Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, June 28, 2012

The toy guns are that"insult Aisha" fueling Sunni-Shiite tensions

Remember the toy guns that Muslims said were insulting Mohammed's wife Aisha?

It looks like they are the linchpin in growing Sunni-Shiite tensions throughout the Arab world.

Really.

Plastic toy guns—the kinds with flashy lights and sound effects—were an unlikely source of sectarian tensions Friday. Yet following his weekly sermon in Saida, Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir brandished the toys and accused Lebanese Shia of fomenting sectarian tensions by putting an audio recording on the toy guns that, according to Assir, says in Arabic, “hit Aisha,” a wife of the Prophet Mohammad and a revered figure in Sunni Islam but not in Shia Islam. Addressing Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Nabih Berri, the leaders of Shia parties Hezbollah and Amal respectively, during his sermon, Assir said: “If you don't take heed of this issue, I will not let you sleep at night as long as I live.”

Assir’s words were reminiscent of those uttered by Sudanese Sheikh Mohammad Al-Amin Ismail who, in a video uploaded in September of last year, also accused Shia of distributing anti-Sunni toy guns. But from when Ismail plays the audio from the guns in his video, it is evident that the recording is in English and that the uttered words are, "Go, go, go! Pull over! Save the hostages!"

These two cases are not unique. In October 2011, 1,500 toy guns were removed from shelves Saudi Arabia for “mocking and offending” Aisha, and a week later nearly 100 more were seized in the United Arab Emirates. More recently, on May 6 of this year, an Egyptian MP held up a plastic toy gun in the People’s Assembly and said it is offensive to Egyptian and Muslim culture as it says the words, “shoot Aisha.”

The increased Sunni-Shia tensions in Lebanon reflect a growing regional antagonism between the two groups, according to Hazem Saghieh, political editor of the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat. The ongoing crisis in Syria, a country whose politics is intrinsically linked to Lebanon’s, is increasingly being seen in Sunni-Shia terms. So too is the ongoing conflict in Bahrain and past protests in Saudi Arabia.

Following Assir’s accusations, both Lebanon’s General Security and Dar al-Fatwa, the seat of the highest Sunni authority in the country, investigated the claim. On Saturday, they both rejected Assir’s accusation as unfounded. The head of Dar al-Fatwa’s Public Affairs department, moreover, confirmed the audio as saying: “Go, go and take the hostages.”

In a phone interview with NOW Lebanon, Assir maintained that while the English sentence was clearly audible, an Iraqi accented voiceover that insulted Aisha was added to the recording.

They don't need to have Jews around to act crazy. They manage to do it on their own just fine, thank you.

Arab columnist calls Israeli offer to help Syrians "blackmail"

On Monday I reported about an Israeli organization that is sneaking into Jordan to help Syrian refugees, and linked to an Israeli Channel 2 news report on the topic.

I admit I wasn't thrilled with the made-for-TV portions where they (presumably the TV producer) tell the Syrians that they are Israeli and the astonished reactions are filmed. The TV station was staging things for drama, as they are wont to do. But here we see an Arab TV journalist, Diana Mukkaled, who really thinks that this entire endavor is simply blackmail on the part of Israelis!

Syrian regime loyalists received a gift from Israeli TV when the latter screened a short film about people labeled “activists” who risk their lives by entering “hostile territory” in order to support Syrian refugees. “Assad is slaying Syrians while the world is standing still, but some people are taking action … Israelis,” is how the film starts.

This is more than enough for “patriots” who are out to protect Arab rights to take advantage of the plight of Syrian refugees inside and outside Syria in order to promote the conspiracy theory that attributes the Syrian revolution to a Zionist/Western scheme.

The film shows how a group of Israelis, disguised as Bedouins, enter areas sheltering Syrian refugees in Jordan (though the country is not named in the film) and start befriending them and providing them with supplies. They tell them they are Israelis and use cameras to zoom in on their faces that display a mixture of astonishment and confusion.

There is a woman whose husband was attacked by Syrian regime thugs and needs an urgent surgery or else would lose his eyesight. When she knows that those offering her help are Israelis she starts crying for she would rather have her husband lose his eyesight than resort to this kind of help.

The film ends with a question posed by one of the Israelis in the group about the nature of the animosity between Syrians/Arabs and Israelis. He wonders if Israelis extending a helping hand to Syrian refugees now would be latter attacked by those same refugees in the future.

Is there a cheaper form of blackmail than offering to save a refugee’s eyesight provided that it is done in Israel?

This film will not make a difference for Syrian refugees nor would it change the stance of Israeli authorities who are from the beginning of the Syrian revolution siding with the Syrian regime because it provides with border stability. It will also have no impact whatsoever on the Arab-Israeli conflict that is much more complicated that a few scenes screened for a film and which are not even plausible.

However, the way Israeli TV hurried to make use of the tragedy of Syrian refugees reveals the shallowness with which it understands the future relationship between the Arab Spring and the conflict with Israel. It also reveals absolute insensitivity.

Portraying the “moral superiority” of Israeli activists through putting Syrian refugees to tests related to their stance on Israel is a cheap attempt that would ultimately fail in undermining the Syrian revolution or making its aims any less noble.

Yes, she says that Israelis helping Syrians is "insensitive."

Yes, she says that Isrselis offering to help save a Syrian's eyes in Israel is "blackmail."

Yes, she says that the people doing this are really trying to shore up the Syrian regime.

Yes, she says that Israel TV is trying to undermine the Syrian revolution.

The clown who hands out candy to make the homeless Syrian kids laugh? He is an Assad supporter!

Israel Derangement Syndrome - the seething hatred that twists everything any Israeli does to make it into an insidious, anti-Arab plot - seems to be an incurable disease, even among educated, presumably liberal Arabs.

PA TV host prays for Israel's destruction

From PalWatch:

Palestinian Authority television interviewed a Syrian journalist who claimed to have seen a top secret CIA memo from the Clinton administration. This CIA memo allegedly predicted that Israel would not survive beyond the year 2022. The PA TV host responded with a short prayer that this prediction should be fulfilled:

Syrian journalist, Al-Bujayrami: "What I'm going to say, no one has ever heard. A report was submitted by the American Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, to former US President Clinton. It was written on the report: 'Eyes only.' 'Eyes only' means for the President's eyes only. No one else is allowed to see it."
PA TV host: "Top secret."
Al-Bujayrami: "It's more classified than 'top secret.' ... The CIA says [in this report]: 'If things continue as they are, we don't think that Israel will continue to exist after the year 2022...'"
PA TV host: "By Allah, from your mouth to Allah!"
[PA TV (Fatah), June 12, 2012]

I've seen this claim before, and tracked it down to that bastion of truth, Iran's PressTV.

The funny thing is that this report was supposedly written during the Clinton administration and claimed then that Israel would not last twenty more years. Well, it's been twelve years since the Clinton administration, and I haven't detected any weakening. I guess they padded the year to 2022 because 2019 seemed a little unrealistic.

Then again, the CIA did once predict that the Jewish state could not possibly survive.

