Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, July 09, 2012

Monday links

From Ian:

IDF Blog: The Gaza You’ve Never Seen

PA TV: Suicide bombers who killed 19 civilians on buses are "more honored than all of us"
Suicide bombers are a "candle that lights the tunnel of liberty"

Who Is Being "Intransigent"? by Michael Curtis

“The Israeli cabinet also agreed that east Jerusalem would not be returned to Jordan, which had ruled it; that Egypt had no greater claim to Gaza than Israel has, and that Jordan had no greater claim to the West Bank than Israel has, as all three countries had acquired the areas through war.”
“The Israeli documents just released also show among Israeli leaders a startling readiness to compromise, which contrasts with the total disinclination of Arabs and Palestinians to compromise. The documents show clearly that, while there were acute differences among the Israelis about the fate of the territories captured in 1967, almost all Israelis were eager to trade land for peace.”

Guess Who's Helping Assad Get Away With Murder? by Claire Berlinski

Ever wonder why the world's so screwed up? It's because people like Mike Holtzman, who think it's a fine idea to advise clients like Bashar al Assad, are literally the ones running our government.

Syria: UN's Newest Champion of Human Rights by Arsen Ostrovsky

Syria is now running for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The U.S. caved in to the demands of Syria's allies, who also abuse human rights.

An Anti Israel propagandist get owned by a Caterpillar Rep. on HuffPo!
Robert Naiman is Humiliated

“Well isn't that interesting. Caterpillar does not in fact sell bulldozers to the Israeli military, the US government is a middleman. No doubt this would annoy some people but the fact is that Caterpillar does not "do business" directly with Israel (though they do with the Palestinian Authority dictatorship).”

Palestine, Peoplehood and Presbyterians by David Singer

“The attempt by the Palestinian Arabs to create a second state – in addition to Jordan – reached the hallowed halls of the two million members of the Presbyterian Church in America this week…writes David Singer.”

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood leader: Israelis are rapists of Jerusalem

Israelis are "rapists" and it is a necessity for every Muslim to save Jerusalem from their clutches, Muhammad Badi is reported to have said last Thursday • Iran’s Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani: Time has come for the disappearance of the West and the Zionist regime.

Contradicting Abbas, Hamas says it still believes in ‘armed resistance’ against Israel

“Spokesman acknowledges deal with PA chief giving ‘precedence to popular resistance’ within the West Bank”

Thumbing a nose at BDS campaigns, London conference courts Israeli start-ups
EU, Israel sign joint research agreement

Also, an important story from JPost: German firms still ship dual-use goods to Iran

Germany’s multi-billion euro bilateral trade relationship with Iran continues unabated, even as evidence mounts that the Islamic Republic is determined to build a nuclear weapons capability.

The Jerusalem Post has obtained an uncensored list from late 2011, showing hundreds of German and Iranian enterprises in a flourishing trade relationship.

This is despite Iran’s construction of Fordow, a medium-level uranium enrichment facility buried into the side of a mountain near Qom, and the fact that the German equipment could be used to build more underground nuclear facilities.

And Rabbi Avi Shafran's funny Open Letter to Rahimi about that Zionist drug trade:

As it states clearly in Baba Maiseh 1b: “Any Jew who causes a non-Jew to become addicted to an illegal substance is praiseworthy! Adds Rabbi Narish, ‘he can deduct the expenses from his federal income tax.’ Say the Rabbis: Invest not in nursing homes but in rehab centers, so that thou may prosper.”

While our people in Mexico and Afghanistan have been busy harvesting coca and poppies, you, esteemed vice president, in your enlightenment and sobriety, have personally shunned all narcotics (though perhaps not psychedelic medicines); and the great Islamic Republic of Iran fights tirelessly against our efforts to addle the minds of the masses with our Jewish chemicals, kiddush clubs, and cholent.

Abbas refuses Israeli prisoner release, saying all or nothing

Everyone keeps saying that time is running out on chances for a Palestinian Arab state, but Abbas sure acts like time is on his side.

From Ma'an:

Palestinian Authority Prisoners Minister Issa Qaraqe said Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas refused an Israeli offer for the staged release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for returning to peace talks.

Abbas insists that all 123 prisoners held since before the 1994 Oslo agreement be freed in a single release, Qaraqe said.

Israeli daily Haaretz reported earlier Monday that Israel offered to release some 25 Palestinian prisoners convicted of the murder of Israelis, followed by another 100 prisoners by the end of the year.

Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu would authorize the gesture during or after a direct meeting with Abbas, not before, the report said.

Netanyahu's spokesman Ofer Gendelman denied the report of the prisoners offer.

Whether Netanyahu made the offer or not is besides the point. The point is that Abbas feels confident enough to tell his people that he refuses to allow some prisoners to be released unless his maximal demands are met up front.

And the cost to Abbas is nil - the talks would end like other talks ended, with Abbas refusing to negotiate and only agreeing to hold talks to make the West and the Quartet happy. But he would have lots of photo-ops with the released murderers that the PA will honor with parades.

Well, to be fair, his secular citizens might stone him to death for talking with Zionists. Abbas must find it most convenient that he can rely on a new "right wing" that he can now blame for his reticence to talk to Israel.

And there is no "left wing." No "moderates." No "peace activists."

Yet the West still expects a peace agreement.

Iran promises not to send athletes against Israelis in London. Will the IOC sanction them?

From YNet, June 14:

Refusing to compete against a fellow athlete at the London Games because of nationality or religion would be a "serious breach" of the Olympic code of ethics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last week.

The IOC said athletes and teams should "stay at home" if they are not prepared to compete without discrimination.

"Refusing to participate in an Olympic event because of a fellow athlete/team’s religion or nationality, would not only be unsporting behavior but a serious breach of the IOC’s code of ethics, the principles of the Olympic Charter and the athletes oath," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said in a statement.

Iran was criticized after some of its athletes withdrew from events against Israelis at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"If an athlete/team is unable to come to the games in spirit of friendship and fair play, then they should stay at home," Moreau said. "There can be no discrimination for any reason between participants at the Olympic Games."

The Guardian added:

[Head of the International Olympic Committee] Rogge said that all 200-plus nations that will be represented in London had been warned that only serious injury would be accepted as an excuse for not competing, and that sanctions would be taken against any athlete who pulled out of a competition for other reasons. Suspicious withdrawals will be examined by a panel of medical experts.

"We have just told all the national Olympic committees that we expect all the athletes to respect the schedule of competition and not to pull out without a good reason for competition against an athlete of another country," he told the Guardian.

"If nation A does not appear at the competition against nation B we will ask for explanations. If the explanation is not satisfactory and valid at the end of it and is not credible then we will go into cross-examination by an independent medical board. And if the medical board says it is not a genuine reason then sanctions will be taken. That is quite clear."

What about when Nation A announces in advance that it refuses to compete against Nation B? Is it then necessary to go through a farce of "medical tests"?

Because Iran announced exactly that:

Iranian athletes to boycott Zionists also in London Olympics

IRI sports minister said Iranian athletes will just as always refrain from competing against Zionist regime’s representatives if in drawing lots they would have to do so, as Iranians do not recognize legitimacy of forged Zionist regime.

Islamic Republic of Iran Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mohammad Abbasi made the comment on the sideline of attending a practice session of the Iranian National Wrestling Teams in an interview with an IRNA Sports Desk reporter.

He added in response to IRNA, “Not competing with the Zionist athletes is one of the values and prides of the Iranian athletes and nation.”

On possibility of deprivation of the Iranian athletes from gaining their deserved medals if they would refrain from competing against Zionist regime representatives, he said, “God willing such a thing will not happen, but if it does we would definitely find a way to solve the problem.”

So has the IOC said anything since this direct promise to break IOC rules by Iran that was pledged over two weeks ago?

Not as far as I can tell.

