Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Lieberman letter to Ashton: "Incitement" - or democracy?

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has sent a letter to the foreign ministers of the Middle East Quartet members, calling on them to press for new elections in the Palestinian Authority to replace PA President Mahmoud Abbas, whom Lieberman described as an obstacle to peace.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, is dated August 20 and was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"The Palestinian Authority is a despotic government riddled with corruption," Lieberman wrote. "This pattern of behavior has led to criticism even within his own constituency. Due to Abbas' weak standing and his policy of not renewing the [peace] negotiations, which is an obstacle to peace, the time has come to consider a creative solution, to think 'outside the box,' in order to strengthen the Palestinian leadership."

The creative solution Lieberman suggests is to hold general elections in the PA areas of the West Bank.

"Despite Mr. Abbas' delays, general elections in the PA should be held, and a new, legitimate, hopefully realistic Palestinian leadership should be elected," Lieberman stressed. "The PA elections were due to be held in 2010 and have since been postponed several times. As of today, no new date has been set for elections."

Lieberman noted in his letter that only a new Palestinian leadership is likely to bring progress in the peace process with Israel. "We must maximize the holding of new elections in the PA, alongside the tremendous changes in the Arab world, in order to bring a serious change to the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians."

The response from Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina is classic.

He said that Lieberman's letter is "creating a state of violence and instability." He said that the letter is an "incitement to murder and violence, and seen as interference in internal Palestinian affairs."

Furthermore, he called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to take a clear position on these "provocative statements that do not contribute in any way to create a climate that is conducive to peace... his comments are unacceptable and condemnable."

Yes, the office of Mahmoud Abbas - now in his eighth year of a four year term - is condemning the idea of new elections!

The full text of the letter is anything but extreme. The text (converted here from Ha'aretz' PDF) should be widely distributed and seen by everyone.

Baroness Ashton,

I appreciated the opportunity to meet with you July 24th in Brussels, on the occasion of the Israel-EU Association Council. We discussed many regional issues of importance; however, I would like to further share some key ideas with you, and hence, this letter.

I would like to update you regarding the current situation of Israel's relationship with the Palestinian Authority (PA). As a preamble, I would like to emphasize that the purpose of this letter is to demonstrate Israel's goodwill, desire to build trust and sincere desire to create a positive atmosphere vis a vis the PA, with the goal of bringing our neighbors back to the table of direct negotiations. Unfortunately, we have encountered repeated Palestinian patterns of refusal and consistent attempts to turn to pointless activity, counterproductive to any constructive efforts.

Madame, it is important to provide this update to you, because in my opinion, the information herein is not properly represented or reflected in the policy of the European Union or the Quartet on this subject.

Israel has in recent months undertaken several significant gestures towards the Palestinians: Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Shteinitz and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad concluded (July 31) arrangements with respect to the transfer of goods between Israel and the PA and related tax procedures. These steps, which were recommended by the International Monetary Fund, will improve the PA's tax system, increase revenues and bolster the Palestinian economy.

In light of the PA‘s budget crisis, Israel transferred at the beginning of the month of Ramadan (July 27) an advance of NIS 180 million (approximately USD 45 million) of August tax remittances. The money was intended to help the PA pay salaries in time to celebrate the holiday. An agreement was concluded (July 14) to employ an additional 5,000 Palestinian construction workers in Israel; the number of roadblocks was reduced to 10, most of which are normally open; the remains of Palestinian terrorists were returned (May 31). In addition, Israel agreed to develop the gas field off the Gaza shoreline.

Israel is promoting infrastructure projects in Area C, including completion of a master plan. In 2011, 119 infrastructure projects were approved, 58 of them with international financing. Fifteen projects relating to the construction and renovation of infrastructures for schools and clinics have received "fast-track" approval. I won't go into all the details of additional Israeli gestures that were made throughout 2012, all of them with the goal of assisting the Palestinian economy and easing the lives of the residents in the West Bank and Gaza.

Unfortunately, despite these steps, we do not see any willingness or positive attitude on the part of the PA. The opposite is the case: we see a rise in the Palestinian activity against Israel in the diplomatic and legal arenas, with attempts to accelerate illegal construction in Area C (including dragging the EU into this problematic activity), to encourage an economic boycott on the Israeli economy in the territories and to generate repeated negative statements against Israel. In addition, we have encountered a relatively new campaign, blaming Israel for the murder of Yassir Arafat, as well as the ongoing institutionalized incitement in the Palestinian media, attacking Israel and the legitimacy of the State's existence.

Mr. Mahmoud Abbas‘ unfortunate behavior indicates that he apparently is uninterested or unable -- due to his standing in the domestic Palestinian scene vis a vis Hamas, and in light of the regional geopolitical situation -- to reach an agreement which would bring an end to the conflict, including addressing all the core issues. Instead he is creating a culture of blaming Israel for delaying the process, while attempting to achieve advantages without negotiation via blackmailing and ongoing attempts to internationalize the conflict.

The situation as I have described it is supported not only by the facts but also may be corroborated by the Jordanians, who made a great effort to facilitate direct dialogue between Israel and the PA. Unfortunately, because of the attitudes of Mr. Abbas and his partners, these efforts did not lead to any progress. This situation is very clear to the Jordanians.

This pattern of refusal is not new. With the Annapolis process, under the previous Israeli government, former Prime Minister Ehucl Olmert offered the Palestinians far-reaching concessions and gestures of goodwill, more than any other Israeli government, without success. In this light, the relevant chapter on the subject in former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent book of memoirs is most enlightening.

Two additional matters should be taken into account: the historic Bar-Ilan
speech of Prime Minister Netanyahu, which called for a two state solution, and the unprecedented step of the current government, which, in response to Palestinian demands, temporarily froze the construction in the settlements, in order to renew peace negotiations. As part of the Palestinian systematic pattern of avoiding bilateral negotiations, these steps were met with rejection and with unilateral steps by the Palestinians, under Mr. Abbas‘ leadership.

In a calculated manner, Mr. Abbas is focusing his dialogue with the international community on the subject of settlements. Unfortunately, the international community tends to accept this discourse lock, stock and barrel, without criticism or a nuanced approach. This is a damaging attitude, which does not reflect the reality on the ground.

I would like to recall several points on this subject:

The entire area of the settlements constitutes approximately one percent of the area of the West Bank. The last settlement which Israel constructed was in 1991. In the framework of the peace accord with Egypt (1979), Israel took the painful step of evacuating all the settlements and military bases in Sinai. In 2005, Israel evacuated all of our settlements from the Gaza Strip, as well as four settlements in the northern West Bank, but instead of peace and security, we received the Hamas government in Gaza which opposes the existence of Israel, and is unwilling to live in peace with us, as well as 14,000 rockets and missiles which were indiscriminately shot at towns and villages in southern Israel.