The track record of the many who have made that prediction over the years is approximately 0.00%.

Link'in from Ian

Founding National Myths Fabricating Palestinian History by David Bukay

“The vast literature proving the historic Jewish connection to the Land of Israel has been extensively manipulated and distorted as part of the Palestinian politics of nationalism. Propaganda, indoctrination, and socialization, both domestically and internationally, are essential parts of the strategy and tactics of asserting Palestinian nationhood and statehood. By appropriating to themselves the values, traditions, and historical facts that belong to the Jews, Palestinians have managed to fabricate a "legitimate" history and political traditions out of nothing while denying those of Israel.”

Racism in Arab Lands by Michael Curtis

“Discrimination, intolerance, and racism in the Arab world persist in many forms: they affect women; all non-Muslims; dark skinned people, Blacks, would-be refugees, and migrants. Among those groups and peoples who have been denied political and civil rights are Kurds, the non-Arab people whose language belongs to the Iranian group; Berbers, the pre-Arab native people of North Africa; Turkmen who speak their own language; the Christian Copts in Egypt; the Assyrians or Assyro-Chaldeans in Iraq subject to both ethnic and religious persecution; and Jews. Christians and Jews are still regarded as dhimmis ["tolerated" people], defined in different ways but always as second-class citizens. Extreme Islamists, regarding them as infidels, have used violence against many, including the Copts and the Bahais, as well as against Jews.”

Reactions to Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi:
Iran Declares War against the Jewish People by Alan M. Dershowitz
Camera reminds Prof. Waltz that he said the Iranians were “rational”: This is Who Kenneth Waltz Thinks Should Have a Nuclear Bomb

“Foreign Affairs, a leading journal covering foreign policy, has published a piece in its July-August issue by Columbia University Professor Kenneth Waltz advising us not to worry about an Iranian nuclear bomb. In fact, Waltz says "a nuclear-armed Iran would probably be the best possible result of the standoff and the one most likely to restore stability to the Middle East." Dismissing American and Israeli concerns as "typical of major powers, which have historically gotten riled up whenever another country begins to develop a nuclear weapon," Waltz argues that the Iranian leadership is rational.”

EU raps Iranian VP Rahimi over anti-Semitic speech

"The High Representative is deeply disturbed by racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi at the UN International Day against Drug Abuse," Ashton stated.”

UN head calls on Iran to refrain from anti-Semitic comments

BDS fails
London hosts conference touting Israeli innovation

"Any assumption that the UK is a fertile ground for the boycott campaign against Israel was laid to rest on Tuesday as London hosted one of Europe’s largest hi-tech conferences aimed at enhancing the strong connection between the UK and Israel in innovation.
Held in central London, Innovate Israel 2012 was attended by over 500 business leaders, investors, decision makers and government representatives.”

Israeli cherries sold in Iranian markets
Tehran's media says Israeli fruit sold in local markets despite mutual trade ban

Russia is open for Israeli business, says expert

Egypt to Block Jewish Pilgrims From Holy Site

“Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it had told Israel that it would not be “appropriate” for Israeli pilgrims to make an annual visit to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in the Nile Delta.”
“An Islamist politician involved in organizing protests against the march meanwhile said that visiting the gravesite in the village of Daymouta, 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of Cairo would be a “suicide mission” for Israelis.”

We may have confused Turkish jet for an Israeli one, Syrian minister claims

Omran al-Zubi says Friday’s downing of an F-4 was a mistake, and that Israeli planes are ‘welcomed by fire’"Turkish planes and Israeli planes look alike,” the minister told the Turkish news station A Haber.
Although the Turkish and Israeli air forces both purchased McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter jets from the United States, the IAF decommissioned its last F-4 in 2004.

Save the children…except when they’re Israeli. - Richard Millett

“With politicians, NGOs and charities totally impotent to stop massacres in Syria and starvation and disease in Africa they got back to doing what they do best; delegitimising Israel.”

Israel persuaded Russia not to sell Syria missiles'

“Barak says J'lem influenced cancellation of sale of S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Damascus worth around $100m.”

Palestinian Christians falsely claim Bethlehem is "surrounded" by a wall

From CAMERA:

Palestinian Christian activists and their allies have a difficult time describing the security barrier accurately. They describe the barrier as completely surrounding Bethlehem when in fact it does not.

Bishara Awad, president of the Bethlehem Bible College has uttered this falsehood, as has his son, Sami Awad, director of the Holy Land Trust. Both Bishara and Sami live in Bethlehem.

Lutheran Bishop Margaret Payne has also uttered this falsehood and has refused to retract it when challenged by CAMERA. The news show 60 Minutes has made the same false statement and has refused to correct.

Now it is Diyar, a Bethlehem-based consortium led by Lutheran Pastor Mitri Raheb that is broadcasting this falsehood.

Diyar bills itself as “a group of Lutheran-based, ecumenically-oriented institutions serving the whole Palestinian community ‘from the womb to the tomb', with an emphasis on children, youth, women & elders.”

In a Diyar-produced video posted on Youtube on Jan. 18, 2012, a narrator states the following:

The city of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus Christ and home to more than 40,000, is now encircled by an eight-meter high concrete wall. This apartheid wall as many have come to call it, has turned Bethlehem into a walled ghetto, cutting through Palestinian land, destroying neighborhoods and imprisoning its population.

This statement is false in two ways. First of all, not all of the barrier is comprised of a concrete wall. Much of the barrier is built with a security fence. Secondly, the barrier does not “encircle” Bethlehem but instead passes by its northern and western sides.

The falsehood appeared again in a letter sent by newly-minted Diyar employee, Rev. Victor Makari, Ph.D.

Makari, who currently works as regional consultant for the Religion and State Program for Diyar, mischaracterized the security barrier in a June 23 202 letter to his supporters in the U.S.

Makari, who previously worked for the Presbyterian Church (USA), Makari wrote that he was

…humbled and encouraged daily by the endurance and tenacity of hope of our Palestinian neighbors, living within the confines and restrictions of the Israeli Occupation – a 25-ft-high concrete wall that has surrounded the West Bank andenclosed Bethlehem for 10 years now…

...Why do Palestinian Christians and their allies have such a difficult time getting it right about the security barrier?

Here is a map of the security barrier from B'Tselem, showing that Bethlehem is hardly "surrounded":

Facebook may add "Insha'Allah" button for events

From Bikya Masr:

Arabic-speaking Facebook users want the social networking website to add an “Insha’Allah” button to the platform for the Middle East. And Facebook seems ready to make the move to boost its regional presence.

According to Immanuel Simonsen from Multilingual Search, “Facebook has identified a strong wish from Arabic natives to include an “Insha’Allah” (Arabic term meaning “God Willing” that indicates hope for an aforementioned event to occur in the future) button for Facebook events.”

While Facebook may not be the most popular social media network in the Arab world, this addition “looks to be the first new localized feature for the Arabic market.”