Jordanian official calls Jewish refugees from Arab countries "fabrications"

Jordan's Addustour quotes Jordan's Director General of the Department of Palestinian Affairs, Eng Mahmoud Aqrabawi, about Israel.

He hurled the usual bizarre accusations of Israel "Judaizing" Jerusalem and denying its "historic Arab and Muslim character."

He also praised Jordan's historic role in preserving the holy places of Jerusalem, which is all well and good until you realize that Jordan destroyed scores of synagogues and a large part of the most important ancient Jewish cemetery in the 19 short years they administered the Old City and surrounding areas.

But he really went off the deep end when he said that Israel is "fabricating" the issue of "so-called Jewish refugees from Arab countries."

If no Jews were forced out of Arab countries in the 1940s through 1960s, I guess they must all have been indigenous to Israel, right?

American University of Beirut denies "Zionist agenda"

A couple of weeks ago, the American University of Beirut gave an honorary doctorate to Donna Shalala, former US Secretary of Health, and she was heckled during her address for being a "Zionist."

The criticism of the university continues, forcing the president of AUB to deny that terrible accusation that the university itself is - gasp! - Zionist.

From The Daily Star (Lebanon):

The president of the American University of Beirut has denied that the institution has a Zionist agenda after recent such accusations have been leveled at the school. In an email to AUB alumni, students and staff, Peter Dorman also defended the recent decision to award an honorary degree to Donna Shalala, an event which provoked the latest round of criticism, without naming her specifically.

However, he also stated that the university’s Board of Trustees has asked him to “review the process of vetting candidates for honorary degrees,” without elaborating.

The decision to honor Shalala, president of the University of Miami, was criticized before the June 22 ceremony in an open letter entitled, “Can AUB find only those Complicit with Zionism to Honor?” signed by faculty and staff members, due to her support for engagement with Israel. Shalala also has honorary degrees from three Israeli universities.

“This administration at AUB has no normalization or Zionist agenda of any kind. Those who make that claim or imply it are simply wrong on the facts,” Dorman writes in the email.

In his email, Dorman stressed that “AUB has always respected and complied with the laws of Lebanon, and always will, particularly the laws prohibiting the normalization of any kind of relations with Israel.”

With regard specifically to the Palestine Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel campaign, Dorman wrote that, “I defend the right of those who take such a position; it is a principled stance, and one that many feel passionate about.”

However, Dorman denied that this can be applied at a university level. “Yet institutional decisions cannot be subordinated to an absolute litmus test imposed by the demands of outside groups,” he added.

Had AUB joined the campaign, he wrote, the university would not have been able to honor writer Edward Said in 2003 due to his sponsorship of a Palestinian-Israeli youth orchestra.

Of being born in Lebanon, in 1948, the year the state of Israel was created, the AUB president wrote, “like so many of you, I have never lived in the world without the dreadful specter of Palestinian dispossession and an expanding Israeli settlement agenda, which are deeply immoral and ultimately, in my view, self-destructive.”

I don't know; his denial seems a bit too subtle for the haters. It will be interesting to see the response of the enlightened university faculty who were up in arms over an Arab American honoree who actually supports a two-state solution.

A shrine to the 1930's terrorist Izz al Din al-Qassam - in Haifa

A few months ago, Arabic media reported with their usual lack of accuracy that Israel demolished the grave of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Syrian-born 1930's terrorist whose name is used by Hamas for its terrorist wing and its terror rockets.

The articles claimed that the grave was destroyed to make way for a rail line.

That bogus story is forgotten now, but hundreds of volunteers from the Islamist movement in Israel have just refurbished Qassam's gravesite along with other Islamist sites around Haifa this weekend.

While it is admirable for Israel to give maximum rights to Muslim citizens of Israel, it is outrageous that the Islamist movement that explicitly seeks to destroy Israel is given free rein to build monuments to terror within Israel itself.

This grave should be properly moved to Gaza City. And those who object can feel free to move there as well.

Abbas eagerly accepts Ahmadinejad invitation

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted an invitation from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend a summit of non-aligned countries in the Iranian capital next month, official Palestinian media said Sunday.

Abbas receiving invitation from Iran's FM in Amman

Iranian Foreign Ministry official Hussain Amir Abdullah Yan delivered the invitation to Abbas at a meeting in Amman on Sunday, PA news agency Wafa reported.

The non-aligned movement, which presents itself as independent of any world power bloc, is meeting in Tehran on August 30 and 31.

According to Wafa, Abbas sent his greetings to Ahmadinejad and pledged to attend the summit.

Iran also invited other nations to the summit - but most of them have not publicly accepted, let alone accepted immediately.

Iran invited Jordan at the same time, and while the Jordanian premier said that Jordan was interested in increasing ties with Tehran, the invitation has not yet been formally accepted as far as I can tell.

Iran also extended an invitation to Singapore, which reacted similarly to Jordan.

On Thursday, Tehran invited Egypt's new president Mohemmed Morsi to the conference, and he also has yet to accept.

Cambodia did accept their invitation. The Sultan of Brunei said that his country would participate, but did not say he would attend.

Notably, Iran did not invite Saudi Arabia.

YNet reports that the conference might not even take place because of animosity towards Iran:

The chances that this convention, scheduled for August 30th, will indeed take place is very low.

The Iranians are trying to convene it as the historic forum of the non-aligned states, yet too many states prefer not to align themselves with Iran. For example, there is a dispute between Iran and Gulf states about the very notion of holding the event in Tehran. Yet who rushes to announce that he is traveling? Abbas. Even if the convention is ultimately held, it is doubtful that heads of state will be arriving. There is a chance, if at all, that lower ranking officials will be coming. Yet the Palestinians are already sending their president.

With the very declaration that he will be traveling to the Tehran convention, which may not even be held, Abbas is not only providing ammunition to those who object to talks with the Palestinians; he manages to annoy every ally and body that helps and donates to the Palestinian Authority. The PA receives an economic backwind from Mideastern princes and kings who despise the Iranians and fear them. It enjoys American funds, infrastructure and sympathy, and of course, the support of the Quartet – which includes the Western European states at the heart of the sanctions against Iran. So why is Abbas doing it? Because he is very weak and frustrated.

Abbas' alacrity in accepting the invitation is in marked contrast with most of the non-aligned nations, and he is not making too many friends because of it.

Except in Tehran.

Rumor: PLO official calling to cut PA funding of Gaza

I have noted in the past that some 60% of the PA's budget goes towards Gaza - more than double the per capita spending in the West Bank -while Gaza is a separate entity in virtually every respect. I've also noted that if the PA has a financial crisis it is because it continues to fund infrastructure and idle workers in Gaza, helping Hamas indirectly.

Arabic news reports now say that an unidentified member of the PLO Executive Committee is saying the same thing.

According to the story, the official said that the PA should cut the salaries of its (nonworking) staff of the Gaza Strip and stop providing services. The official allegedly said that the Palestinian Authority funded the "Hamas coup" against it with more than $138 million a month which prolongs Hamas rule in Gaza.

Hamas demolishing homes of pre-1948 Arabs

Really!

The Gaza government on Sunday began the demolition of several homes in Gaza City, saying they are built on government land.

Abu Al-Abed Abu Omra, whose house is threatened with demolition, told Ma'an that police officers arrived late Saturday night and told residents to evacuate their homes in order to facilitate the demolition.

He said that there are more than 120 families living in the 15-dunams area under threat, near Gaza's Al-Azhar University, and they have been there since 1948.

Yes, Arabs who have lived in the same homes for at least 64 years are being threatened with expulsion and their homes destroyed.

These aren't "refugees" - these are "pre-1948" Palestinians whose homes are being demolished by Hamas.

This is too rich.

Will they now be considered "refugees"? Will UNRWA provide aid for them? Will the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions weigh in on this horror, calling it "racist"? Are they being demolished by Caterpillar bulldozers? If a neo-Rachel Corrie would stand in front of a bulldozer, would it stop? Where is the ISM, anyway? Is anyone protesting outside Hamas offices abroad? What about the internationals in Gaza now with the latest Miles of Smiles trip? Does this mean that Hamas recognizes Ottoman and British land laws as far as private ownership goes?

