation I can see is that this is a propaganda move aimed at helping the Syrian regime.”

More details from TheJC:

Pro-Palestinian activists Viva Palestina are to send a convoy of trucks through Syria to Gaza – despite protests and withdrawals from their own members.

The charity, co-founded by Respect MP George Galloway, launched the convoy which departed last Sunday from the UK.

But the New Zealand and Malaysian affiliated branches of the organisation have withdrawn from the convoy after raising “strong objections with the convoy’s leadership in England.” The groups have withdrawn a total of nine vehicles and 19 volunteers from the convoy.

A statement on Kia Ora Gaza’s website said: “Right from the outset, Kia Ora Gaza insisted that the convoy avoid crossing Syria, where the Assad regime has killed, jailed and tortured tens of thousands of democracy advocates since March 2011.

“Given the Syrian dictator’s inhuman behaviour towards his own citizens, we don’t want the Assad regime making political capital from any humanitarian mission to Gaza.

“Second, given the devious plots of the Assad regime, the state of Israel and other imperial powers operating in the region, the risk to convoyers crossing Syria would be unacceptably high. However, our objections were overruled, leaving Kia Ora Gaza with no option except to withdraw.”

The convoy was originally intended to go by ferry from Turkey to Egypt, bypassing Syria, but the change of plan was described by Kia Ora Gaza as a “sudden, and unilateral, decision by [organising branch] leaders of Viva Palestina Arabia”.

Imagine that - using an "aid" mission to advance a political goal. Isn't that awful?

Oh, wait....

Work accident!

From YNet:

Popular Resistance Committees member Abdullah Tawfik al-Tawil was killed Tuesday, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip report.

The circumstances of al-Tawil's death were unclear, although according to reports he died during a mission in the Nusirat refugee camp. The IDF said it had not taken any action in Gaza on Tuesday evening.

The PRC website says the 33 year old was "a prominent leader of the Saladin Brigades." It begs Allah to let him into Paradise, presumably because his martyrdom credentials are iffy, and the PRC feels that Allah can be persuaded to do the bidding of a bunch of murderous thugs.

(h/t Dan)

Saudi Grand Mufti: "Girls ready to marry at age 10"

Progress!

What's he daydreaming about?

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has reportedly voiced his support for the marriage of under-age females in the kingdom, while condemning those who seek to raise the legal marriage age.

A girl is ready to marry at 10 or 12 years of age according to Islam, London-based Al Hayat reported Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh as saying, adding that Islamic law is not repressive to women.

"Those who call for raising the age of marriage to 25 are absolutely mistaken,"Al Sheikh said in a lecture at the faculty of Imam Mohamed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh.

He added: "Our mothers and grandmothers got married when they were barely 12. Good upbringing makes a girl ready to perform all marital duties at that age."

The Grand Mufti’s statement came following discussions by the Justice Ministry to set a minimum age for marriage.

The conservative Kingdom is facing strong pressure to raise the minimum age for marriage, following international criticism of cases involving children forced into wedlock with older men.

In 2010, for instance, the Saudi Human Rights Commission, a government affiliated group, hired a lawyer to help a 12-year old girl divorce her 80-year old husband.

Preparing a child for being repeatedly raped is "good upbringing."

Abbas and Fayyad's secret condolences to Netanyahu

From JPost:

In an unusual gesture Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday sent separate condolence letters to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is sitting in mourning for his father in Jerusalem.

Direct communication between Palestinian and Israeli leaders has been scant since Netanyahu took office in March 2009.

This is a very nice gesture, and I am sure that both Bibi Netanyahu and the people of Israel appreciate it.

The PA's official WAFA news agency notes every single diplomatic move that Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad. do - every meeting, every letter, every phone call, especially with politicians from other countries.

But it didn't mention a word about these condolence letters.

Are they afraid that their people would riot if they publicize a simple act of humanity towards an Israeli leader? Are they concerned that it would make them look weak? Do they think they would be accused of being "Zionist"? Are they trying to make sure that Hamas doesn't use this as a weapon against them?

Again, it is commendable that they took the time to do the right thing. But the fact that there was clearly a decision made not to publicize these letters in Arabic says a lot about how the Palestinian Arab leaders think about their own people.

There are only two alternatives: either they know that releasing such information would create a backlash, or they mistakenly think that.

Either way, if the leaders of a wannabe nation think so little of their own people that they cannot defend a simple condolence gesture, how can anyone expect that there would ever be real peace? If they feel that their positions are so tenuous that publicizing a tiny gesture of humanity is considered dangerous to themselves, how can anyone expect them to make the truly difficult decisions necessary for peace?

(h/t @BibiReport and @ChallahHuAkbar)

Today's BDS fail: Finland to buy Israeli drones

Finnish media are reporting that Finland is going to purchase Israeli Orbiter UAVs with a value of 23.6 million euros ($31 million.) They are part of a plan to put up a new line of defense to replace land mines banned in the Ottawa treaty.

This might be the same UAV tender that many Israel-haters fought tooth and nail against last year.

So this isn't just a BDS fail - but one where the BDSers spent months to try to derail. All for nought.