“However small this current adding, it’s indicative of Facebook now actively trying to adapt its product to better reflect and accommodate the specific needs of the Arabic world, and representatives from Facebook Arabia have already made it very clear that this is just the first of many alterations to come,” says Simonsen.

How about a mini-Grad rocket button for Gazans? A "fatwa" button for Iranian clerics?

The possibilities are endless....

Two Arab youths arrested for setting fires on Mount Scopus

Maariv (and Palestine Today) report that two Arab youths were arrested for setting recent fires on Mount Scopus near Hadassah Hospital and an army base.

The youths were from Issawiya. One of the youths confessed and implicated the other.

13 soldiers were treated for smoke inhalation for that fire last Sunday.

There have been a series of hundreds of suspected arson fires around Jerusalem over the past month, and Arabs are suspected of setting many of them.

There were reports that the deadly Carmel fire last year was also purposefully set by Arab arsonists.

It appears that this is a new form of "resistance" where Arabs are purposefully setting fires in the land they supposedly love so much, exhausting Israeli fire and emergency forces.

Today, a delegation led by Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal is visiting Jordan to meet with King Abdullah.

His first official visit was in January, but that was in context of the reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah. This visit appears to be more a reflection of Jordan's recognition of the Islamist revolutions taking place, especially in Egypt, and Abdullah's anticipation that Hamas' influence will continue to grow. Jordan is one of the last remaining Arab countries that can be described as moderate, and its leadership feels that it must not appear to be against the Islamist tide.

In January, officials said that the issue of re-opening Hamas offices in Amman were not raised in the talks, but Hamas now says that they will raise that issue with the king as well.

It appears that Hamas publicly re-engaging in terrorist activity by bragging of shooting rockets against Israeli civilians last week has actually helped it politically in the Arab world. Instead of being shunned more, a proud terrorist organization is now being welcomed as the effective leadership of Palestinian Arabs by the Arab world at large.

This is a good thing to keep in mind as people try to pressure Israel to make even more concessions for "peace."

Iranian culture revealed in a "kill Salman Rushdie" videogame

From Iran's PressTV:

The 2nd edition of Iran’s International Computer Game Expo and Festival is scheduled to be mounted in the capital city of Tehran’s Grand Prayer Grounds.

The expo, which is slated to kick off on July 26, 2012, will host many game designers from Iran and many other countries from across the world.

Organizers say the event aims to introduce Iran's culture and Islamic identity, discover new talents and present Iranian products to international producers and distributors of computer games.

And here is an example of that famed Iranian culture featured at the expo:

Salman Rushdie was the target of a notorious fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic of Iran, 23 years ago. Now, the author of The Satanic Verses is the subject of an Iranian computer game aimed at spreading to the next generation the message about his "sin".

The Stressful Life of Salman Rushdie and Implementation of his Verdict is the title of the game being developed by the Islamic Association of Students, a government-sponsored organisation which announced this week it had completed initial phases of production.

News of the computer game came as Tehran on Tuesday played host to the country's second International Computer Games Expo.

(h/t Gary)

Jews in sports - Airplane! joke proven

First, the classic joke:

Now, the proof:

The Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Adolph and Rose Levis Museum (PJSHOF) celebrated its 15th anniversary by honoring eight new individuals in a reception held on May 21, 2012...

The inductees into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame represent the best of the best, those individuals and teams who, through perseverance, dedication, superior talent and skills, have risen to the top of their respective sports.

This year's special class includes coaches, charity founders, sports managers and a prize-winning writer.

In other words - essentially no athletes.

I liked this inductee:

Glenn Fine is a former inspector general of the United States Department of Justice and Rhodes Scholar, who was a 10th-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs.

He never actually played for the Spurs, you understand, but he did reach the rarified heights of being a tenth round draft pick!

Midweek links

From Ian:

More on Reuters bias:
Honest Reporting: Reuters Incorrect “Correction”

“Nothing “shook” the truce. Palestinian terrorists fired rockets at Israeli civilian areas. Hours later, Israel attacked (from the air, lest anyone think that the word “raid” implies that Israel entered Gaza on the ground) terrorists preparing to launch more rockets.
Would it be asking too much for Reuters on their correction to get the story right?”

HR Video: Reuters- It All Started When Israel Fired Back

Anti-Semite Charles Barron loses big in New York, demands recount

"At the risk of sounding like a sore loser, honesty compels me to say there will be no congratulatory statement to the opposition tonight, only because of the way the campaign was run," Barron was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News.

Australian parliament stands in silence in memory of Israeli athletes

"The move came after a motion was passed unanimously in parliament last night calling “on the International Olympic Committee to observe one minute’s silence at the 2012 Olympic Games in honour of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by terrorists at 1972 Munich Olympics.” The parliament decided that although the decision to hold a minute’s silence in London was yet to be reconsidered, the Australian parliament would hold one today."

The Incredible Shrinking US-Israel Security Cooperation

Michael Coren with documentary maker Nicky Larkin - Israel changed my mind

Forty Shades of Grey trailer

Also:

Brotherhood Representative Won’t Speak to Israeli Journalist

MEMRI: Morsi During Elections Campaign: Jihad Is Our Path; the Shari'a Is the Constitution of Egypt

And a Kurdish friend of Israel is kidnapped, reportedly by Iran.

Mawloud Afand, editor of Israel-Kurdish magazine "Israel Kurd" disappeared ten days ago in Kurdistan region of Iraq. His friends say he traveled to the city of Sulaimaniyah where he was abducted by Iranian Intelligence, as reported on Israel Army Radio, and reported by Israel national news.

(h/t O., Yoel)

Hamas claims to have planned rocket attacks on Knesset, BG Airport in 2002

The Hamas Al Qassam website has an interview with Akram Ahmed Salmi, a terrorist who was recently released after nine years in prison.

He claims that Hamas was manufacturing missiles in 2002 that were meant to be shot to the Knesset, to Ben Gurion Airport and "most importantly" to the settlement of Bet El.

Salmi claimed that the expertise to manufacture the rockets was transferred over from Gaza and that some 20 Qassam missiles had been built. The manufacturing slowed down a lot after Israel launched Operation Defensive Shield, as the priority then changed to building IEDs to attack the IDF troops.

According to Salmi, the entire factory went up in smoke in late March 2002 when a fire broke out, destroying all the rockets.

It is unclear how true this story is. The first Qassam launch from Gaza may have been in January 2002, with a known Qassam attack in the West Bank on February 13th.

According to this caption, a Qassam factory was discovered in Tulkarem on March 9, 2002.

I couldn't find any information about a fire in the West Bank in late March 2002. So this could all be some after-the fact bragging. But it is significant that there were some Qassams from the West Bank early in the intifada, and there was little at the time stopping it from escalating - except the fear that the IDF would go crazy if it happened.

And that is not a small thing.

Rachel's Tomb, 1861

Legendary Muslim tolerance.