So much irony in such a small news story...

(h/t Arnold)

Fourth Geneva Conventions, Article 49 - the Travaux Préparatoires

There has been much discussion about the intent of the sixth paragraph of the Fourth Geneva Conventions which many claim proves that Israel has violated by allowing citizens to move, voluntarily, to occupied territory.

The entire text of Article 49 states:

Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Nevertheless, the Occupying Power may undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand. Such evacuations may not involve the displacement of protected persons outside the bounds of the occupied territory except when for material reasons it is impossible to avoid such displacement. Persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased.

The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to the greatest practicable extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receive the protected persons, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that members of the same family are not separated.

The Protecting Power shall be informed of any transfers and evacuations as soon as they have taken place.

The Occupying Power shall not detain protected persons in an area particularly exposed to the dangers of war unless the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand.

The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.

The only way to determine whether the last paragraph is referring to forced transfers or to voluntary transfers as well is to read the entire discussion about the article that occurred while the Conventions were being drafted - the Travaux Préparatoires.

These aren't easy to find, but here it every reference to the discussions about the article I could gather.

The draft of the Conventions, written at Stockholm, is a little different, and it was called Article 45 in the draft. While the final paragraph remains identical, the discussions around the entire article must be read.

The Stockholm draft of Article 45 stated:

ARTICLE 45. -Deportations or transfers against their will of protected persons out of occupied territory are prohibited, whether such deportations or transfers are individual or collective, and regardless of their motive.

The occupying Power shall not undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area, unless the security of the population or imperative military consi- derations demand. Such evacuations may not involve displacements outside the bounds of the occupied territory, except in cases of physical necessity.

The occupying Power shall not carry out such transfers and evacuations unless it has ensured proper accommodation to receive the protected persons. Such removals shall be effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, healthfulness, security and nutrition. Members of the same family shall not be separated.

The Protecting Power shall be informed of any proposed transfers and evacuations. It may supervise the preparations and the conditions in which such operations are carried out.

The occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civil population into the territory it occupies.

Here are the Travaux Préparatoires.

I think they make clear that the entire Article is concerned with forced transfer of populations against their wills, and the last paragraph is no exception, even though there was remarkably little discussion specifically about that last paragraph.

From the 16th meeting:

The CHAIRMAN said that four amendments had been submitted to Article 45, viz. by Canada, Greece, Finland, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (see Annex No. 270).

The Canadian Delegation had withdrawn its amendment.

The Greek amendment was to delete the words "against their will" in the first paragraph.

The Finnish amendment only concerned a drafting point, which the Finnish Delegation felt needed no explanation.

Mr. MOROSOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) said that the purpose of the Soviet amendment was merely to define certain points in the Stockholm text, with which his Delegation fully agreed. The insertion of the words "by force" would ensure a formal prohibition of the deplorable practices carried out by certain European countries, where men had been loaded into trucks like cattle, and sent to distant countries to do forced labour.

The Soviet Delegation further proposed deletion of the words "against their will", because in occupied territory no one had the right to express an opinion. There was a risk of abuses arising out of the words "against their will".

It would also be advisable to lay down in the second paragraph that an evacuated population should be transferred back as soon as hostilities ceased in a given area. The Soviet Delegation's view was that it should not be possible to transfer civilians except within occupied territory. It would therefore be desirable to strengthen the prohibition in the first paragraph by adding the words "into the territory of the occupying Power or the territory of any other country" after the words "out of occupied territory".

His Delegation wished mass evacuations to be prevented in future. For those reasons it would perhaps be preferable to say "forcible removals" rather than "deportations by force" as first proposed by the Soviet Delegation.

Mr. SLAMET (Netherlands) agreed with the principles underlying Article 45. In Indonesia, during the last war, numbers of women and children had been transferred to unhealthy climates and forced to build roads, and had died as a result. He would like to see it made clear in the first paragraph that the territory referred to was the national territory inhabited by the protected persons.

Moreover, the third paragraph should also lay down that such persons might provide themselves with money for their journey, and carry with them their luggage and personal effects; the occupying Power would have to provide the necessary means of transport for the transfer or evacuation of such persons and their property.

Mr. MARESCA (Italy) said that in the last war the flower of Italian youth had been sent to Germany in cattle trucks. Such forced transfers must at all events be prohibited in the future. The term "deportation" in the last paragraph of the Article had better not be used, as "deportation" was something quite different.

Mr. CLATTENBURG (United States of America) had read the Soviet amendment with interest. He felt, however, that the words "except in cases of physical necessity" which that amendment wished to delete might be of value in the interest of protected persons. He quoted the case of part of the population of the little island of Wake who had been transferred to Japan. In spite of the bad treatment inflicted, nearly all had survived, whereas the inhabitants left on the island had died as a result either of the fighting or of the brutality of the Japanese field forces.

The CHAIRMAN, before declaring the discussion on Article 45 closed, noted that the Committee was unanimous in condemnation of the abominable practice of deportation. The sole purpose of every speaker had been to strengthen the interdictory provisions of the Article. He suggested that deportations should, in the same way as the taking of hostages, be solemnly prohibited in the Preamble.

He added that only three amendments had been submitted to Articles 46 to 55, two by the Canadian Delegation on Articles 47 and 54, and one by the Finnish Delegation on Article 49. The Canadian and Finnish Delegations had· no comments to offer on their amendments, which only concerned drafting points.

From the 40th meeting:

Colonel Du PASQUIER (Switzerland), Rapporteur, said that the text proposed by the Drafting Committee (see Annex No. 271) set forth a principle on which all the members of that Committee had had no difficulty in agreeing, namely, the need to prohibit, once and for all, the abominable transfers of population which had taken place during the last war. The procedure for giving effect to that prohibition had, however, been difficult to determine.

In the first paragraph, as the result of a proposal by the Soviet Delegation (see Summary Record at the Sixteenth Meeting), the words "against their will", which occurred in the Stockholm text, had been omitted. The Drafting Committee had considered that they were valueless in view of the pressure which could be brought to bear on internees. The words "to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not", took account of a Soviet amendment (see Summary Record ot the Sixteenth Meeting), and of a Netherlands amendment. The reservation contained in the second paragraph ("Nevertheless...") took account of a suggestion made by the Delegate of Finland (see Summary Record of the Sixteenth Meeting).

A United Kingdom amendment to the third paragraph, which involved the insertion of the words "to the greatest practicable extent" after the word "ensure", had been rejected by 3 votes to 3. The fourth paragraph took into account the impossibility of the Protecting Power being informed in advance of any transfers and' evacuations (in the light of the necessity for secrecy in regard to military operations). The new fifth paragraph included part of the subject matter dealt with in Article 24 of the Stockholm text (see Summary Record at the Twenty-Ninth Meeting).

The sixth paragraph was identical with the fifth paragraph of the Stockholm text.

Mr. PASHKOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) wished the Article to prohibit not only forced transfers but also the transfer of workers in the service of belligerents. It would be sufficient for that purpose to add the words "any other transfer" in the first paragraph after the words "as well as". The Soviet Delegation was prepared provisionally to accept the words "les transferts forces, en masse ou individuels" (individual or mass forced transfers) in the French text, in place of the phrase "rapts ou transferts" which they had proposed; but in the English text they wished the words "forcible removals" to be included in the wording adopted. Again, they maintained their proposal to omit the words "except in cases of physical necessity" from the second paragraph. Finally, his Delegation objected to the provision, in the fifth paragraph, under which protected persons could be detained in dangerous areas. He proposed a return to the wording used in Article 24 of the Stockholm text.