Facts and history, as opposed to the simplistic stereotypes and political bias, contradict the idea that somehow the settlement enterprise is the main obstacle to renewing the negotiations. This premise simply does not stand up to the test of reality or the historic precedent of the peace process between Israel and our neighbors. Both peace accords, with Egypt and Jordan, were signed when settlements existed; the claim that settlements are the obstacle to peace is unfounded.

In recent years, we have seen that Mr. Abbas speaks with a moderate and pleasant voice to the international community, but in fact, has been personally acting to undermine attempts to renew the peace process, despite Israeli gestures and confidence building measures. He has continued in damaging behavior towards Israel, including extreme cases of encouraging a culture of hatred, praising terrorists, encouraging sanctions and boycotts, and calling into question the legitimacy of the existence of the state, as can be seen for example in his last speech at the General Assembly of the U.N. In my view, in his deeds and his behavior, Mr. Abbas does not represent the general Palestinian interest (for example, he has repeatedly postponed the democratic process of elections in the PA), nor even the interest of his constituents in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority is a despotic government riddled with corruption. This pattern of behavior has led to criticism even within his own constituency. Due to Abbas‘ weak standing, and his policy of not renewing the negotiations, which is an obstacle to peace, the time has come to consider a creative solution, to think "outside the box," in order to strengthen the Palestinian leadership. This is crucial, so that the Israeli gestures to strengthen the economy, stability and strength of the PA will not be turned into a boomerang against Israel.

Despite Mr. Abbas‘ delays, general elections in the PA should be held, and a new, legitimate, hopefully realistic Palestinian leadership should be elected. The PA elections were due to be held in 2010 and have since been postponed several times. As of today, no new date has been set for elections.

Only such a leadership can bring progress with Israel. We must maximize the holding of new elections in the PA, alongside the tremendous changes in the Arab world, in order to bring a serious change to the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians.

I would like to thank you for the ongoing open dialogue between us.

Please accept, Baroness Ashton, the assurances of my deep consideration.

Sincerely,

Avigdor Liberman

1947 visitors to Palestine had to prove they weren't Jewish

Here's an interesting item in the Palestine Post from 65 years ago, August 22, 1947:

As far as I can tell, the question (which appears to have been asked on August 8) was never answered.

Iranian women banned from many degree programs

Human rights!

From The Telegraph:

In a move that has prompted a demand for a UN investigation by Iran's most celebrated human rights campaigner, the Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, 36 universities have announced that 77 BA and BSc courses in the coming academic year will be "single gender" and effectively exclusive to men.

It follows years in which Iranian women students have outperformed men, a trend at odds with the traditional male-dominated outlook of the country's religious leaders. Women outnumbered men by three to two in passing this year's university entrance exam.

Senior clerics in Iran's theocratic regime have become concerned about the social side-effects of rising educational standards among women, including declining birth and marriage rates.

Under the new policy, women undergraduates will be excluded from a broad range of studies in some of the country's leading institutions, including English literature, English translation, hotel management, archaeology, nuclear physics, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and business management.

The Oil Industry University, which has several campuses across the country, says it will no longer accept female students at all, citing a lack of employer demand. Isfahan University provided a similar rationale for excluding women from its mining engineering degree, claiming 98% of female graduates ended up jobless.

Iran has highest ratio of female to male undergraduates in the world, according to UNESCO. Female students have become prominent in traditionally male-dominated courses like applied physics and some engineering disciplines.

The science and higher education minister, Kamran Daneshjoo, dismissed the controversy, saying that 90% of degrees remain open to both sexes and that single-gender courses were needed to create "balance".

(h/t Ian)

Tuesday links: Hezbollah cash, Kurds, Mars, circumcision and more

From Ian:

‘Condemn Iranian hate speech,’ Israeli diplomat urges Security Council

Member of UN mission cites string of recent statements that he says express ‘the vile anti-Semitism’ at the core of the Islamic Republic’s ideology
"For the international community and the United Nations, “silence is not an option” in the face of Iranian anti-Semitic statements and calls to destroy Israel, an Israeli diplomat has written in a letter to Gérard Araud, the president of the United Nations Security Council."

Dempsey: Israel, US differ on seriousness of Iran

Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff US, Israel "clocks ticking at different paces" on Iran's nuclear threat.

UN envoy says burden of proof on Iran to show nuke program is not military

Robert Serry also urges Israel to look at situation in Syria as opportunity to shape a better future for region.

US seizes $150 million in Hezbollah-linked cash

"Terror group laundered money from West African drug trade, authorities claim Authorities had said that, since 2007, more than $300 million was wired from Lebanon to the United States to buy used cars for resale in West Africa. Prosecutors said they had evidence Hezbollah used back channels to wire cash from the cars and drug-dealing proceeds back to Lebanon."

Justice for the Kurds by Michael Curtis and Fred Gottheil

"Much ink has been spilled about the desirability or even the inevitability of a separate State for Palestinians, whose identity stems from the middle of the 20th century, but what has been much less discussed by the international community -- and for the most part ignored -- is a similar claim by the Kurds, a people with a truly separate ethnic identity as well as a long history,"

Palestinian Authority Security Forces Threatened to Kill Palestinian Journalism Student

They threatened him by saying, “We will hang you and say that you committed suicide.”

After buildup, Israel tells Egypt to remove tanks from Sinai

Stern message sent via the White House to Cairo warning that military presence in peninsula contravenes terms of peace agreement
"Israeli officials are concerned that Egypt may use its anti-terrorist operation as a way of building its military strength in Sinai. Having gained access, Cairo may leave the tanks and armored carriers in place while taking little more than symbolic action to curb the terrorist threat."