From the Newmarket (Ontario) Era, July 19, 1861:

(h/t jhrhv)

Interview with the IDF ethicist

From Israel HaYom last week:

[Professor Asa] Kasher, an Israel Prize laureate in philosophy, is considered the foremost philosopher in Israel and a supreme professional authority in the field of ethics. Some say that he is the most respected moral authority of our generation. Besides his work in academia as a world-renowned expert in linguistics, he was the chairman of several important public committees and serves on several others. He also became known as the conscience of the security establishment after he wrote the IDF’s code of ethics. His writings about medical ethics, media and science are considered milestones. Yet despite all his frenetic public activity, he hardly appears in the media.

..Kasher served on the Shamgar Committee regarding negotiating a ransom for kidnapped soldiers. ...[H]e says, “The price of sending terrorists back is not a matter of national honor but rather a question of security and justice. When we look at the list of those who were released in the Shalit deal, where they were released to and the restrictions that were imposed upon them, no danger to security has been created. Yes, justice was compromised, but there was no alternative. After all, we will not leave a soldier in that kind of situation merely to protect justice.

“The families of the victims of the murderers who were released should have been treated with kid gloves. They should have been told before the fact, and not by the media. The authorities should have given them psychological therapy and a listening, sensitive ear.”

Q. In the context of preventing kidnappings, the “Hannibal order” — preventing a kidnapping even at the price of harming a soldier — has been discussed quite a bit.

“There is a common error, as though an order existed to shoot a soldier who had been kidnapped, deliberately, because ‘a dead soldier is better than a kidnapped soldier.’ The Hannibal order says that when there is an attempt to kidnap a soldier, it must be prevented by an order to open fire in order to get the soldier back home safe and sound. The kidnappers, not the soldier, are fired upon, even if the soldier’s life is put in some danger. If the soldier is in certain danger — for example, firing an artillery shell at the kidnappers’ car — it’s not allowed. I’m glad that the twisted idea of this procedure that exists in the soldiers’ minds never actually happened. The order has been invoked several times already, and there has never been a case in which any soldiers killed another soldier in order to prevent him from being kidnapped.

“There is a distortion of thought that says that while the state must pay a high price for a kidnapped soldier, Israeli society is willing to accept a dead soldier. This is a scandalous and false idea. Would you be willing to take responsibility for a soldier that you killed? I heard this twisted interpretation for the first time in 1995. I raised an outcry, and I tell you that the damage that the state would suffer from a soldier’s death is greater than the damage that it would suffer from negotiating for his release. Don’t help the country by killing a soldier. It would be better for him to be captured by the enemy than killed by you.

“During Operation Cast Lead, I heard commanding officers say, ‘None of our men will be kidnapped.’ That doesn’t just mean be careful. It means kill yourself rather than let it happen. That’s absolutely horrible.”

Q. Can the IDF code of ethics undergo changes?

“The code is stable. The more abstract the values are, the less they change. The doctrines can change because we are in new situations all the time. The doctrine of combating terror, which I dealt with together with Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, who was the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, includes a new situation in which terrorists live among civilians. We must free ourselves from the attitude that regards others’ lives with fear and trembling while holding the lives of our own combat soldiers in complete contempt. International law wants to impose a position on us whereby soldiers are a consumable resource and that the lives of enemy civilians must be protected more than the lives of our own combat troops. Bandages are a consumable resource. Water is a consumable resource. Human beings are not.

“If we warned the terrorists’ neighbors to leave the area, in Arabic, in any way — flyers, telephone calls, television broadcasts, a warning noise — and they stay anyway — why are they staying? Because they choose to be human shields for terrorists. I do not want to kill a human being only because he is a human shield, if he is not a threat to me. But should a soldier of mine risk himself for him? Is the blood of a human shield any redder than the blood of my soldier? A soldier has no choice other than to be in Gaza, in that alleyway. But to be sent inside — why? In the battle in Jenin, in the middle of Operation Defensive Shield, the IDF knew that the refugee camp was booby-trapped. But they still insisted on not bombing from the air in order to keep from harming civilians, and they suffered terrible losses. That was a mistake. They should have made an effort to get the civilian population out of the terrorist environment, and then there would have been no need to send in the infantry.”

Q. Is the IDF more ethical today than in the past?

“The IDF is the only army in the world whose code of ethics states that a human being’s life should be valued simply because he is a human being. There is no other army in the world that would accept such an idea, and among us it passed without anybody batting an eyelash. We are improving all the time. An incident such as what happened on Bus 300 could not happen today. Today’s Shin Bet would not go within 10 miles of such a thing.

“On the other hand, army politics have only gotten worse. What does it mean, ‘running’ for the position of chief of staff? In a professional organization, nobody runs for a position. A tradition of transition from the army to politics has been created, and norms from the political world have trickled into the army.”

Read the whole thing.

What does the new Egyptian leadership mean for Ouda Tarabin?

Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Arab, has been imprisoned in Egypt since 2000 when he went over the border to visit his sister in El Arish without proper papers. He never had a chance to defend himself in court against the espionage charges.

There were rumors during and after the Grapel deal last year that Tarabin would be released, but it never happened. Now that Egypt has a new government, what does that mean for him?

Israel's Channel 2 recently wrote up about the case, noting that Israel has been very quiet in negotiating his release. Yet even most Israelis never heard of Tarabin.

According to CNN Arabic, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists plans to file a complaint against Egypt to the International Council for Human Rights saying that Egypt's arrest of Tarabin deliberately violated his human rights. The organization also plans to appeal directly to new Egyptian president-elect Mohamed Morsi to release Tarabin.

The article quotes Israel Radio as saying that Amnesty International also submitted a report about arbitrary arrests by Egyptian authorities, including that of Tarabin, and Egypt never responded. A 2011 Amnesty report says:

Dual Egyptian-Israeli national Ouda Suleiman Tarabin continues to be detained allegedly on the basis that he had been tried by a military court and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for espionage back in 1999, when he was aged 19. Ouda Suleiman Tarabin was arrested two days after he entered Egypt illegally. He said he was insulted when he showed an Israeli passport. He told the lawyer who represents him now that he was never brought before a judge nor assigned a lawyer before. The authorities have so far failed to provide a copy of the verdict of the military court despite repeated requests by the lawyer to the Minister of Interior, Minster of Justice and the prison authorities and it remains unclear whether he is indeed serving a prison sentence or is in fact held in administrative detention. Amnesty International wrote to the Minister of Interior to inquire about the legal status of Ouda Suleiman Tarabin but received no answer. Ouda Suleiman Tarabin continues to be held in Liman Tora Prison.

The case of Tarabin will show whether Morsi is a reformer who will fight against the abuses of the previous military regime, as he claims, or if he is just another politician.

Syrian Free Army captures army base

From The Telegraph:

Members of the Syrian Free Army gained control over a military base in the northern town of Daret Ezzah after heavy fighting with government troops.

The rebels said they co-ordinated the attack with a group of defectors inside the base 30 miles northwest of Aleppo province.

"The Free Army battalions in western rural Aleppo liberated the battalion 1041 in the area of Jabal al Sheikh Barakat in the town of Daret Ezzah," army defector Abu Jehad said.