Mr. CLATTENBURG (United States of America) believed that the addition (suggested by the Soviet Delegation) of the words "any other transfer" would have hampered the evacuation of the religious and political minorities which the Allies, on entering Germany; had discovered in labour and concentration camps. As regards the proposed suppression of the words "except in cases of physical necessity", there were cases where, owing to the limited size of the territory, it was physically impossible to evacuate the population otherwise than to places outside the occupied territory. That was the case, for example, in the islands of Wake and Guam, where the whole of the territory could be considered as dangerous.

Mr. BAGGE (Denmark) said that the fifth paragraph had arisen out of a proposal by the Danish Delegation which wished to avoid a repetition of the disastrous consequences of the mass flight of civilians on roads exposed to bombardment. He hoped that the Committee would adopt the Article as it stood.

Mr. DAY (United Kingdom) proposed an alternative wording for the third paragraph. The proposed wording which had been agreed to by a minority of the Drafting Committee (Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom), read as follows:

"The Occupying Power undertaking such transfers or evacuations shall ensure, to the greatest possible extent, that proper accommodation is provided to receive the protected persons, that the removals are effected in satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, security and nutrition, and that members of the same family are not separated."

The above wording provided, everything considered, a better safeguard for the population of towns menaced with destruction. If accommodation had to be provided in advance for the population of such towns, it was almost certain that the evacuation would never take place.

Mr. MOROSOV (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) felt that the amendment proposed by his Delegation had not been fully understood by the Delegate of the United States of America. If it was desired to avoid mass transfers of the population, such as had taken place during the last war, the Soviet amendment should be supported.

Mr. WERSHOF (Canada), like the Delegate of the United States of America, opposed the Soviet amendment for the insertion of the words "any other transfer" in the first paragraph. Such an addition might interfere with the liberation of workers or deportees.

The CHAIRMAN declared the discussion closed and put the amendments to Article 45 to the vote.

The Soviet amendment for the insertion of the words "any other transfer" after the words "as well as" in the first paragraph, was rejected by 22 votes to 7.

The Soviet amendment proposing the omission of the words "except in cases of physical necessity" in the second paragraph, ,vas rejected by 16 votes to 9.

The wording proposed for the third' paragraph by the minority of the Drafting Committee (Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom), was rejected by 14 votes to 13.

The Soviet amendment proposing that the fifth paragraph should be replaced by the Stockholm text of Article 24, was rejected by IS votes to 1O. The subsidiary amendment submitted by the Soviet Union Delegation, proposing the omission of the words "unless the security of the population or imperative military reasons so demand" at the end of the fifth paragraph, was rejected by 17 votes to 9.

The whole of Article 45, as proposed by the Drafting Committee, was adopted.

From the final report summarizing the proceedings:

Article 45
Although there was general unanimity in condemning such deportations as took place during the recent war, the phrase at the beginning of Article 45 caused some trouble in view of the difficulty in reconciling exactly the ideas expressed with the various terms in French, English and Russian. In the end the Committee have decided on a wording which prohibits individual or mass forcible removals as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to any other country, but which permits voluntary transfers. [I know this is not the same paragraph, but still...]

The second paragraph deals with the problem of evacuations made necessary in the interest of the security of the civilian population, or for imperative military considerations. In principle, these evacuations take place only within an occupied territory which distinguishes them from the transfers envisaged in the first paragraph. Never~ theless, when it is physically impossible to retain evacuees in such territory, for example, if the latter is an island of limited size, they may be evacuated to another territory. This special case constitutes an exception to the first paragraph. A new provision has been added to the effect that persons thus evacuated shall be transferred back to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area in question have ceased. ..

The third paragraph is unchanged from the Stockholm text, although considerable doubt has been expressed as to whether the wording employed is in the best interest of the protected persons concerned.

The fourth paragraph has been altered because discussion showed that for reasons of military security it was impossible to inform the Protecting Power in advance of proposed transfers and evacuations; the Committee, therefore, confined itself to imposing on the Occupying Power the obligation to lodge the necessary information as soon as the transfer or evacuation had taken place.

The fifth paragraph derives from Article 24: the latter provided that no protected person could be sent to, or retained in areas which are particularly exposed. Discussion showed that the problem was more complex than it seemed at first sight; in fact, it could happen-and it frequently did happen during the war-that the population of a district, believing their homes threatened, might leave them so as to escape the danger. Such persons, however, are often more exposed to danger on the roads or in the battle zone than if they stay at home. It is also necessary to take into account, in addition to the principle of freedom of movement, the restrictions demanded by the security of the population or imperative military considerations such as the need to keep the roads open. A qualification to this effect has been included in the paragraph.

Finally, the sixth paragraph consists of the fifth paragraph of the Stockholm text.

All of the discussions of that article assumed that the entire article dealt only with forced population transfer. The final paragraph would be very out of place if it alone included voluntary transfer on the part of a population, after five paragraphs that are clearly about forced transfers, deportations and evacuations all actively done by the occupying power.

Bir Zeit U essentially punishes professor for "insulting Islam"

From Inside Higher Education:

Birzeit University occupies an important place in Palestinian history. The oldest Palestinian university, it grew out of an elementary school for girls created in 1924, when schooling was rare for Palestinian children. It became a college in 1942 and a university in 1975. Birzeit has been the site of numerous protests and clashes with Israeli authorities, who shut down the university frequently and for lengthy periods in the 1980s. "The university is guided by the principle of academic freedom and upholds independence of thought, freedom of discussion, and unimpeded circulation of ideas. Ironically, these principles made the Birzeit University community a target of harassment under the Israeli military occupation," says a history of Birzeit on its website.

Now the university is facing questions about whether it has abandoned those principles in failing to defend a professor who is a target not of Israelis, but of the university's Islamist students.

Musa Budeiri might seem an unlikely target. He has taught at Birzeit for 19 years, published extensively on Palestinian nationalism, and devoted his career to the university through periods when it was very difficult to work there. But he got into trouble with campus Islamists because of a habit he shares with academics in many countries: He posts political cartoons on his office door.

In an e-mail interview, Budeiri said that "since the outbreak of the Arab revolutions I have been in the habit of picking out cartoons from newspapers or the Internet illustrating and commenting on what is happening, and sticking them on my office door." Budeiri has taught cultural studies at the university, so he said he wants students thinking about a range of ideas that are in play online and in print. "I thought this would help provoke and stimulate discussion among students," he said.

He said that the controversy started at the end of the academic year, when he had five cartoons on his door, some of which offended Islamist students.

"The cartoons in question are a couple of pages from Superman comics," he explained. "A blogger from the Emirates had taken a few pages from the comics, added a beard to Superman and declared him Islamic Superman, and posted on the Internet. He also erased the English blurb and inserted words of his own in Arabic. In the first, Superman is lying in bed with a woman and she asks him if he is going to marry her, he responds by saying that on the planet Krypton, they are 'not allowed to take a fifth wife.'

"The second is a scene with Superman and Batman. Superman is reading a fatwa condemning Batman to death for being dressed in women's garb, which according to Superman is not allowed in Islam according to the ruling of some ancient authority; Batman is protesting that he is a Shiite and that the ruling only applies to Sunnis.

...The turmoil started when a group of students distributed a leaflet on campus saying that the cartoons were "an insult to Islam," and that he should be punished and should apologize for posting them, Budeiri said. A Facebook page denouncing him (which was recently removed from Facebook) followed, as did protests. According to Budeiri, the university then removed the cartoons from his door, and sent three vice presidents to ask him to issue an apology. He agreed to issue an explanation, but not to apologize.

At that point, the university issued a statement that said Budeiri did not intend to offend Muslims. While the university criticized attacks on anyone for expressing their views, Budeiri said that no action was taken against the students who threatened him. Student protesters also reported having been told that Budeiri would not be returning to the university, he said, and so considered that a victory. He said that various university officials have continued to ask him to apologize and/or take a leave and go abroad for a semester.

While Budeiri said that the university never informed him that he wouldn't be teaching again, he said that even though he has asked for a contract for the next academic year, he has had "no response." The academic year at Birzeit starts next month.