(h/t Dan)

St Andrews student who defaced Israeli flag loses appeal

Last year I reported about Chanan Reitblat, the St. Andrews University student who was victimized by Paul Donnachie, when Donnachie fondled his own genitals and then wiped his hands on Reitblat's Israeli flag in his own dorm room.

In August, Donnachie was found guilty of racism. He was expelled from the school.

The convicted racist appealed the verdict - and yesterday, he lost his appeal.

A man who called a Jewish student a terrorist has lost his appeal to have his conviction for racially aggravated behaviour quashed.

Paul Donnachie, 19, was given 150 hours for putting his hands down his trousers before rubbing them on Jewish student Chanan Reitblat's Israeli flag.

Lawyers acting for Donnachie were told by appeal court judges a sheriff did not make a mistake when sentencing him.

The 19-year-old from Blackpool, Lancs, was convicted at Cupar Sheriff Court in September last year of defiling a flag that hung on the wall of American student Mr Reitblat's room.

He also called Mr Reitblat, from New York, a terrorist during the incident.

Sheriff Charles Macnair QC also ordered Donnachie to pay £300 compensation towards his victim, who studies at Yeshiva University, also in New York.

However, Donnachie's legal team believed Sheriff Macnair committed a miscarriage of justice when he did not allow members of a Palestinian Solidarity Campaign group to give evidence during proceedings against Donnachie.

The protesters were expected to tell the court about the political situation in Israel - something which solicitors acting for Donnachie thought was relevant to his defence.

On Tuesday, three judges at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh refused to grant Donnachie's appeal to have his conviction overturned.

In proceedings that lasted less than a minute, Mr Donnachie's lawyers were told that the appeal had failed.

In a written judgement, The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill, said that Sheriff Macnair had acted correctly when dealing with Donnachie.

He wrote: "There was therefore no substantive miscarriage of justice nor was there an appearance of injustice."

His fellow judges, Lord Mackay of Drumadoon and Lord Bonomy, also refused to overturn Donnachie's conviction.

Donnachie was thrown out of St Andrews University after being found guilty of racially abusing Mr Reitblat following the two day trial at Cupar Sheriff Court.

It looks like Donnachie's defense was to try to convince the judge that Israel was so evil that Donnachie should be allowed to do whatever crimes he feels like.

And that is not necessarily a bad strategy in some British courtrooms.

Luckily, this wasn't one of them.

Just a little Egyptian hypocrisy on free speech (updated)

Bikya Masr has an article decrying Israel's "Nakba law":

The Nakba Law, upheld in a constitutional court in January of 2012, symbolizes a major setback for the proponents of free speech. The absurd idea that historical perception can be regulated by the state is self-defeating: time and time again such efforts have strengthened the very forces they aimed at eliminating.

For the proponents of such a bizarre and reactionary law, the danger lies not merely in emboldening the opposition, but also in setting a dubious precedent that almost certainly will one day work against them. “Every time you violate– or propose to violate –the right to free speech of someone else,” the late Christopher Hitchens said, “you in potentia are making a rod for your own back.”

Of course, the law doesn't inhibit free speech; it says that the state of Israel does not need to fund "alternative narratives" that are meant to call into question its very right to exist. But it will not stop anyone else from saying or publishing whatever they want.

So yesterday I wrote a comment to the article pointing that out.

Then I added a small experiment. I asked if the author could please point me to anywhere an Egyptian discusses the end of the Yom Kippur War, where the Egyptian Third Army was surrounded by Israeli forces and on the verge of being destroyed before Egypt begged for a cease fire.

Of course, Egypt regards that war as a complete military victory - and never talks about the end of the war.

Take a guess as to whether Bikya Masr published my comment.

Which tells you all you need to know about free speech in Egypt.

UPDATE: After I wrote this, they did put my comment up. (h/t sshender)

Canadian aboriginal leaders visit Israel (plus a little Leftist racism)

From JTA:

Thirty young aboriginal leaders from Canada will travel to Israel to study culture and society in the Jewish state.

The Youth Leadership Development Mission to Israel will take place April 29 to May 6.

Under the auspices of Canada's Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, the First Nations leaders will visit Christian and Jewish holy sites, study the Israeli immigrant absorption experience, and skate at Israel's only full-sized hockey rink, located at the Canada Centre in Metulla.

"The objective of this trip is to help develop leaders among First Nations youth," said Ron Evans, chief of the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, who will lead the mission. "I visited Israel for the first time last year and I was overwhelmingly inspired. The Jewish people are the historic, indigenous people of Israel. For Canada's First Nations, Israel's story demonstrates how an ancient people can maintain their heritage while embracing the modern world, and in so doing achieve self-determination."

I found this in a tweet from Max Blumenthal, who called this "redwashing."

Calling the indigenous people of North America "redskins" is considered offensive to many, so Blumenthal's comment is blatantly racist. But since it comes for a good cause of trying to bash Israel, don't expect any of his fellow, ever-sensitive leftists to call him on it. They save their indignation for perceived racism exclusively from the other side.