"Thank God, we have full control over the location with the help of defecting soldiers from inside the battalion. We seized all artillery including anti-aircraft systems and light personal weapons,"

Also:

Gunmen stormed a pro-government Syrian TV channel headquarters on Wednesday, bombing buildings and shooting dead three employees, state media said, in one of the boldest attacks yet on a symbol of the authoritarian state.

President Bashar al-Assad declared late on Tuesday that his country was "at war". U.S. intelligence officials said the Syrian regime was "holding fairly firm" and digging in for a long struggle against rebel forces who are getting stronger.

The dawn attack on Ikhbariya television's offices, located 20 km (15 miles) south of the capital, as well as overnight fighting on the outskirts of Damascus showed 16 months of violence now rapidly encroaching on the capital.

"We live in a real state of war from all angles," Assad told a cabinet he appointed on Tuesday, in a speech broadcast on state television. "When we are in a war, all policies and all sides and all sectors need to be directed at winning this war."

The declaration marks a change of rhetoric from Assad, who had long dismissed the uprising against him as the work of scattered militants in "terrorist gangs" funded from abroad.

The rambling speech - Assad also commented on subjects as far afield as the benefits of renewable energy - left little room for compromise. He denounced the West, which "takes and never gives, and this has been proven at every stage".

(h/t Yoel)

Ha'aretz deliberately ignores anti-Israel incitement in the PA

From Behind the News in Israel by David Bedein:

At the annual American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) Conference, held last week in Philadelphia, a newsworthy session was held with Chemi Shalev, the newly appointed US correspondent for the English language edition of HaAretz.

Working with foreign journalists in Jerusalem for the past 25 years, the significance of HaAretz reaches beyond its scope as a daily newspaper in Israel.

The HaAretz English edition, sold in Israel together with the International Herald Tribune, is the paper of record for reporters who cover complexities of middle east issues.

Therefore, the opportunity for AJPA to hear Shalev's s insights into the middle east reporting policies was significant.

After hearing Shalev's insightful analysis of current Israeli politics and the current state of Israeli-Arab negotiations, our news agency posed a question to Shalev:

* Why does HaAretz not report what the Palestinian Authority communicates to their people in their language, on the PBC TV, the PBC radio, Palestinian Authority newspapers and the Palestinian Authority schools?*

After all, over the past few weeks, PBC TV has conducted daily features which promote the armed struggle to liberate all of Palestine, praise for those who martyr themselves while murdering Jews, transforming Israeli cities into Arab cities, and worse.

Shalev's candid response: “We do not have room to cover all of that”

The follow up question was simpler: In the context of any article that HaAretz runs on the peace process, why not mention what the spokespeople of the PA say that day in their media and in their own language?

Shalev: * As an editor, I would recommend not covering that”.

In other words, a senior editor of HaAretz admitted to a gathering of journalists that his newspaper engages in a journalistic indiscretion.

As a matter of policy, Shalev admitted, Haaretz will not report the consistent message that the Palestinian Authority conveys in the Arabic language.

This poses a challenge to agencies that rely on HaAretz as a source.

Ha'aretz' biases are obvious to anyone who reads it - except to lazy Hebrew-challenged journalists in Israel who rely on it as a substitute for real reporting. But here we see that its new English language editor is explicitly confirming those biases.

(h/t My Right Word)

PalArab support for Hamas goes up sharply

From the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research:

These are the results of the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 21-23 June 2012.

The second quarter of 2012 shows clear improvement in the standing and popularity of Hamas and Ismail Haniyeh, especially in the Gaza Strip, and a decline in the popularity of Fateh and President Abbas. The increased Hamas popularity might be due to the fact that it has allowed the Palestinian election commission to begin voter registration in the Gaza Strip and might reflect optimism about future improvement in the conditions of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the Egyptian presidential elections. The decline in the popularity of Fateh and president Abbas comes in light of widespread popular anger with the PA for the arrest of journalists and the blocking of internet sites. It might also reflect public perception of a reluctance on the part of Abbas to form a reconciliation government despite Hamas' decision to allow the election commission to operate in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, it is possible that Abbas' reluctance to go to the UN or take the initiative to break the deadlock in the relationship with Israel might in part explain the increase in public dissatisfaction with his performance and the decrease in the percentage of votes he might receive in a new presidential elections.

Findings also indicate that the overwhelming majority of the public opposes the arrest of journalists or the blocking of internet sites and view such measures as harming the Palestinian cause in international public opinion. A majority is also pessimistic about the chances to implement the reconciliation agreement and a very small minority is optimistic about the chances of forming a reconciliation government in days or weeks or organizing parliamentary and presidential elections before the end of the year.

Ha'aretz Hebrew has some of the numbers, showing that the gap between those who would vote for Abbas and those who would vote for Haniyeh has narrowed to 7%, as opposed to 12% last quarter.

But if terrorist Marwan Barghouti would run for president against Haniyeh, Barghouti would win 60%-34%.

Fatah's popularity in parliamentary elections also declined from 47% to 40%.

The raw results will probably be released next week.

(h/t Yoel and CHA)

6 out of 10 Arabs support censorship of the arts

From Al Ahram:

An opinion poll conducted by the Doha Debates television programme reveals that six out of 10 Arab citizens support government censorship of the arts, especially when it comes to nudity or profane language.

According to the poll, conducted between 30 May and 3 June, most said that the existence of regulatory bodies and institutions affiliated with the state is a must, as art could be "inappropriate" and offend "religious beliefs."

Most of those polled suggested that censorship was needed on modern art taught in Arab universities, but most also said that censorship would not be able to stand in the way of artists because thoughts and beliefs live in our imaginations.

In the poll, most of those who supported government censorship of art came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Yemen. Poll samples from less conservative countries in the region returned different results.

Al Ahram itself came under fire recently for censoring a famous piece by Abdel Hadi al-Gazzar by covering up the breasts of a woman in the painting:

Muslims upset at Putin's visit to the Kotel

Vladimir Putin visited the Kotel on Tuesday night:

Throughout the visit, Putin demonstrated curiosity, asked many questions on the history of the place, and spoke about the Jewish connection to the holy site: "You can see how the Jewish past is engraved in the Jerusalem stone," he said.

As you can imagine, Muslims were very unhappy at a world leader saying that Jerusalem has anything to do with Judaism.

Hamas called it a cheap stunt, and the Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation said:

We say to Putin and his ilk, that the Wailing Wall is purely Islamic, and is part and parcel of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and non-Muslims have no right to the wall or in the Al Aqsa Mosque. All the historical facts and international documents confirm that the Al-Buraq Wall is Islamic, including the British Shaw Commission. Remember, the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque is 45 years old, and they demolished the buildings and around the Square unjustly for the prayer of the Jews, then carried out the excavations, including the excavation along the bottom of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and during the excavations many of the Islamic and Arabic findings were suppressed, not to mention that these excavations led to the cracks and collapses in the vicinity of the Al Aqsa Mosque and some of its buildings, and the occupation is engaging in Judaization of the place, and we affirm that all rocks the Al Aqsa Mosque and every stone of Jerusalem proves the Arab identity of Jerusalem.