There's lots more, but the upshot is that the university is trampling over the professor's rights while coddling Islamists who are threatening him.

By the way, the article misunderstands Bir Zeit's history. Even though it links to the history page of the university, it did not become a "college" in 1942, as IHE says, but it became a high school which were often called colleges then. It only became a four year college in 1975 - under Israeli rule.

There were, in fact, no universities in the West Bank under Jordanian rule.

(h/t D)

Sunday Links

From Ian:

UNWatch: Iran elected to top post at UN Arms Trade Treaty conference

“Right after a UN Security Council report found Iran guilty of illegally transferring guns and bombs to Syria, which is now murdering thousands of its own people, it defies logic, morality and common sense for the UN to now elect this same regime to a global post in the regulation of arms transfers,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental monitoring group based in Geneva.

EU security organization rejects PA membership
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe denies request for observers status, J'lem praises rejection.

“Twenty-eight countries voted against the Palestinian request and 21 voted in favor of accepting the application, according to the report.”

Gaza Mythbusting: It’s Easier Than You Think

“Several days ago I stumbled upon an Arab website advertising fashionable recreational tours to the Gaza Strip. Yeah, I am not on any medication and I am talking about the very same Gaza which is referred to by the Palestinians as “the greatest concentration camp on the face of the Earth” (с). “The Ghetto of Palestinian suffering” (c) and “The Auschwitz of our Times” (c).”

AJ Correspondent caught in gunfire in Libya

Al Jazeera correspondent Hoda Abdel Hamid was caught in gunfire outside a polling station in Benghazi while part way through a live cross with SBS on Saturday.

Honest Reporting Sunday Times Republishes Doctored Iranian Fauxtograph

CIFWatch: The Guardian’s Giles Fraser, and the Palestinian ‘weapon of the womb’

Jordanian MP who brandished a gun on live TV may face attempted murder charge

A triple threat: NYC: Ex-Muslim to be ordained as rabbi
Dario Hunter, born to Iranian Muslim father and African-American mother to graduate online rabbinical program in the summer

“According to various reports in the NYC media, Hunter, an openly gay man raised by an Iranian Muslim father and an African-American mother, will graduate alongside classmates who include a Catholic-born Brazilian and a British songwriter.”

Fayyad again begs Arabs to pay their pledges to the PA

From AP:

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is urging Arab countries to keep their promises and send tens of millions of dollars to his cash-strapped government.

The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has always relied on foreign aid but is now embroiled in its worst cash crisis in years, unable to pay tens of thousands of government employees.

Fayyad needs $1 billion to close the 2012 spending gap, but previous heavy borrowing means he can no longer turn to banks. Unlike Arab states, Western donors have mostly made good on pledges.

Fayyad on Sunday called on ‘‘donors, particularly the Arab brothers,’’ to send the promised money.

Arab donors have linked aid to ending the political rift that created rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza. Attempts to end the rift have failed.

There is a simple way for the PA to save tens of millions of dollars, but it would involve having the PA stop supporting terror groups and terrorists, both directly and indirectly. They have to stop paying terrorists in Israeli prisons, families of "martyrs," and, most of all, the 60% of its budget that goes to Gaza where Hamas can thrive on PA cash without any PA responsibility.

And no Western donor has the guts to tell them to do that.

Long term, the PA - with its well-educated population - should have been pushing a program where Palestinian Arabs could be used for remote outsourcing work in the vast Arab world. Computer programming, tech support, call centers, legal services, translation services, research, consulting, film-making - the list of such jobs is endless and the PA has had nearly two decades to build such an infrastructure to reduce reliance on foreign aid. But it never bothered, instead basking in bizarre World Bank reports praising the PA for doing so much and blaming Israel for everything wrong.

(h/t CHA)

Malaysia's "Obedient Wives Holy Islamic Sex Booklet"

From Bikya Masr:

Despite having the last sex guide banned by the Malaysia government, the “Obedient Wives Club” has launched a new guide detailing how to “please your husband.”

Titled “The Holy Spirit and Holy Islamic Sex Booklet” the aim for the OWC is promote wives’ indulging in better sex in order to keep their husbands from “straying” in their marriage.

The previous booklet launched by the women’s group, “Holy Islamic Sex” was banned by the government.

The Obedient Wives Club advocate subservience to their husbands and have published a book calling for women to have sex with their husbands whenever they demand.

The previos book, was in Malay, but not available at local stores in the country due to the ban.

Many say it is read by hundreds of members of the club, a small Malaysian sect that also practices and advocates polygamy.

“I am very disturbed by this kind of book, but I don’t think the government should be banning it because that only makes it more popular,” said Tina Rinbala, a Kuala Lumpur-based researcher of women’s issues. She told Bikyamasr.com that the publication is “horrific and tells women they are lesser beings, which we should fight through education, not banning.”

Although the first volume contained no explicit images, it did have descriptions of the 56-year-old author’s opinions and experiences of marriage.

It tells readers how couples should approach sex, claiming that women in marriages only “satisfy” their husbands’ needs 10 percent of the time.

Fatah/Hamas "unity" news

Ever since Hamas shut down the voter registration office in Gaza, they have waged a campaign of arresting Fatah members there.

Hamas listed a series of conditions before re-opening the office, including appointing its own members to the commission, having Fatah release Hamas prisoners in the West Bank, and some demands on West Bank voter registration.

The fake "unity" keeps rolling along....

Today's PressTV anti-semitism

Iranian state media loves to push anti-semitic memes, but it almost always hides them behind interviews with Western crackpot "experts" to shield the Iranian government from charges of explicit anti-semitism.

Today's example:

Kevin Barret, an American author and expert in Islamic studies, said Washington and its allies have already succumbed to the agendas set forth by extremist Likud Zionism which seeks to destabilize the entire Middle East.

“I think the Likudniks want to plunge the Middle East into a big war, which would allow them to finish the ethnic cleansing in Palestine and to escape prosecution for 9/11 and the wars it triggered,” Barrett said. Likudniks are members of the Israeli Likud party led by its extremist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Barret believes that Israeli Likud party does not serve Israeli interests but supports the cause of international Zionism worldwide, instead.

According to the American expert, Tel Aviv is behind the current unrest in Syria and want the United States and allies get involved in domestic affairs of other independent countries surrounding Israel.

“I think master and slave is more the relationship (between Tel Aviv and Washington) these days.” The leading author said.

Barrett's Wikipedia page is entertaining, to say the least, with Trutherism, other bizarre conspiracy theories and a restraining order by his wife. His Truther book on 9/11 includes fantasies about him being "martyred" for telling the "truth" (p. 24.)

Always on the lookout for new synonyms for "Jews," I liked the line about how Likud is promoting the cause of "international Zionism" rather than Israeli interests. The only way to parse that sentence is to conclude that "international Zionism" is akin to what Henry Ford called "the International Jew."

I also love how every Muslim and anti-semite is totally convinced that Israel is backing whichever side they are against in Syria.

There is no shortage of anti-semitic crackpots in the US, and PressTV seems to find them all.

Saturday night links

From Ian:

A very rare article about Jewish M.E. refugees on HuffPo!
The Middle East's Greatest Untold Story by Ron Prosor

“Nowhere is this revisionist history clearer than in the halls of the United Nations. Year after year Palestinian refugees attract more attention and resources at the U.N. than Britney Spears at a paparazzi convention, yet not a single syllable about the Jewish refugees expelled from Arab countries can be found in any of the 1,088 U.N. resolutions on the Middle East or the 172 U.N. resolutions dedicated to Palestinian refugees.”