German far-right lawmaker convicted of defamation

Deputy chief of National Democratic Party guilty of defamation for calling Holocaust memorial ‘theater’

Austrian Jewish leader calls out politician for anti-Semitic cartoon

Right-wing politician shares picture of banker with Star of David cuff links enjoying the European financial crisis

Eight killed in huge blast in southern Turkey

Turkish firm gets Israeli loan for power production

"Despite strained relations between Turkey and Israel following the flotilla incident in May 2010, Turkish and Israeli business ventures continue full steam ahead as witnessed by Zorlu Enerji’s $277 mln natural gas investments in Israel"

Israeli Refrigerator Part of Equipment on Mars Curiosity Rover

The Curiosity rover, currently on Mars after recently landing in a tricky operation controlled by National Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA) technicians, includes a refrigerator manufactured in Israel. The refrigerator was developed in the northern Israeli kibbutz Ein Harod (Ihud), Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Israel Daily Picture: The Cliffs in Judea Overlooking Solomon's Pools

The early photographers in the Holy Land were enchanted by "Solomon's Pools," an elaborate water system from the Maccabean or Roman times located between Bethlehem and Hebron that brought water all the way to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Also:

German Circumcision Ban Bags First Victim (Tobin/Commentary)

Notes from a Ward Yud Hospital Bed (Barry Rubin)

Don’t Know Much ’bout Orthodoxy (Yair Rosenberg/Tablet)

Fatah football tournament named after three terrorists (PalWatch)

It's Eid - time for Egyptians to sexually harass women!

On Friday, Egypt Independent reported:

A local activist group is organizing an initiative to counter sexual harassment, a trend that has become associated with Eid al-Fitr celebrations in recent years.

Imprint Movement, which defines itself as a social, volunteer-based group aiming to change harmful elements of society, plans to organize popular patrols made up of its members and other volunteers to roam metro stations to stop harassers during Eid.

Eid became a “season for harassment,” movement member Abdel Fattah Mahmoud said, explaining that this is why the movement decided to launch the patrols during all of Eid.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working:

Vice police have detected numerous instances of sexual harassment on the first two days of the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday at several public areas in Cairo, the state-run news agency MENA reported.

At the Giza Zoo, young people who formed groups to protect females from harassment were assaulted by the harassers, which caused violence to break out between both sides. Police arrested several and referred them to prosecution.

The website of the independent daily Al-Tahrir said Tuesday that several women were heard yelling on the Nile Corniche in front of the State TV building. It added that the same area on Monday had witnessed fights as some youth, and even children, allegedly molested female passers-by.

Fustat Garden also saw tussles as hundreds of young men encircled a number of girls and attempted to assault them before others managed to free them.

Eyewitnesses said that motorbike riders on Gameat al-Dawal al-Arabiya, a popular gathering place, harassed girls amid a total absence of police.

Abbas continues to lie and incite

From Ma'an:

President Mahmoud Abbas stressed Tuesday the need to protect Jerusalem's Islamic and Christian holy sites, speaking on the anniversary of an attempted arson of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Abbas said the fire, which was set by an Australian in 1969, was "the first (attack) in a series that aimed to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque to make way to build the (third) temple."

The president's office said in a statement that Israeli excavation work in Jerusalem and tunnels underneath the holy site would not undermine the fact that the city has an Arab identity.

Exactly which Muslim holy sites are in danger under Jewish rule? Can Abu Mazen name one?

Besides the single example discovered earlier this year - of an ancient Muslim school accidentally demolished in 1967 - Israel has treated Muslim and Christian holy sites with respect and even helped discover new ones.

The contrast with how disgustingly the Muslims have treated ancient Jewish holy sites - most egregiously, the Jewish artifacts on the Temple Mount itself, wantonly destroyed with heavy equipment, or the recent desecration of graves at the Mount of Olives, not to mention and destruction of dozens of Jerusalem synagogues under Jordanian rule - cannot be starker.

The simple fact is that Abbas is inciting his people against Israel, period. He knows quite well that the 1969 attack was not done by any Jews or by Israeli authorities, but by a deranged Christian from Australia. Israel is hardly responsible for the actions of a crazed Australian.

Abbas, on the other hand, is directly responsible for the terror that occurs because of the lies and incitement that he directly pushes as well as that which comes from his official PA newspapers, schools and announcements.

The man is not an honored peace partner. He is a thoroughly despicable human being.

Syria-linked chaos increases in Lebanon

From The Daily Star (Lebanon):

Supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad fought gunbattles in Lebanon's second largest city which left two dead and wounded 40 in another alarming sign that the fragile country is being sucked into the Syrian crisis.

At least 10 Lebanese soldiers were among those wounded in the fighting that broke out Monday night in the port city of Tripoli.

The First Intervention Force Regiment, an army unit comprising jeeps, trucks and armored personnel carriers was forced to retreat Tuesday afternoon after coming under a hail of machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks after it had tried to intervene to subdue the violence, security sources told The Daily Star.

Clashes then intensified between the anti-Assad Sunni stronghold of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite-dominated pro-Assad Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods after the army battalion's pullout. The army maintained a scarce presence in the vicinity, according to security sources.

The violence came less than a week after Lebanon was jolted by a wave of kidnappings of scores of Syrians and two Turkish nationals by the Meqdad clan and other groups in a bid to exchange them for 12 Lebanese held hostage by rebels in Syria. One Meqdad member was recently kidnapped by Syrian rebels in Damascus and 11 Lebanese pilgrims were abducted in May.

If Syria falls, it is quite possible that Hezbollah will point to incidents like this as an excuse to completely take over Lebanon - in the name of "security."

On "Jewish terror" and the lazy, sloppy MSM

From Harriet Sherwood in The Guardian on August 19:

Violence by Jewish settlers has been cited for the first time in a US state department list of "terrorist incidents", as Israeli political leaders condemned a string of recent attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Where did she get this from? Why, not from her own research - but from Barak Ravid in Ha'aretz on August 18:

For the first time, the U.S. State Department has cited violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank under the heading "terrorist incidents" in its annual Country Report on Terrorism.

And how do I know that Sherwood simply copied Ravid's reporting?

Because it is wrong!

As the Mostly Kosher blog reports:

2010 report:

Under listing of terrorist attacks:

On October 4, arson was committed by Israeli citizens against a mosque southwest of Bethlehem in the village of Beit Fajjar, which is under Israeli security control. In addition to fire damage, the mosque was vandalized with Hebrew-language graffiti "revenge" and "price tag."

On October 20, arson was committed against a Palestinian girls' school building south of Nablus in the village of As Sawiya, which is under Israeli security control. The damaged building also had Hebrew-language graffiti: "regards from the hilltops," suggesting the attack was conducted by Israeli settlers.

2009 report:

A high-profile case raised awareness regarding settler violence and acts of terrorism. On October 7, Israeli security services arrested American-born settler Yaacov “Jack” Teitel in connection with a number of crimes and terrorist attacks over the past 12 years. Teitel was arrested for posting anti-homosexual flyers, and later confessed to a number of crimes, including the murder of two Palestinians in 1997. He also claimed responsibility for several attempted bombings, including sending a parcel bomb to a Messianic Jewish family in Ariel in which a 15-year old Israeli-American boy was injured, and placing a pipe-bomb that injured Israel Prize laureate and peace activist Professor Zeev Sternhell in September 2008.