Other Arab media pointed out that Putin wore a kipah.

Links

From Ian:

It looks like Mel Gibson has fallen off the wagon again:
Anti-Semitic Elmo detained in NY
“Man dressed as Sesame Street character is removed from Central Park after obscene rants against Jews”

Birthplace of Christ Used in Bid for Palestinian Statehood

“The issue is not genuinely about a two-state solution – as many are fooled into believing. Lethal opposition to the State of Israel remains fierce. This tiny democracy, Israel, which lives by individual freedoms, equal justice under law and respect for universal human rights, is an affront to these autocratic regimes.”

“The drive to have the Church of the Nativity recognized as a global heritage site is nothing short of offensive. Christians have been driven out of their ancestral lands; Palestinians have shown nothing but hostility to both Christians and Jews. Moreover, Christ himself was a Jew.

Upon the birth of the State of Israel in 1948, Bethlehem had a Christian population of over 80 percent. With the rise of the Muslim population, Christians dwindled in numbers. Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority took over the town in 1995, thanks to the Oslo Accords. Along with the PA, came a tribal political system which caused Bethlehem's Christian population, already at 15%, to further sink to 2% today. Under this political system Christians are targeted, seen as inferiors, and subjected to threats, violence, discrimination and acts of terrorism.”

BBC Apologies:
BBC apologises over Itamar massacres coverage

The BBC “got it wrong” by not giving prominence to the massacre of the Fogel family by Palestinians in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, the outgoing director-general has admitted.

Our coverage of the Arab Spring was over-excited, admits BBC

Head of news admits reporters may have failed to explore both sides of the story
Countries where regimes were not overthrown were ignored, says BBC Trust report by former UN director of communications
Two thirds of mobile footage and other user-generated content was broadcast without any caveats

BBC boss sorry for reply to campaign to save radio show

“BBC head of north-west programming Aziz Rashid has apologised for snubbing Jewish leaders with a standardised reply to their complaint over the scrapping of the Jewish programme on Radio Manchester.”

Emanuel Cleaver and the Congressional Black Caucus Fail to Condemn Antisemitic Democrat

“Here is a list of organizations that have endorsed Barron, to their eternal shame: the Sierra Club, one of the most influential environmental groups in the nation; DC 37 and 1707, the big New York City public sector unions affiliated with AFSCME and the AFL-CIO; outgoing incumbent Democrat Edolphus Towns; and the local Amsterdam News, among others.“

A Hamas victory at the UN Human Rights Council

“Here is some of what Habeeb had to say while speaking in a UN room, at a UN-provided microphone, at a UN-advertised event associated with the UN’s top human rights body: “In 1947, 1948 and 1949 the Palestinian refugees were ethnically cleansed by the Israeli gangs.... Some Arab armies came to Palestine to fight the Zionist project, which came from all over Europe to take over Palestine and to make it as a national home for the Jews, although it was always the national home for the Palestinians for thousands and thousands of years.”

AFP Whence the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty?

"Today AFP refers to "1980, the year after Cairo signed its peace agreement with Tel Aviv." (Emphasis added.)

The Church of England Battles the Israeli Satan

"The Anglican Church, the UK's largest, is in the vanguard of Jew-hatred. Israel is demonized and their upcoming Synod may be a watershed."

New Memri Video:
Egyptian Leftist Politician Rifat Said: The Muslim Bortherhood Will Never Relinquish the Presidency

Also, Mostly Kosher on Amnesty's latest absurdity (h/t Benjamin of Tudela)

An searing first person account of being sexually abused at Tahrir Square (h/t CHA)

Israel's SodaStream surges, BDS fails again (h/t Tobias)

A German judge prohibits circumcisions

It is time for my quarterly appeal for donations. I'll try to be less irritating than PBS.

Things keep going well here at Chez Elder. During this last quarter we have seen a steady increase of Twitter followers (now approaching 2500) and subscribers to the blog via RSS and email (750 people get my email digest directly, and many others have it forwarded to them.) Direct blog readership has held steady at around 5000 hits a day.

I spoke last month to a full house as part of a panel at an American Zionist Movement event. Here's how it was described:

The guest blogger was “ElderofZiyon,” well-known by his nom de plume in the blogosphere but rarely seen in public. “Elder” is perhaps the most quoted blogger in the area of Middle East politics, and he used his time well to help the hopefuls in the audience think about how to be most effective in their work on behalf of Israel.

It has been hard to keep up my pace of posting, as I started a new job and my free time has gone down considerably. In order to maximize blogging time, I had to buy a netbook (Acer Aspire One), and a new cell phone ($399 plus shipping) with an upgraded data plan ($15/month) so I can blog on the train. (My one day of trying to blog with a tablet was awful. Sorry, but to blog the way I do, you need a real computer. I ran to Walmart that night because I couldn't take it.) Because of nosy commuters looking over my shoulder, I just ordered a privacy screen for the netbook as well.

I also occasionally blog at The Times of Israel. I just did one today based on a post from last week, that has already gotten some Twitter traction.

So if you want to be a partner in this endeavor, please consider a donation - either a one-time donation or a subscription - by clicking on the appropriate button in the upper right of the blog site or simply going to this PayPal site. If you are not a fan of PayPal, I happily accept Amazon gift cards which can be sent via email.

And if you have lots of money and want to match the donations given, the way someone does at Mondoweiss (!), feel free to contact me!

Thanks as always for your support, for being there and for publicizing my posts. I really, really appreciate it!

Those "civilian" Hamas police...

Remember the Goldstone Report? The biased UN report took pains to claim that the police of Gaza should be considered civilians and not terrorists or militants. I debunked it here and here.

Well, Goldstone and the other "human rights" organizations are proven wrong again.

Hamas held a ceremony for police graduates where it was made very clear that the goal of the police is anything but civil:

Announcer: Now that we have heard the song of the men, here is a little Palestinian girl, a flower of Jerusalem, who insisted on participating in this ceremony. Rawan is the daughter of one of the officers at the Palestinian police academy. Please welcome Rawan Khilla, who will recite what she has to say, the words on which she was raised.

[…]

Rawan Khilla: Glory explodes in your bodies, and eternal life is guaranteed for martyrdom-seekers.

[…]

Fathi Hammad, Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security: Allah says: “Prepare for them what force and steeds of war you can.” The Prophet Muhammad says: “Prepare for them what force you can. Force means shooting.” The Prophet Muhammad also says: “Lands shall be thrown open to you, and Allah will protect you, but none of you should give up playing with his arrows.”

None of you should give up playing with all the tools of force and equipment, which will bring us closer to our aspirations: Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Haifa, Akko and Jaffa.

[…]

From this place, I bring you glad tidings: The officers of the class graduating today will become the Police Chief of Jaffa, the Police Chief of Haifa, the Police Chief of Akko, the Police Chief of Lod, the Police Chief of Ramle, and of all other places.