Why the creation of a 'European' identity necessitates unashamed antisemitism from Brussels

“And now, just as we have our long-held suspicions confirmed that the Foreign Office is essentially Arabist and ever so subtly anti-Israel, with government officials outrageously asserting that Benjamin Netanyahu uses ‘the incitement issue as a delaying tactic in peace talks’, we hear that Nigel Farage is confronting the ‘strong bias’ against Israel that exists within the European Union.
'There is within the European institutions a very strong anti-Israel bias', Mr Farage said. 'I would almost say — and I am bit nervous of saying this — there’s almost a new trendy form of anti-Semitism creeping in…”

Is Toulouse the Future of Europe? by Jonathan S. Tobin

“It was bad enough when such sentiments were linked with the traditional right in France and then Muslim immigrants, but nowadays Jew-hatred is part of the parlance of so-called human rights groups that vent bias against the Jewish state. Thus, while the French government condemns such incidents, anti-Semitism continues to grow, and Jews must now wonder whether it is safe to go about wearing anything that might give away their identity. That is no way for anyone to live in a democracy, but that is the situation in France. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to envision much of a future for Jews in Europe.”

Tragic story of German worker's epic attempts to save his Jewish fiancee from the Nazis becomes European best-seller

Memorial held at LA airport for victims of 2002 attack on El Al counter

I doubt this will get 1 percent of the condemnation that the Israeli bill, to just tax foreign funded NGO’s whose stated aim was to destroy Israel.
Russian bill tightening rules for international NGOs gets initial backing

“Under the wide-ranging bill, all Russian NGOs that are funded from abroad and ruled to be involved in politics, or acting in the interests of foreign states and other international donors, will have to carry a “foreign agent” tag and submit to more rigorous checks by the authorities.”

Indonesia to informally upgrade its relations with Israel via ambassador-ranked diplomat in Ramallah

"Israel and Indonesia already maintain quiet trade, tourism and security contacts; new envoy’s appointment will smooth contacts with world’s most populous Muslim nation, source tells Times of Israel"

Syrian forces fire on villages in northern Lebanon
Three civilians killed and 10 injured in cross-border shelling

US orders Iran to pay for 1983 Lebanon attack
“Federal judge in Washington rules Tehran should pay $813m in damages to families of US soldiers killed in Beirut blast.”

Interview with chief pilot of Entebbe operation

From the IDF blog:

Brig. Gen. (res.) Joshua Shani was the lead pilot in Operation Entebbe, flying the first C-130 Hercules cargo plane with the entire rescue force on board. This week, for the 36th anniversary of the rescue operation on July 4th, he agreed to answer a few questions.

The flight to Entebbe is about 2,500 miles (4,000 km). How’d you do it?

We had to fly very close to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, over the Gulf of Suez. We weren’t afraid of violating anyone’s air space — it’s an international air route. The problem was that they might pick us up on radar. We flew really low — 100 feet above the water, a formation of four planes. The main element was surprise. All it takes is one truck to block a runway, and that’s all. The operation would be over. Therefore, secrecy was critical. At some places that were particularly dangerous, we flew at an altitude of 35 feet. I recall the altimeter reading. Trust me, this is scary! In this situation, you cannot fly close formation. As flight leader, I didn’t know if I still had planes 2, 3 and 4 behind me because there was total radio silence. You can’t see behind you in a C-130. Luckily, they were smart, so from time to time they would show themselves to me and then go back to their place in the formation, so I still knew I had my formation with me.
...
How were you greeted in Israel?

The plane with the hostages landed at Ben-Gurion Airport, where they were reunited with their families. The other three planes remained for a debrief. Here comes Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel, walking up to me. I had been in my flight suit for 24 hours straight, in temperatures over 100 degrees in the airplane, sweating and smelly, and here walks the prime minister with big open arms. I’m thinking — please don’t hug me — he may die from this! He hugged me for what felt like a full minute, and said only “Thanks.”

What was it like returning to Israel as a hero?

After my father’s death, I found his letters from Bergen-Belsen that he sent to Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek. The letters describe his experiences during the Holocaust, what happened to his family, etc. I won’t discuss it here. One of his letters said, “My only comfort is Joshua. He gives me reason to continue.”

The reason I mention this letter is because, 30 years later, when I returned from Entebbe, my father hosted a party for me. Family and friends were all there to celebrate the success of my mission. My father was in a great mood. I know what he was thinking, a Holocaust survivor. His son at the time was a lieutenant colonel in the Israel Air Force and had just flown thousands of miles in order to save Jews. It probably added ten years to his life.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t David G)

Jordanian pulls gun against fellow panelist on TV

From the Times of Israel:

Jordanian member of parliament pulled a gun on a political activist during a furious debate live on Jordanian TV on Friday.

The MP, named in a YouTube clip of the confrontation as Mohammed Shawabka, was debating a political activist named in the clip as Mansour Sayf al-Din Murad, discussing aspects of Jordanian politics including attitudes surrounding the uprising in Syria.

As the discussion became more heated, each of the men accused the other of various crimes and deviancies, including working for the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency. “You’re a Mossad agent,” said one. “You’re a big crook,” said the other.

The MP stood up and began screaming and pointing at the activist, who was sitting opposite him, while the host of the program, Mohammed Habashneh, seated in the center, desperately urged his guests to “calm down.”

Instead, the MP sat back down, bent over and took off his right shoe, and threw it at the activist, who ducked behind his desk, knocking it over.

Then the MP pulled a gun — a silver pistol — out of his waistband and briefly brandished it toward the activist, who walked toward him. The MP kept holding the gun, but was no longer pointing it at his critic.

The two men struggled, with the parliamentarian again careful now not to point the gun at his adversary, while the panicked host circumnavigated the strewn furniture to try to break up the fight.

But the two men would not be easily separated, and the brawl continued for some time before the program cut to the credits.

This is just so much fun to watch:

Iranian TV stops poll showing Iranians want to stop nuke development

From Al Arabiya:

Iran’s state-run TV was forced to cancel two polls after the majority of voting came against the policy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The first poll, launched by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, was about how the Iranians regarded a possible halt in the uranium enrichment operations, which would accordingly halt the whole nuclear project in the country, in return for stopping the international economic sanctions imposed against Tehran.

But the gambit turned into a spectacular own goal after two days of voting when IRIB’s news channel screened results showing 63% of respondents in favor of suspending uranium enrichment in exchange for the gradual easing of sanctions.

The TV quickly stopped the poll and replaced it with one seeking viewers’ opinions on an Iranian parliament proposal to close the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically vital waterway in the Arabian Gulf that is the passageway for about one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

But that too appeared to backfire when 89% of respondents opposed closing the strait.

It was subsequently replaced by another survey about the popular Iranian football club, Persepolis.

Maybe they are too scared to ask "Do you hate Israel?"

On a related note, from AP:

She’s Israel’s top diva, the Jewish state’s beloved national singer.

So when Rita released an album entirely in the language of her country’s arch-enemy Iran, naturally more than a few eyebrows were raised.

“Even my friends, when I told them I was going to do a whole record in Persian, said ‘Whoa, you are going to sing in the language of (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad,’” she said, referring to the Iranian president who has called the Holocaust a myth and threatened to wipe Israel off the map. “I’m combining Hebrew and Persian so much together and I am showing that it is possible.”

The album, “My Joys,” went gold in Israel within three weeks. More significantly, though, it seems to have generated a following in the underground music circuit in Iran at a time when tensions are high between the two countries over Iran’s suspect nuclear program.

Ramadan TV channel where every woman wears a garbage bag

From Egypt Independent:

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper said Thursday that there are plans to launch a satellite channel during Ramadan featuring only women who wear the niqab.

Safaa al-Refa’ei, a Qur’an teacher who is in charge of the channel, called “Maria,” refused to disclose the channel’s funding.

Refa’ei stressed that wearing a niqab is one of the main requirements for workers in the channel as well as guests, saying “Niqab is a red line that cannot be bypassed.”

Some current staff members do not wear niqab, but Refa’ei explained that this is only temporary until they can be replaced by niqab-wearing workers.

Refa’ei said that the idea of the channel is not discriminatory at all.