2008 report:

Under listing of terror attacks:

On June 1 and 20, Israeli settlers fired three rockets toward the Palestinian town of Burin. In late July, settlers threw a Molotov cocktail into a home in Burin as well. No injuries were reported from either attack. On September 25, a prominent Hebrew University professor and critic of Jewish settlements in the West Bank was wounded when a pipe bomb, allegedly planted by radical members of the settlement movement, exploded as he opened the door of his home in West Jerusalem. After the attack, police found flyers near the academic’s home calling for the establishment of a new state in the West Bank based on Jewish religious law. The flyers, signed by a Jewish extremist group called the Army of the State Liberators, also offered USD 314,000 to anyone who killed a member of the non-governmental organization, Peace Now. Israeli Security Services continued to investigate the attack.

2004 - The very first US State Department report.

In December, Israel convicted and sentenced an Israeli man for membership in the "New Jewish Underground," a terrorist organization that aimed to carry out attacks on Arab civilians. On September 29, a group of five Israeli settlers attacked and seriously wounded two US citizens, members of an NGO, who were escorting Palestinian children to school near Hebron. As of the end of 2004, the Israeli police had not arrested those responsible.

The post concludes:

Those reading Barak Ravid's article get a false impression that until 2011 there have been different standards applied to Israeli and Palestinian actions. However, the truth is that the US State Department has been naming terror - Jewish or otherwise - on an equal basis since 2004.

As the events of this past week show, there has always been a tiny percentage of Jews who have terrorized Arabs. Of course, those with an agenda want to show that these reprehensible acts have been increasing, so we will see false articles like this one in Ha'aretz - slavishly copied by The Guardian - designed not to reflect the truth but to embarrass the right wing and implicate them in these attacks.

In the 1980s there were actually murders of Arabs by Jewish terrorists, as well as other very serious attacks. To give the impression that somehow Jewish violence today is an epidemic is simply a lie. By any yardstick, it is very small - and it is minuscule compared to the attacks that Arabs carry out on Jews, today. Ha'aretz, like most centrist and left-wing Israeli media, completely ignores the daily Molotov cocktail attacks by Arabs against Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. And, of course, so does The Guardian and many other media who in turn copy their reports without checking the facts for themselves.

The media, dedicated more to themes than to facts, eagerly pushes any shred of evidence that things are worse today than they were in years past.

Even when they have to make that evidence up.

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains closed today, ostensibly because of the 'Eid al-Fitr holiday.

But Palestine Today reports that the Taba crossing between Egypt and Israel is open, and some 6087 tourists have poured into the Sinai from Israel in recent days.

According to the article, the larger Egyptian army presence in the Sinai has prompted Israelis (including many Israeli Arabs celebrating 'Eid) to decide to vacation in Egypt, and the Egyptian border is being staffed adequately for that purpose.

Not so the Gaza border.

So who's besieging Gaza again?

There is one other fact that is worth mentioning: Israel has not sent any goods into Gaza since the holiday started.

Is it because Jews started celebrating 'Eid?

No, not quite.

The COGAT webpage says "At the request of the Palestinians, the Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations (19 to 21.8)."

Isn't it interesting that the Gazans, who we are constantly told are so desperate for goods and fuel, can afford to cut themselves off from all aid for three entire days?

Minneapolis Muslim paper says Jews enslave Palestinian Arabs

Reader jzaik came across a community newspaper called The Halal Post while shopping:

You can find the entire paper here.

The cover story was ten tips for Ramadan. Here is tip #6:

I had no idea that the "settlers" had such power to be able to enslave Arabs! This is news!

So I was wondering, exactly how do those evil Jews enslave the poor Palestinian Arabs? Do they use whips? Guns? Do the Zionists threaten to rape their daughters if they don't do their bidding?

Then I remembered - the Palestinian Authority answered that question only last week!

You see, the Jews enslave the Palestinian Arabs by paying them roughly double the salary they would make by being employed by other Palestinian Arabs.

So when you buy Israeli dates, you might be contributing to the pain of the comparably well-compensated Muslim Ummah.. Because, of course, it is painful to be able to buy new cars and computers for your family that your neighbors cannot afford.

Jihad groupies come to give treats to terrorists

Yesterday I showed some photos of little kids in Gaza handing out holiday candy and cakes to Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Now it is the turn of the hot girls of Gaza to do the same.

(And when I say "hot," I mean that literally. August in a burqa in the desert cannot be fun.)

"Hey there, big guy! I have some more sugar for you under this burqa!" "Ewww!"

"Damn! I think her thumb brushed against me! Now I have to kill myself!

"Hey! I want the AK-47, not this crappy rifle!"

Right before the square dance

Monday links

From Ian:

Egypt Fully Rearming Sinai - with US Help by Shoshana Bryen

"Secretary Panetta is talking about helping Egypt to do something forbidden by the Camp David Accords -- bring large-scale forces into Sinai. Israel's long term concern is whether Egypt will at some point remove the additional forces. Recent comments by Egyptian government officials suggest they will not."

Egypt Reportedly Sets up Anti-Aircraft Missiles in Sinai Desert

Days after rocket attack, army deploys Iron Dome to Eilat

IDF says placement part of program to test anti-missile battery in different cities

Shin Bet: PA security guard involved in terror plot

"Four Palestinians arrested in Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine terror plot One suspect worked as guard in Palestinian National Security Forces and cell planned to use weapons he could access as part of his duties with the Palestinian force."
"The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) has apprehended a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist cell that was planning to carry out shooting attacks and abduct Israelis for use in future prisoner exchange deals, the agency announced on Monday."

‘Obama Should Visit Israel, Show Muscle to Iran’

Obama should show Iran his muscle and visit Israel as a clear sign of support for a military strike, says ex-IDF Intelligence Chief Yadlin.

United Church of Canada approves boycott of settlement goods

Church votes to abstain from consuming products originating in West Bank
"Other resolutions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict singled out the settlements as a principal obstacle to peace in the region; called on Israel to suspend settlement expansion; and expressed regret for previously asking Palestinians to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state as a precondition to peace."

Ex-CIA spy says Hezbollah has been active in Bulgaria for decades

Robert Baer tells Bulgarian TV he personally investigated a Hezbollah cell in Bulgaria in the 1990s

US 'concerned' about media freedom in Egypt

The United States said on Thursday it was "very concerned" about freedom of the press in Egypt after authorities moved to put on trial two critics of new President Mohamed Morsi.