Therefore, from this place, we declare to all those who usurped our lands that they must prepare to leave, because we have prepared for Jihad. You are going to leave, while we are summoned to battle. We are the owners of this land.

[…]

We say: There shall be no reconciliation with secularism. There shall be no reconciliation with any path other than that of Islam.

[…]

This is an opportunity for you to study at our academy how to defend our battlefront and how to be soldiers of Allah. We will not be the soldiers of the US, of the Zionists, or of the hypocrites. We are determined to proceed along the path of Allah.

Therefore, dear brothers, we speak with conviction. Some might say: You are talking as if victory is imminent. Yes, victory is imminent. Victory is ours, and disgrace will be the lot of all the hypocrites, who agreed to be the shoes on the feet of the Zionists and the Americans.

Indeed, victory is coming. Victory is imminent.

This isn't a police force - it is an army.

But "human rights" organizations will always refuse to see the truth in their zeal to crucify Israel.

(h/t Yoel)

Iranian VP blames drug problem on - the Talmud

From the ever-entertaining official Iranian Fars news agency:

Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi condemned Zionists for inciting global drug trade and addiction in a bid to annihilate non-Jewish communities in accordance with Talmudic teachings.

Addressing a ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of Drug Abuse here in Tehran on Tuesday, Rahimi stated that prevalence of narcotics and drug-addition throughout the world finds its roots in the wrong teachings of the Zionists' religious book, Talmud.

The Talmud (Hebrew: "instruction, learning") is a central text of mainstream Judaism in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history.

"The book teaches them how to destroy non-Jews so as to protect an embryo in the womb of a Jewish mother," Rahimi stated.

The Iranian vice-president said that the Zionists' direct involvement in the prevalence of illicit drugs is while "you cannot find a single addict among the Zionists".

I must have missed that part of the Talmud. (Maybe it's in the Yerushalmi.)

But don't call Iranian leaders anti-semitic. He was only talking about the "Zionist" Talmud.

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Report: Al Qaeda recruited Norwegian Muslim to attack West

From AP:

A Norwegian man has received terrorist training from al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen and is awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the West, officials from three European security agencies told The Associated Press on Monday.

Western intelligence officials have long feared such a scenario — a convert to Islam who is trained in terrorist methods and can blend in easily in Europe and the United States, traveling without visa restrictions.

Officials from three European security agencies confirmed Monday the man is "operational," meaning he has completed his training and is about to receive a target. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly. They declined to name the man, who has not been accused of a crime.

"We believe he is operational and he is probably about to get his target," one security official said. "And that target is probably in the West."

A security official in a second European country confirmed the information, adding: "From what I understand, a specific target has not been established."

European security services, including in Norway, have warned in recent years of homegrown, radicalized Muslims traveling to terror training camps in conflict zones. Many of the known cases involve young men with family roots in Muslim countries.

But the latest case involves a man in his 30s with no immigrant background, the officials said. After converting to Islam in 2008, he quickly became radicalized and traveled to Yemen to receive terror training, one of the officials said. The man spent "some months" in Yemen and is still believed to be there, he said.

The official said the man has no criminal record, which would also make him an ideal recruit for al-Qaida.

"Not even a parking ticket," he said. "He's completely clean and he can travel anywhere."

The official would not specify what preventive measures were being taken but said "there is a well-established relationship between Western security services, and they share the information needed to prevent terrorism."

The officials declined to specify what makes them think the man is operational.

The man has not been accused of a crime in Norway, where traveling abroad to attend terror training camps is not a crime per se. In many European countries, suspects are not named unless they have been formally charged with a crime.

Yemeni military officials said they had information on Europeans training with al-Qaida in the southern part of the country but that they weren't aware of a Norwegian being among them. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

CIA and FBI officials in the U.S. declined to comment on the AP report.

(h/t Yoel)

Another peaceful "truce" rocket

From YNet this morning:

The Color Red alert sounded in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. A projectile landing site was found shortly afterwards.

No injuries were reported, but a henhouse in one of the council's kibbutzim sustained some damage.

Meanwhile:

Israel has lodged another complaint with the UN Security Council, condemning the rocket barrages fired recently on the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, wrote in the letter that a million civilians are under risk of being hurt in the attacks, and warned that the Security Council's inaction could exacerbate the conflict.

Who can be against a complaint to the Security Council against terrorist rocket fire targeting a million civilians?

Why, Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, of course!

Spokesman for the Fatah movement Dr. Fayez Abu Eita said in a press statement issued by the Office of Information and Culture on Tuesday, 'This complaint is the second official complaint made yesterday by the Government of Israel to the Security Council on the continued firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip, [but] it is only to throw dust in the eyes and mislead world public opinion, to cover up its ugly crimes against our people and our cause.'

Once upon a time, the Fatah-dominated PA would issue automatic (and quite insincere) condemnations of terror attacks. Now they make quite clear what side they have been on the entire time.

Anti-Israel LA billboard campaign fails- because the haters screwed up

From the virulently anti-Israel Mondoweiss site, June 13:

Exciting news. The Coalition to Stop 30 Billion to Israel has put up 23 billboards across Los Angeles in an awareness initiative to stop military aid to Israel.

...The billboard company for Stop30Billion's LA initiative is CBS Outdoor, the outdoor advertising division of media conglomerate CBS Corporation.

Due to the tremendous pressure CBS Outdoor will undoubtedly encounter in the days and weeks ahead, Stop30Billion and its partner the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation have asked us to sign a petition to thank CBS Outdoor.

But only one week into the hate campaign, CBS Outdoor took the billboards down:

That win fell apart just one week later when the billboard company--CBS Outdoor, a subsidiary of CBS Corporation-- took all our billboards down.

They sent a curt email telling us they were canceling our contract and refunding our money because "your organization has used the ‘CBS Outdoor’ name without permission" in email messages and in our petition thanking CBS for putting up the billboards in the first place.

Needless to say, this was a punch in the stomach.

In other words, the hate crowd tried to make it sound like CBS supported their message, and overstepped.

StandWithUs has more - and they are going to put up their own pro-Israel billboards in Los Angeles in the same locations.

Open the pod bay thread, Hal.

I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.

Links!

From Ian:

Karma news - Anti-Israel BDSers “The Co-Op” caught out desecrating the dead.
Families horror as its revealed Co-op funeral firm piled naked bodies up in grim warehouse morgue

Channel 4 Dispatches programme shows casket lid was removed to cram four bodies into a van which left elderly woman's nose nearly touching roof
Horrific moment when the wrong body is discovered at a funeral and family wait 30 minutes for the right coffin to be found
Undercover programme also reveals that if a family member requests to see their relatives again bodies are quickly returned to the funeral home
Last year firm handled 100,000 funerals and made £51million profit

The media’s despicable silence on Israel

"The world’s media constantly blasts and attacks Israel. A simple monitoring of the media over the last few days shows a deafening silence on issues – and there’s no explanation other than media bias against Israel:
In the last week, there have been 150 rockets fired into Israel, and it’s far from major news. It’s a non-issue for the Western media – damage to a school and factory on Saturday. It will become news when Israel responds and kills some terrorist(s), and world headlines will speak of “tit for tat violence.” No, in reality it’s a sane democratic country defending herself from terrorism."