“Sheikh Abu Islam opened this channel to regain the dignity of women in niqab who have been persecuted and were subject to dismissal from work over the past decades,” Refa’ei said. She refused to disclose the identity of the man who she called Abu Islam.

Al-Ahram said that the channel is scheduled to broadcast programming for 6 hours per day, during which there would be interviews with women in niqab. It added that the majority of programs would be on niqab and marital life.

I had reported on this in May, but it takes a bit of extra significance after the Egyptian presidential elections.

Friday links by Ian

Latma summer short The Dour old Man

Caroline Glick Yitzhak Shamir's good, great life

Sarah Honing Polonium poisoning?

London Olympics may include memorial for Israeli victims of Munich attack

Jewish Chronicle reports that Opening Ceremony won’t have moment of silence, though
“The news that there might be a memorial during the opening ceremony for the Israeli sportsmen murdered in Munich is positive, but I still the urge the IOC to accept what is being asked from them from around the world, namely a one minute silence at the opening ceremony,” Ayalon told The Times of Israel. “Such a request has been made by many government and parliaments, which showed that it was never a political or a contentious demand, but a request for a basic humanitarian gesture.”

Palestinians' Islamist Spring by Khaled Abu Toameh

“Yet in the absence of a credible and organized Palestinian opposition in the West Bank, it is most likely that Hamas will hijack any "Palestinian Spring." Unfortunately, the young men and women who are leading the anti-Palestinian Authority campaign in the West Bank do not represent the majority. That is why a Palestinian Spring could quickly turn into an Islamist Spring, paving the way for Hamas to seize control over the West Bank.”

Hezbollah setting IDF up for another Goldstone'

Senior IDF officer says destruction in Lebanon will be extensive due to Hezbollah establishing command posts, bases in villages.

Anti Israel culture war of British liberal elites is not a grassroots movement

"Too many of our leading British academic and cultural institutions are in the thrall of left-wing activists, but anti-Semitism is far from rife at the British grassroots"

Toulouse yeshiva student beaten up in anti-Semitic attack

Florida DNC member quits, apologizes over Israel attack

“Evelyn Garcia wrote in 2011 email the Palestinians made to suffer a ‘guilt trip’ for the Holocaust”

State Department investigating UN agency for computer shipments to Iran and North Korea

Israeli company offers first ‘medical smartphone’

"LifeWatch Technologies has developed a device that essentially lets users get a full medical checkup just by picking up the phone"

Juan Cole thinks Morsi is just like Jefferson

I really can't believe that people still take this joker seriously.

We should remember that the Thirteen Colonies that made the revolution starting in 1776 were religious societies. They had undergone the Evangelical Great Awakening, and millenarian and anti-papal movements were rife. Religious Americans fought the British for religious as well as material reasons.

...So if you are dismayed that the Muslim an-Nahda Party now dominates the Tunisian cabinet, you may as well be angry about bigotted Congregationaiists coming to power in some of the Thirteen colonies after 1776. (You could argue that the House of Representatives even today is highly religious; and the South Carolina state legislature is apparently a tailgate party for the Southern Baptist convention).

Yup, the Founding Fathers sounded just like this:

Mohamed Morsi: [in the 1920’s, the Egyptians] said: “The constitution is our Koran.” They wanted to show that the constitution is a great thing. But Imam [Hassan] Al-Banna, Allah’s mercy upon him, said to them: “No, the Koran is our constitution.”

The Koran was and will continue to be our constitution.

The Koran will continue to be our constitution.

Mohamed Morsi: The Koran is our constitution.

Crowds: The Koran is our constitution.

Mohamed Morsi: The Prophet Muhammad is our leader.

Crowds: The Prophet Muhammad is our leader.

Mohamed Morsi: Jihad is our path.

Crowds: Jihad is our path.

Mohamed Morsi: And death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration.

Crowds: And death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration.

Mohamed Morsi: Above all – Allah is our goal.

[…]

The shari’a, then the shari’a, and finally, the shari’a. This nation will enjoy blessing and revival only through the Islamic shari’a. I take an oath before Allah and before you all that regardless of the actual text [of the constitution]… Allah willing, the text will truly reflect [the shari’a], as will be agreed upon by the Egyptian people, by the Islamic scholars, and by legal and constitutional experts…

Rejoice and rest assured that this people will not accept a text that does not reflect the true meaning of the Islamic shari’a as a text to be implemented and as a platform. The people will not agree to anything else.

In Egypt, the MB said they wouldn't get involved in the protests - then they did.

They claimed they would not run for parliament - then they did.

They claimed they would not run for president - then they did.

But Cole believes them when they claim they will allow regular elections and listen to what the people want.

It is the "intellectual" equivalent of the mythical "law of averages," I guess.

(h/t Ron, O)

Hamas now bizarrely claims Ranaja's death in Damascus was an accident

Remember Kamal Ranaja, the Hamas member in Syria who was seemingly killed in Damascus a couple of weeks ago?

First some Hamas sources blamed the Mossad, then they blamed Syria for the assassination.

Palestine Today reports that now some Hamas sources are saying it was an accident.

According to the story, Ranaja was trying to run an electric generator in his home when electricity went out. After a while the generator stopped, and Ranaja tried to restart it, but apparently he used a cigarette lighter to see how to fix it. The fuel in the generator caught on fire.

Ranaja desperately tried to reach a window, but was overcome by smoke and succumbed.

This new story makes no sense.

Electric generators that run on gasoline should never be running indoors, for example, because their exhaust is deadly..

And how does this story square with earlier reports that he was assassinated in an unusually brutal way, with him ending up decapitated and his body parts in a closet?

It seems more likely that Syria reacted to the accusations that their agents killed him with some threats against Hamas, and they concocted this story to take some of the heat off.

See also Challah Hu Akbar who has followed all the twists and turns.

A nutcase American spouts anti-semitism on Iranian TV

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a TV program with the participation of Holocaust denier Joachim Martillo, who was presented on the show as a financial analyst. The program aired on Press TV and was posted on Youtube on June 26, 2012.

Joachim Martillo: […] 90% of the people that were convicted of fraud with regard to the S&L meltdown were Jewish. Now, I have worked in Wall Street, I do consulting there. I am always asked whether I am Jewish, so I can take part in the social networks on Wall Street, and whether I can share insider info and help protect other people, and basically exchange critical information that could be extremely valuable.

We have these vast, essentially ethnic networks on Wall Street. They have been there for a long time. People have written articles about them, but we are not allowed to talk about them.

Well, guess what - the people that Obama brought into his administration to deal with the crisis were people like Larry Summers and [Peter ] Orszag, and it goes on and on if you look at the names, people who belong to these social networks. And they protected themselves, because if anything, the percent that should have gone to jail was higher than the 90% that we saw in the S&L meltdown. But these people were all shielding one another, and therefore, they are protected, and it is quite possible that they will get away with it totally.

So we have to start looking at the ethnic manipulation, the corruption, and conspiracy on Wall Street in a serious way.

[…]

This is not real capitalism, This is crony capitalism, and we have to understand how this whole mortgage construction developed.

What was the big event of the 1970’s? That was the Arab oil embargo, which sent up the prices of oil, and basically gave your Arab oil countries a great deal more money to invest in the US.

These financial instruments for securitizing mortgages were used, essentially, as a way to bring Arab oil money into the US as investments and, essentially, loot it for the private gain of a rising class of Eastern European Jewish bankers.

They basically supplanted the older German-American Jewish bankers on Wall Street. So there was sort of an inner conflict on Wall Street.

Once this took place, you saw Wall Street policy - if you can talk of that - being directed to the benefit of serving an international Zionist class, and I know this all sounds like conspiracy theory; but why not? There have been conspiracies on Wall Street since the 19th century.

[…]

There is an intimate connection between the collapse of the financial system both in the United States and worldwide and US international policy and its manipulation by a class of hyper-wealthy Jewish Zionists.
[…]

Full PressTV interview here.