Toronto: Jewish Man Told Israeli Flag 'Incites Riots'

A Jewish high school teacher from Toronto warned by local police that he is inciting a riot by carrying an Israeli flag.

Israel Haters Chant in Toronto: From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free

Al-Quds rally in Sydney – we want the lot

The speaker then clarified their overseas goal. He stated: “When we say Free Palestine, we don’t mean the (the little that is left). We want every square centimetre that has been occupied since the beginning. We want the removal of the entire Zionist regime from the land of Palestine. We don’t want the little dots on the map. We want the entire land. We want the removal of every single Zionist.”

Jews March against Anti-Semitism in Sweden

MEMRI:
Nasrallah Threatens Hundreds of Thousands Dead, Turning Israelis' Lives into Living Hell

Israeli singer tops German charts

Asaf Avidan’s ‘One Day/Reckoning Song’ was remixed by a German DJ, and is now the most downloaded song in several European countries

The other Queen mother: A new documentary explores the unconventional life of the Queen’s mother-in-law, Princess Alice

"...for more than a year, she hid a Jewish family on the top floor of her house, only yards from Gestapo headquarters. When the Gestapo became suspicious, Alice made her deafness an excuse for not answering their questions.
When she was posthumously honoured as Righteous Among The Nations – the highest Israeli honour to non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust – Prince Philip said, ‘She would have considered it a natural reaction to fellow beings in distress.”

Also:

The Christian girl with Down's Syndrome facing a death penalty in Pakistan.

Syrians turn a captured tank into a children's swing for Eid celebrations:

A letter from an IDF officer to Olympic Gold Medalist Aly Reisman:

There was nothing apologetic about what you did. For so long we've had to apologize for who we are: for how wedress, for our beliefs, for the way we look. It seems like the International Olympic Committeewanted to keep that tradition. Quiet, Jews. Keep your tragedy on the sidelines. Don't disturb our party.

They didn't count on an 18 year-old girl in a leotard.

Thank you for standing up against an injustice that was done to our people. As I was walking back to my machine at the gym, I caught one of the officers give a long salute to your image ontelevision. I think that says it all.

Clueless in Cleveland about Jewish refugees

Ha'aretz sloppiness prompts worldwide headlines that State Dept. never labeled Jews "terrorists" before

Lord Sacks resigns from interfaith charity after they embark on anti-Israel campaign (h/t Ishai)

Egyptians worried about Gazans legally moving into Sinai

A strange article in Egypt Independent:

Head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Sunday that Palestinians do not intend to leave their country nor intend to settle in Sinai.

During his Eid sermon, Haniyeh said that the Palestinians will hold on to Gaza. “We will not settle in Sinai or anywhere East or West,” he said. “Gaza is an integral part of Palestine. No to an alternative homeland, migration or resettlement.”

Concerns that Gaza Palestinians would be resettled in Sinai to repopulate the deserted peninsula, which has housed pockets of radical militancy, have been coupled with both Egyptians and Palestinians repeatedly expressing their lack of interest in such a solution.

What are they talking about?

The answer can be seen in an Al Ahram article from a couple of days ago reported by Firas Press.

Ever since Egypt started allowing children of Egyptian mothers and Palestinian Arab fathers to become citizens, many Gazans have married Egyptian women and moved out of Gaza to live in new houses built, often, with profits from illegal smuggling tunnels.

This is alarming the residents of the Sinai, who are fearing a mini-invasion of their land by Gazans. They demanded that new laws be passed to ensure that the Sinai remain "Egyptian," raising fears that Egypt might allow Gaza to annex parts of the Sinai which would become an "alternative homeland" for Palestinian Arabs.

Despite all the rhetoric about how much solidarity Egyptians feel with Gazans, when it comes down to it they hate and fear Palestinian Arabs as much as every other Arab nation does. This Arab antipathy towards Palestinians is truly one of the most under-reported stories of the Middle East.

Hamas official calls for death to all Jews and Americans

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from a sermon delivered by Deputy Speaker of the Hamas Parliament Ahmad Bahr, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on Aug 10, 2012.

Ahmad Bahr: If the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty, incumbent on every Muslim, male or female. A woman may set out [on Jihad] without her husband's permission, and a servant without his master's permission. Why? In order to annihilate those Jews.
[...]
Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one.

Maybe he should write an op-ed for The Guardian or The New York Times. I'm sure this can be justified somehow as a legitimate position that should be debated.

In February, I noted a story about a French-Jewish woman who had a daughter with a Saudi prince, who then kidnapped the child and is raising her in a Saudi palace as a Muslim. The mother, Candice Cohen-Ahnine, had won a French custody case but the prince refused to give up the girl, who was seen on Facebook in full niqab and playing with her father's guns.

Cohen-Ahnine had even written a book about her battle for her daughter.

It now seems possible that her dedication to her daughter has cost her life:

A French-Jewish mother in a high-profile custody battle with a Saudi prince has died after falling from a fourth-storey apartment, amid suspicions of foul play.
Police are investigating the death of Candice Cohen-Ahnine, 35, who fell from her Paris apartment on Thursday night.

Investigators had initially seen it as an accident, but by yesterday (Sunday) reports in the French media suggested that Ms Cohen-Ahnine had slipped and fallen to her death "as if she was escaping something dangerous".

Police refused to confirm the reports when contacted by The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Cohen-Ahnine's lawyer, Laurence Tarquiny-Charpentier, said the death "seemed to be some sort of accident", and did not know whether foul play was involved. She said there were witnesses, and more information is expected today.

"What I can tell you is that it wasn't a suicide," Ms Tarquiny-Charpentier said.

"She was a woman who was a real fighter and a very positive person, and plus, there were plans to see [her daughter] Aya in mid-September. That was her greatest motivation of all."

(h/t Ian)

Pure joy among Arabs after Sbarro's suicide bombing

Here is one of the most notorious monsters released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, now happily living in Jordan with her husband., another released terrorist.