Should Israel Exist? A Sovereign Nation under Attack by the International Community

PA TV glorifies Palestinian terrorists who killed over 100 civilians in video by Palestinian national band

“Palestinian Authority TV has twice broadcast a music video honoring terrorist prisoners, including Ibrahim Hamed, serving 45 life sentences for orchestrating suicide bombings at Hebrew University (9 killed), Cafe Moment (12 killed), Cafe Hillel (7 killed), and Abbas Al-Sayid, serving 35 life sentences for planning the suicide bombing at the Jewish Passover Seder in Netanya (30 killed), and others.”

Congressman Allen West calls upon Obama to cut off U.S. aid to Egypt and repudiate Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian cleric launching Pres. Morsi’s campaign promised new Arab empire with Jerusalem as capital

Malaysia to extradite Iranian suspected of attempted attack on Israeli targets

Australian-Israeli Venture Turns Emissions Into Fuel With Solar Energy

An Israeli-Australian venture aims to use concentrated solar power technology to turn carbon emissions from coal fired power generators in Victoria into fuel.

Egyptian beats pregnant wife to death for not voting for Morsi

From Al Arabiya:

An Egyptian plumber in Alexandria beat his pregnant wife to death upon learning that she had not voted for Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Mursi, reported the Egyptian daily al-Wafd on Sunday.

According to police reports, the initial argument between the couple who was not named escalated into violence, despite her pleas. Battered and bruised, she was reported to have died at the hospital from injuries sustained.

Syrian army officers defecting in larger numbers

From Al Arabiya:

A Syrian general, two colonels, two majors, one lieutenant and 33 soldiers have defected from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and arrived in Turkey, Turkish state television said on Monday, without giving any further details.

The private news channel CNN Turk also reported the defections of the soldiers, but said they had arrived with members of their families, making a total of 224 individuals.

On Sunday, three additional Syrian military pilots have defected to Jordan, according to Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Amman.

“The three pilots have entered Jordan in an illegal way and they are currently held by the Jordanian security authorities who are taking them through the regular routine procedures” said Al Arabiya’s Ghassan Abu Louz quoting sources within Syrian opposition.

One of the three pilots was a Lieutenant Colonel who managed to bring in his family to Jordan today as well, according to the correspondent. The other two pilots were both colonels and were believed to have also brought in their families from Syria, he said.

Four other Syrian military officials have entered Jordan since last Thursday following the defection of the colonel Hassan Marei Hamada who landed his Meg21 plane inside the Hashemite Kingdom.

Syria's SANA news agency is silent about these reports.

Outrageous: AP turns terrorists into "art"

Un-effing-believable. From The Daily Star/Lebanon:

Seven Palestinians gathered in a home in the West Bank village of Bilin and displayed their improvised weapons of protest as AP photographer Oded Balilty snapped their portraits against a black backdrop. The images provide a rare look at the Palestinian stone throwers normally seen in the streets in action against Israeli soldiers.

Do you think any of these "protesters" also throw stones at cars and buses? Have any of them hurled boulders through the windshield of a moving vehicle? Maybe a Molotov cocktail or three?

It's bad enough that wire services stage photos and pretend that they are news. But this takes it to another level - it is at attempt to elevate terrorism into art under the thin guise that it is news. It is romanticizing terror.

A "rare look"? Do these loving portraits illuminate anything about stone throwers that we didn't already know?

Yes, they do. They teach us that AP is a disgusting organization.

And the sick part is, you just know at the end of the year these portraits will win awards from various "progressive" publications, and will be hanging in galleries in Europe.

The photographer is an Israeli who lives in Tel Aviv and has already won a Pulitzer.

List of Gaza rockets that fell short as of last Thursday

PCHR put out a press release about Gaza rockets that fell short and injured or killed people and property last Thursday. (Interestingly, they buried the release - it was never linked to from their front page, unlike all their other press releases.)

According to investigations conducted by PCHR and testimony from eyewitnesses, at approximately 07:30 on Tuesday, 19 June 2012, Hadeel Ahmed Sa'eed al-Haddad (1.5) was struck in the head by shrapnel while she was standing in the entrance of the house of her grandfather, Sa'eed Mohammed al-Haddad, in al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City, when a home-made rocket landed on their house. Hadeel was transported to al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City to receive necessary medical treatment, but later transferred to Shifa Hospital due to the seriousness of her injuries. The efforts made by her doctors failed to save her life. In addition, in the same incident, Hadeel's cousin, Zaqariya Mohammed Sa'eed al-Haddad (9), was also struck in the head by shrapnel. As a result, he was transported to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where medical sources have described his injuries as moderate.

The spokesman of the Palestinian Police, Chief Ra'ed al-Batniji,confirmed with PCHR's fieldworker that Hadeel died as a result of being hit in the head with shrapnel from a home-made rocket that landed on her grandfather's house. Al-Batniji added that the police had headed to the scene and initiated investigations.

Keep in mind that the official Gaza emergency medical services spokesman insisted that she was killed in an Israeli airstrike, and this news was never reported in Arabic media.

In Beit Hanoun, at approximately 22:35 on Wednesday, 20 June 2012, a home-made rocket landed on an under-construction house belonging to Mohammed AkramShabat(24). As a result, part of a wall inside the house was destroyed, though no injuries were reported.

In Deir al-Balah, at approximately 08:00 on Wednesday, 20 June 2012, a home-made rocket exploded in the vicinity of land belonging to Abu Khattab family on Salah al-Deen Street, south of Deir al-Balah. As a result of the explosion, Yahia Mohammed Abu Khattab’s(16)left shoulder was wounded by shrapnel, and he was transported by a PRCS's ambulance to al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in Deir al-Balah where he received necessary medical treatment. He only suffered from minor wounds.

In Rafah, at approximately 20:30 on Tuesday, 19 June 2012, a home-made rocket landed on the house of Suleiman Abed Rabbu Abu Shabab, in al-Nasser village, southwest of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. As a result, the house sustained damage and its 15 residents were terrified. The Palestinian police said to PCHR's fieldworker that they immediately moved into the area, where the Explosives Engineering Unit collected the remnants of the rocket.

Previously, at approximately 21:50 on Monday, 18 June 2012, a home-made rocket landed on the house of 'AzzamYusefHamad on al-Qurman Street, east of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. As a result, 3 of Hamad's children were wounded: Bara'a(12) sustained wounds and bruises in the left arm and leg; and Jannat and May, (both 3) sustained bruises throughout their bodies. Additionally, the western side of the house, windows and water network were damaged.

PCHR has not yet discussed the child killed on Saturday, apparently from terrorist explosives.

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights ignored the deaths and injuries from terrorist rockets completely.

(h/t liad122000)