The only reason that I'm posting this is because Martillo was a famous nutcase in Usenet in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1985, he called himself "Yehoyaqim Shemtob Martillo" or simply "Yakim Martillo" and claimed that he was a Sephardic Jew whose grandfather was a dayan or, minimally, hakam. He espoused extreme hate for pretty much everyone who was not a pure Sefardic Jew - all Ashkenazim, all Muslims, and he antagonized people on newsgroups far and wide from India to Malaysia.

But sometimes he would call himself "Joachim Carlo Santos Martillo Ajami". In the 1990s, he started claiming to be a Muslim, I remember a post (can't find it now) where he claimed that the earlier Sefardic posts were written by a friend of his who used his account. Of course, his vitriol and style was identical to his "friend's."

I remarked in 2005 that he had married a Muslim named Karin Friedemann who would write things like "Don't trust any kaffirs."

Then in 2008 I noted a blog he started called "Ethnic Ashkenazim Against Zionist Israel" where he now claimed to be an "Ethnic Ashkenazic" Jew. He claimed that the Holzbergs, murdered in Mumbai, were spies for the international Chabad spy organization.

After all this time, I had never seen what he looked like until now.

Even though this is unsubstantiated, here is a hilarious post by someone who did a bit of research on Martillo around 1991. And, yes, he did work for Prime:

Some time ago, joakim martillo was hired as an ISDN
telecommunications expert by a company named Prime Computer in
Framingham, Massachusetts. In the one and half year that he
worked there, he did not complete a single project. When
professors were invited to visit Prime Computer, he would
purposely go through the texts they had written to find some
minor point that was arguable and make the professors look
stupid in public. (Sounds familiar?)

One sunny day, one of his supervisors happened to read one of
martillo's postings, you know the ones with the flames(what
else?). The rest is history. Martillo was considered "a
security risk due to his sociopathic personality" and was
forced to resign(that's how I heard it, they didnt say FIRED,
they said "Forced to resign".

Martillo-darling didn't give up though. He had stock in
Prime, and is now suing the Board of Directors of Prime
because he lost money on the stocks. He is suing not for
the money, but for the "principle". Aha! Sure! I buy that!
(I'll give you twice as much as you are asking, if you go jump
from some bridge martillo)

He never took baths - for weeks at a time. He would never
change his clothes. He would have old underwear laying around
his office!! Two of his fellow employees that had to work near
him in a cubical transferred out of the department because of
the smell. A "rodent expert" was called in to check if it was
possible that an animal died in his office.....

Martillo also claims to have attended Harvard, MIT and Yale,
and that he has worked for the NSA(yes that's right, the
National Security Agency). Sure babe, tell us more, now we
know you have also attended PRIME COMPUTER!

Martillo married a moslem Chinese Indonesian out of convenience.
Yeap, yeap, she was going to get deported. Hey man, how much
did you charge her? Tell us, oh please tell us...

Is it not true martillo that in your place right now, your "wife"
lives and sleeps upstairs, while you sleep downstairs? Pretty
convenient way to have the same address martillo, but now you
know that you can't fool all of the people all of the time!

I haven't seen his Holocaust denial that MEMRI mentions, but it is entirely in character for this lunatic.

(h/t O)

PCUSA members defeat divestment proposal; BDSers whine (updated)

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

By a hairbreadth vote of 333-331, the Presbyterian Church USA rejected a proposal Thursday to divest from companies whose products are used by Israel to enforce occupation of the West Bank.

The vote, at the church's biennial meeting held this year at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, followed weeks of lobbying and days of impassioned testimony by American Jews, Palestinian Christians and Presbyterians. In proceedings that are being watched around the world, Presbyterians voted to replace the divestment proposal with a separate one calling for positive investment in businesses in the West Bank.

The vote represented a surprising reversal after a smaller committee voted by a 3-to-1 margin earlier this week to support divestment.

The vote brings PCUSA into line with other mainline U.S. Protestant denominations that have rejected divestment. The United Methodist Church voted in May not to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions, the same three companies targeted by PCUSA. The Evangelical Lutheran Church rejected divestment in 2007 and 2011.

The Rev. Matthew Miller from Iowa said before the body that divestment would "privilege Palestinian suffering over the suffering of Israelis" and jeopardize close collaboration with American Jews.

"No one cares about our symbolic action," he said. "It will achieve nothing other than alienation."

The Rev. Susan Andrews, a former moderator of the General Assembly and an influential liberal in the church, said she had been to the West Bank but opposed divestment.
She explained that the church's twin moral imperatives to "stand in solidarity against the pain and oppression" of Palestinians and to "stand in solidarity with our historic Jewish partners in Israel and the U.S." demanded that it take a more positive course.

The BDSers threw everything they had at this, and after the committee vote it looked like they would win.

But apparently, those who make the most noise are not always the the ones who carry the day.

Now the BDSers are howling on Twitter. A typically funny line that they are retweeting like crazy is "Palestinians are not victims in need of aid, they're an occupied people in need of freedom" - a pithy statement that is deceptive on at least four levels:

PalArabs beg for more and more aid all the time
PCUSA was not advocating aid but investment in the West Bank, something that the pro-Israel crowd has no problem with
They aren't "occupied" for many reasons, legal and definitional
Divestment from those three companies wouldn't bring "freedom" any closer; only negotiating with Israel would

The vast majority of American Jews were not even aware of the PCUSA convention. All the Israel-haters were. Yet with their 100% effort, filling sessions with stories of poor oppressed Palestinian Arabs, they still lost.

That's gotta hurt.

UPDATE: My understanding is that the BDSers have some procedural options; one to resubmit the same proposal and one to only vote to divest from Caterpillar. We'll see.

UPDATE 2: They did overwhelmingly vote to boycott Ahava. Peter Beinart was cited to help them make that decision.

UPDATE 3: They overwhelmingly defeated a declaration that Israel practices apartheid against Palestinians.

Will anyone call this Jordanian action "apartheid"?

I noted back in April that Jordan was segregating Palestinian Syrians from other Syrians fleeing across the border, not allowing most of them to enter the country.

HRW just caught up:

The Jordanian authorities have forcibly returned some newly arriving Palestinians from Syria and threatened others with deportation, Human Rights Watch said today.Since April 2012, the authorities have also arbitrarily detained Palestinians fleeing Syria in a refugee holding center without any options for release other than return to Syria. The Jordanian authorities should treat all Palestinians from Syria seeking refuge in Jordan the same as Syrian asylum seekers, who are allowed to remain and can move freely in Jordan after passing security screening and finding a sponsor.

“To its credit, Jordan has allowed tens of thousands of Syrians to cross its borders irregularly and move freely in Jordan, but it treats Palestinians fleeing the same way differently,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher and advocate for Human Rights Watch. “All those fleeing Syria – Syrians and Palestinians alike – have a right to seek asylum in Jordan, move freely in Jordan, and shouldn’t be forced back into a war zone.”

Since April, Jordanian authorities have automatically detained all Palestinians who enter Jordan without passing through an official border post, without the possibility of release. No such policy exists for thousands of Syrians entering the same way.

The Palestinians are arriving under the same circumstances as the fleeing Syrians and should not face threats of forced return, Human Rights Watch said. None should be detained unless for compelling and legally prescribed reasons and for a limited period of time, with judicial review. Like Syrian refugees, Palestinians from Syria interviewed by Human Rights Watch in Jordan said they had fled the country due to violence and general insecurity in their home areas.

Isn't this "apartheid"?

Where are the protests, the boycotts, the empty-headed entertainers who are so keen on showing how well they understand human rights? Where are the "pro-Palestinian" groups? Where are the petitions and Twitter hashtags and Facebook groups?

I mean, these are Palestinian Arabs being discriminated against, which usually elicits outrage because they are so victimized.

I can't figure out why this issue has been essentially ignored.

A real mystery.

(h/t Ian)