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an interview with released Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on July 12, 2012.
Ahlam Tamimi: 16 Zionists were killed [in the suicide bombing you helped carry out].
Interviewer: Was the sound of the explosion...?
Ahlam Tamimi: It was very loud. The mujahid Abdallah Barghouti did a perfect job producing the guitar [containing the bomb], and the results amazed everybody, thanks to Allah.
[...]
Afterwards, when I took the bus, the Palestinians around Damascus Gate [in Jerusalem] were all smiling. You could sense that everybody was happy. When I got on the bus, nobody knew that it was me who had led [the suicide bomber to the target]... I was feeling quite strange, because I had left [the bomber] 'Izz Al-Din behind, but inside the bus, they were all congratulating one another. They didn't even know one another, yet they were exchanging greetings.
[...]
While I was sitting on the bus, the driver turned on the radio. But first, let me tell you about the gradual rise in the number of casualties. While I was on the bus and everybody was congratulating one another, they said on the radio that there had been a martyrdom attack at the Sbarro restaurant, and that three people were killed. I admit that I was a bit disappointed, because I had hoped for a larger toll. Yet when they said "three dead," I said: "Allah be praised."
Interviewer: Was it an Israeli radio station or a Palestinian one?
Ahlam Tamimi: That station was in the Zionist language, and the driver was translating for the passengers.
[...]
Two minutes later, they said on the radio that the number had increased to five. I wanted to hide my smile, but I just couldn't. Allah be praised, it was great. As the number of dead kept increasing, the passengers were applauding. They didn't even know that I was among them.
On the way back [to Ramallah], we passed a Palestinian police checkpoint, and the policemen were laughing. One of them stuck his head in and said: "Congratulations to us all." Everybody was happy.
[...]

This is not just Tamimi having false memories - this is what happened after every suicide bombing.

You can see here that she was treated like a rock star in the Amman airport when she arrived there after her release, to live TV coverage:

Tinderbox: Four Syrian shells land inside Jordan

From Ammon News:

State Minister for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Samih Maaytah said that four shells landed on Jordanian territory due to clashes between the Syrian government forces and the opposition forces on the Syrian side of the borders, injuring a Jordanian girl who suffered shrapnel wounds, Petra news Agency reported.

Maaytah added that four other citizens were sent to hospital suffering from panic.

He also expressed the government's condemnation of the incident, noting the government summoned the Syrian ambassador in Amman and handed him a letter of protest.

This has happened in Lebanon as well.

But if it happened on the Turkish border, I'm not sure that the reaction would be so muted.

Round-up of recent Iranian statements on Israel

From Israel's MFA:

Recent Iranian statements: Threats, delegitimization of Israel and antisemitism

Destroying Israel:

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told them there was no place for the Jewish state in a future Middle East…. 'You want a new Middle East? We do too, but in the new Middle East ... there will be no trace of the American presence and the Zionists,'….
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012;
Reuters, Published: 17 August 2012

"The Israeli regime is a tool in the hands of Zionists to control the Middle-East and the entire world, Ahmadinejad stated. The Iranian president further stated that the International Quds Day is the day of unity among all human beings to remove the Zionist black stain from the human society."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012;
Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 17 August 2012

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ... said the very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the humankind and an affront to all world nations….The Iranian President further described the World Quds Day as an occasion for the unity of all human communities to wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 17 August 2012

"Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei…. noted that liberating Palestine from the grip of Israel and its allies is a religious duty for all Muslims across the world."
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei - Statement made during a meeting with hundreds of veterans from the Iraq-Iran war, 15 August; Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 16 August 2012

"General Amir Ali Hajizadeh ….said if the Zionist hooligans embark on practicing their verbal threats, they will provide the best opportunity for the destruction of Israel because then the forged regime will be wiped out of the map and thrown into the trash bin of history for ever."
Commander of the Aero-Space Forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Bridadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh - Interview with IRNA; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published 18 August 2012

"He [Ahmadinejad] added: 'Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom.'"
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Speech to ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of Quds Day, published on Ahmadinejad's website on 2 August 2012; Jerusalem Post; Published: 2 August 2012

"Zionists understand only the language of force, Ayatollah Khatami reiterated. He further noted that the Zionist regime will meet destruction through unity in the Islamic world."
Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami - Address to a large congregation of worshippers on Tehran University campus, 17 August 2012; Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 17 August 2012

"Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami underlined the importance of this year's International Quds Day (August 17, last Friday of the Ramadan) rallies, and said that 'The nations of the region, which have toppled dictators, also have the power to annihilate the Zionist regime (Israel).'"
Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami;Iran Daily Brief; Published: 14 August 2012

"Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, said on Wednesday that the liberation of Palestine was top on the Islamic world agenda and predicted that 'the fake Zionist regime would soon fade away from geography and every inch of the occupied territories be returned to Palestinians.'
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei -15 August; DPA and the Associated Press, Haaretz; Published: 17 August 2012

Delegitimization of Israel's existence:

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an annual anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Friday that the Jewish state was a "cancerous tumour" that will soon be excised….'The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour,' he said. 'The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land.... A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists,' he said."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; AFP; Published: 17 August 2012

"Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday that noble Quds and Palestine are the main issues of the world of Islam….Elsewhere in his address, the Ayatollah referred to ignorance of Muslim nations and governments for years and rule of the hegemonic powers over their fate as well as creation of the cancerous tumor of Zionism in heart of Muslim world….Zionism is a danger for entire humanity…."
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei - Address to officials and others, including ambassadors of Muslim states in Tehran, 19 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 19 August 2012

"'The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world nations," the news agency's English-language report on the speech quoted him as saying. "Confronting Zionists will also pave the way for saving the whole humankind from exploitation, depravity and misery.'"
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address; 17 August 2012; New York Times, Published: 17 August 2012

Antisemitism:

"Ahmadinejad said that a "horrible Zionist current" had been managing world affairs for "about 400 years." Repeating traditional anti-Semitic slurs, the Iranian president accused "Zionists" of controlling the world's media and financial systems…. 'Quds Day is not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to be viewed as a key for solving the world problems,' he said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Speech to Ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of Quds Day, published on Ahmadinejad's website on 2 August 2012;
Jerusalem Post; Published: 2 August 2012

He [Ahmadinejad] said Zionists, who think solely of power, wealth and dominance over others, have been inflicting very heavy damage and suffering on the whole humanity for over two thousand years especially during the past four centuries. Saying that the two world wars were designed by Zionists and carried out by the US to retain dominance on other countries, the president further noted that Zionists have been administrating affairs in the US since the very beginning of its establishment."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 17 August 2012

Infographic: PalArab attacks for first half of 2012 (updated)

Source.

(Update: Challah Hu Akbar noticed that I was counting launchings or rockets/mortars, not the number of rockets and mortars themselves. I updated the graphic.)

Egypt paper recalls how Jews and Arabs lived together, skips a few facts

The Al Ahram youth newspaper has an article on how Ramadan is now celebrated in the old Jewish quarter of Cairo and how Jews used to live there in harmony with Arabs.

It is a nice article, with interviews of old Arabs who recall fondly their Jewish friends and even their being asked to do things forbidden to Jews on Shabbat.

The old Jewish quarter is now a shopping district, but without any Jews:

While the article is certainly not anti-Jewish. it tries to distinguish between "Egyptian Jews" and the "Zionists who now live in Israel," who are presumably not the nice Jews that they recall.

However, the article contains a glaring mistake in its description of how the tens of thousands of Egyptian Jews disappeared. It merely says "since 1948, Jews began to migrate from Egypt, sold everything and migrated either to Israel or to different countries."

Of course, the Jews were stripped of their possessions, subject to violent and often deadly attacks, and eventually expelled from Egypt.

As Wikipedia summarizes:

By the 1940s, the situation worsened. Sporadic pogroms took place in 1942 onwards. In 1945, the Jewish quarter of Cairo was severely damaged. As the Partition of Palestine and the founding of Israel drew closer, hostility strengthened, fed also by press attacks on all foreigners accompanying the rising ethnocentric nationalism of the age. In 1947, the Company Laws set quotas for employing Egyptian nationals in incorporated firms, requiring that 75% of salaried employees, and 90% of all workers be Egyptian. As Jews were denied citizenship as a rule, this constrained Jewish and foreign owned entrepreneurs to reduce recruitment for employment positions from their own ranks. The law also required that just over half of the paid-up capital of joint stock companies be Egyptian.

After the foundation of Israel in 1948, difficulties multiplied for Egyptian Jews. That year, bombings of Jewish areas killed 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200, while riots claimed many more lives.[26] During the Arab-Israeli war, the famous Cicurel department store near Cairo's Opera Square was firebombed. The government helped with funds to rebuild it, but it was again burnt down in 1952, and eventually passed into Egyptian control.

In the immediate aftermath of trilateral invasion during the Suez Crisis of 1956, on November 23 by Britain France and Israel, a proclamation was issued stating that 'all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state', and it promised that they would be soon expelled. Some 25,000 Jews, almost half of the Jewish community left, mainly for Europe, the United States and South America, and Israel, after being forced to sign declarations that they were leaving voluntarily, and agreed with the confiscation of their assets. Some 1,000 more Jews were imprisoned.

After the 1967 war, more confiscations took place. Rami Mangoubi, who lived in Cairo at the time, states that nearly all Egyptian Jewish men between the ages of 17 and 60 were either thrown out of the country immediately, or taken to the detention centres of Abou Za'abal and Tura, where they were incarcerated and tortured for more than three years. The eventual result was the almost complete disappearance of the Jewish community in Egypt; less than a hundred or so remain today.

I had not heard of the 1945 riots, and looked them up:

And it turns out that the Egyptian 1945 riots sparked a much larger pogrom in Tripoli a few days later:

It is so much nicer to recall how tolerant your country was and ignore how anti-semitic it ended up being as it ethnically cleansed its entire population of Jews.

Sunday links

From Ian:

The sinister alliance of the Islamist-Marxist axis

"Since the year 2000, there has been an increasing convergence between those who belong to the radical left and those who promote Islamism in the West. One of the key areas in cementing their rapprochement has been the Palestinian question. The new “alliance” was further reinforced during the past decade by the Iraq war, the Second Lebanon War, and the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2009."

US congresswoman calls on EU to ban Hezbollah

The chairwoman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen (R-Florida), sent a letter – ahead of the annual Al-Qods Day marches in Europe on Saturday – to José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, urging the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Ashton slams Ahmadinejad’s ‘hateful’ words comparing Israel to ‘cancerous tumor’

EU foreign policy chief joins Ban Ki-moon and the Obama administration in condemning Iranian president’s Friday speech

Jewish groups step up protest over UN head’s trip to Tehran

Ban Ki-moon should not visit a country whose leaders have ‘routinely, ritually, and sometimes daily called for the annihilation of a UN member state,’ says AJC

U.S. Says Iraqis Are Helping Iran to Skirt Sanctions

When President Obama announced last month that he was barring a Baghdad bank from any dealings with the American banking system, it was a rare acknowledgment of a delicate problem facing the administration in a country that American troops just left: for months, Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear program.

Ex-Malaysian PM reasserts Israel ‘rules world by proxy’

Mohamad, long known for his anti-Semitic views and avid support for the Palestinian cause, said during a summit for the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2003 that “the Nazis killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million [during the Holocaust]. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”

Zubeidi released as gesture for Eid al-Fitr

Former al-Aqsa Brigades commander in Jenin released from Jericho prison together with seven other inmates “On Friday, Zubeidi's brother announced he was launching a hunger strike in protest of his incarceration. Zubeidi claimed he was never formally charged with any offence.”

Militants fire RPG at Egypt army convoy, injure 3

The attack took place while the police were on their way back to the city of el-Arish after arresting two suspects at the border town of Rafah, a security source said.

Official: Yemeni militants infiltrated Egypt before Rafah attack

Ten Yemeni militants infiltrated Egyptian soil two months ago and trained local Jihadi cells in the Sinai peninsula, a security official said Friday.

Shoot dead Osama bin Laden for $325: Former SEAL recreates compound so people can copy raid on Bin laden complex

Offers people the chance to participate in a re-enactment of the Seal raid that executed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani compound last year

How a film on Africa’s ‘lost’ Jewish tribes rekindled its maker’s own Jewish identity

Laurence Gavron splits her time between France, Israel and Africa — where, along with focusing her lens on ‘Jewish’ tribes, she’s now also begun a unique political career in Muslim-dominated Senegal

New solar device keeps homes warm, even in cold climes

An Israeli water heater gathers sun like bees gather honey, retaining enough heat to warm more than just dishwater.

BBC The Best of Men (on YT video might disappear)

90-minute film told the true story of Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who founded the Paralympic Games.

Photos: Gaza kids sharing Eid candy with masked terrorists

A very revealing photo-essay on the Islamic Jihad Al Quds Brigades website shows eager kids offering candy and cookies to masked Islamic Jihad terrorists.

One child, Mahmoud, told the Islamic Jihad "media war" correspondent, "Since yesterday, my friends and I have been planning to visit the Mujahideen; we were waiting for this moment, and my mom that prepared for me festival cakes and candy in order to present it to them."

Thanking the kids, one of the brave masked mujahadeen said "We thank the mothers of these children who baked festival cakes for the the mujahideen, and assure them that we will not deviate from the option of Jihad and resistance at all costs and no matter how great the sacrifices and difficulties."

"These aren't exploding candies, are they?"

"Hey, one kid is eating my candy! I must shoot him!"

"Say 'Jeeeeehad'"

Isn't that sweet?

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

The "kill Aisha" conspiracy grows!

The Arab rumor that a toy gun says "Kill Aisha" has now reached the Salafists of Tunisia, as they are confiscating the blasphemous gun that says "Go! Go! Go! Pull over and save the hostages!"

I've covered this bizarre story, where it pops up in different places in the Arab world, a number of times.

Here's the latest video showing the outrageous gun:

But I smell a larger plot.

Searching through the many outraged videos made by Islamists trying to start rioting over a toy gun, you notice that there are many different variants of this toy.

Why make so many variants of a gun that says things that are insulting to Muslims?

It must be that as soon as one is confiscated, another is made to take its place, in order to brainwash poor Muslim kids into wanting to kill Mohammed's favorite wife (or, perhaps, any nearby 6 year old girl)!

The phrase "Save the hostages!", which is a pretty boring sound clip for such awesome looking toy guns, must have been deliberately chosen for its hidden meaning in Arabic! Why else would it be re-used in so many toy weapons?

Circles within circles. I wouldn't put it past Islamophobic Westerners to conceive such a plot.

In fact, I received a secret memo from a highly trusted, highly reliable source who has never lied to me (to my knowledge) detailing how far this toy gun conspiracy goes. I'm convinced it is real, but I'll research it for a couple of hours and prove to myself that it is legitimate before releasing it and unleashing a torrent of deadly Muslim riots. (I'm a responsible journalist, after all.)

The truth must be heard!

Something else for BDSers to boycott

From Shalom Life:

One in six women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. That's a staggering number, and one of the most common places where women will be victimized is in nightclubs.

Ever since date rape drugs have become easy accessible, women have had to be on high alert whenever drinking in public, otherwise someone could easily slip an odorless and tasteless drug that can render a person unconscious and put them in a position to be taken advantage of.

An israel professor of Tel Aviv University, Fernando Patolsky, and his partner Michael Ioffe, have invented what will hopefully become a common sight in bar and clubs around the world, an Anti-Date Rape Straw.

The straw can currently detect the two most common drugs being used, ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, of GHB. Patolsky and Ioffe are working on adding more drug detection abilities, including rohypnol, aka ruffies.

The idea is that women will carry the straw with them when they go out, and they can reuse the straw as many times as they like until the straw encounters the presence of any date rape drugs. If the straw detects any drug in the drink, a chemical reaction will be created and the straw will change colour, depending on the drug.

Patolsky and Ioffe hope to commercialize the product within a year.

What a moral dilemma for Israel-hating women who like to party!

(h/t Max)

Mahmoud Abbas laid a wreath in honor of mass murderer Yasir Arafat today, on the occasion of the first day of Eid al Fitr.

He said that next year he hopes to lead a Palestinian Arab state along the so-called "1967 borders" with its capital in Jerusalem.

And the pro-PA media outlet Palestine Press Agency headlined the story as him saying "Next year in Jerusalem."

He also led Eid prayers at a nearby mosque, along with a large number of prominent PA officials and diplomats.

Abbas also sent a representative to lay another wreath at a memorial for "martyrs" (i.e., terrorists) in Jericho.

Abbas received best wishes for the holiday from Shimon Peres, Binyamin Netanyahu - and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Thousands more flee Syria, Lebanon increasingly unstable

From Ya Libnan:

In the last few days, thousands of Syrians have poured across the borders of neighboring countries, fleeing increasing violence in their homeland but creating tension elsewhere.

More than 170,000 Syrians have sought sanctuary in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq,at least 12,000 of them just in the last three days — leading to a growing humanitarian crisis, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

At least 168 people were killed across the country Friday, activists said, many of them in the cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Dara, as the regime of President Bashar Assad uses attack helicopters and warplanes with greater frequency in its assaults on towns and cities.

Syrians fleeing to Lebanon, however, are finding a potentially unstable situation there as well.

The leader of a prominent Lebanese political party on Friday called for declaring a state of emergency as the Syrian conflict spilled over into his country.

Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, called for the measure a week after Lebanese politician Michel Samaha was arrested and accused of planning to target Sunni Muslims in Lebanon. And on Wednesday, a powerful Shiite Muslim clan abducted dozens of Syrians and other foreigners in retaliation for the kidnapping of one of their kin by Free Syrian Army rebels.

More abductions were reported Thursday, though the clan denied responsibility.

“The image formed in every citizen’s mind now is that Lebanon is an uncontrolled state with no authority, constitution or rules whatsoever,” Geagea said in a televised news conference in which he condemned the abductions. “No matter how righteous and decent their cause was, nothing justifies what happened, as it paralyzed the country and annulled the state’s role.”

Speaking of Samaha, the latest details in the case show Lebanese impotence:

Lebanon President Michel Suleiman said on Saturday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should call him and explain the transfer of weapons from Syria to Lebanon in the car of former Information Minister Michel Samaha.

“ The Lebanese judiciary accused a Syrian official of sending weapons to Lebanon , and I expect the Syrian president to call me and explain the incident . I hope this call will take place,” National News Agency quoted Suleiman as saying.

Following his arrest, several reports revealed that Samaha confessed under interrogation that he had transferred “explosives from Syria to Lebanon in order to carry out bombings in North Lebanon, particularly in the area of Akkar, with Syria’s knowledge.”

An Air France flight bound for Beirut last week was forced to land in Syria because protests effectively closed the Lebanese airport

Egypt's Morsi warming up to Iran

From Egypt Independent:

President Mohamed Morsy will attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, Iran on 30 August on his way back from a visit to China on 27 August, sources at the presidency told MENA on Saturday.

Morsy received an invitation to the summit from the envoy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hamid Baqaei.

"We look forward to Egypt’s participation as a founding member of the movement," Baqaei said.

The presidency of the Non-Alignment movement would be handed over by Egypt to Iran during the summit, which would also discuss the challenges facing the movement.

Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were severed more than 30 years ago, but since Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was toppled, both Cairo and Tehran have signaled interest in renewing ties.

Earlier, Egypt said it would send a lower-level representative to the Tehran summit, as most nations are.

It seems improbable that Morsi does not understand the symbolism of this move, as it is a clear slap in the face of the West trying to isolate Iran. To an extent, it is also a power play as Egypt wants to re-assert its leadership of the Arab world, a status that Saudi Arabia has been trying to take for itself.

This is only good news for Iran.