Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Wednesday links

From Ian:

"As far as Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are concerned, it all started when Israel fired back. And they want the rest of the world to adopt this line. Sadly, there is no shortage of naïve people in the West who share this argument. These terrorists are causing more harm to the Palestinians than anyone else. But the two parties would like to see the terror attacks continue so that they can have an excuse to denounce Israel whenever the IDF fires back."

Terrorism and Palestinian Statehood by Alan Dershowitz

"In 1968, a Jordanian-born Palestinian, Sirhan Sirhan, educated to hate anything associated with Jews or Israel, assassinated New York Sen. and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. Five years later, Palestine Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat arranged to have three American diplomats kidnapped and offered in exchange for Kennedy’s assassin. When the U.S. refused to release Sirhan, Arafat personally ordered the torture and murder of the Americans.Rather than condemn this pervasive violence, the U.N. has done everything in its power to reward it, including devoting special agencies entirely to Palestinians and their cause. Meanwhile, the U.N. and the international community have given the cold shoulder to Tibetans, Kurds and other stateless groups that have not used terrorism as their primary means of achieving recognition and statehood."

U.S. has no right to block Israel on Iran: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said the United States had forfeited its moral right to stop Israel taking action against Iran's nuclear program because it had refused to be firm with Tehran itself.

White House Rejects Netanyahu’s Request for Meeting on U.S. Trip

Canadians in Iran faced ‘very real’ threat, officials warn

"In 2009, said Michel de Salaberry, a former Canadian ambassador who returned as chargé d’affaires that year, the mission and its personnel came under “credible threats” from the Revolutionary Guards’ volunteer militia force known as the basij. The threats came following an interview Mr. Harper gave the Wall Street Journal in which he described the Iranian regime as “evil.” The incident showed how quickly real threats can arise, Mr. de Salaberry said."

Breaking what silence?

"In exploiting the allegations of human rights violations for political propaganda, groups such as BtS and their funders are not in any way contributing to the moral imperative of preventing such abuses.
Rather, they themselves engage in conduct that is immoral and fail to fulfill the humanitarian mandate that they espouse."

Co-founder of Breaking the Silence speaks at Australians for Palestine event

Terrorist Who Killed Americans One Month Before 9/11 Not Sought by U.S. After 2011 Release

"Ahlam Tamimi has become more than just one Palestinian terrorist with blood on her hands. She is now a symbol of how weak the United States is, how unserious we are about continuing the conflicts formerly labeled the “War on Terror.” The longer her crimes go unpunished, the more dangerous she becomes as that symbol.
If she escapes justice completely, it will inevitably lead to more dead Americans."

Fate Sealed for Egypt’s Jews

Islamists storm the U.S. embassy and Egypt’s last Jews have no rabbi. Shanah tova from the Muslim Brotherhood.

MEMRI: Egyptian Salafis Demand Release of Omar Abd Al-Rahman (The Blind Sheikh), Chant Antisemitic Slogans

Channel 4 cancels controversial screening of Islam: The Untold Story documentary after presenter Tom Holland is threatened

"A Channel 4 spokeswoman said: “Having taken security advice, we have reluctantly cancelled a planned screening of the programme Islam: The Untold Story. We remain extremely proud of the film which is still available to view on 4oD.”"

Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets

"On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.
But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships."

Samsung comes out of the ‘Israel closet’

Israeli R&D centers — Samsung’s only such centers outside of South Korea — responsible for newest smartphone’s camera technology
"Yet another major multinational technology company has “come out” about its Israel connection. Korean tech giant Samsung, it turns out, has two major R&D facilities in Israel, and the local engineering staff was largely responsible for a number of Samsung technologies – including a sensor used in the upcoming Galaxy S3 smart camera and cellphone."

Those Zionists are diverting rain-clouds away from Iran!

Insidious!

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused his country’s enemies of enacting a sinister plan to create a drought by somehow destroying the rain clouds before they reach Iran, several Iranian websites reported on Tuesday.

Well-known for his anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric, Ahmadinejad has made similar remarks before and last year accused the West of devising a plot to cause drought in the Islamic republic.

“The enemy destroys the clouds that are headed towards our country and this is a war Iran will win,” Ahmadinejad said on Monday, according to several websites including the BBC’s Persian-language site and www.snn.ir.

Iran has one of the world’s driest climates and officials have warned that a severe lack of rainfall in parts of the country has created drought-like conditions.

I found the top secret blueprints for this nefarious plot by hacking into the Mossad:

Good thing I am not subject to Israeli censorship laws.

(h/t Ian)

Last year, for the first time in decades, Egypt refused to sell palm fronds to Israel for the holiday of Sukkot.

In previous years, Israeli Jews would purchase as many as 600,000 of these traditional lulavim. But last year, in what was hailed as a wonderful example of Egyptian "defiance," the state banned all exports of the lulavim using an excuse of tree diseases.

This year, there are reports that Egypt is continuing their ban on lulav exports. The official excuse this year is that the security crackdown in the Sinai is making it difficult to do the harvest.

Last year, after Egypt's rebuff, Israel tried to import the lulavim from Gaza but Hamas refused as well, causing Gaza farmers to lose an estimated one million dollars. UNRWA's spokesman, instead of slamming Hamas for refusing to help its people, instead blamed Israel for hypocrisy in seeking to import goods from Gaza.

Jordanian newspaper calls for genocide of "innately corrupt" Jews

Here is some incitement to genocide along with classic Arab anti-semitismin Assabeel, a Jordanian media outlet that seems to have a Palestinian Jordanian audience.

Entitled "Innate corruption of the Jews," it is a rambling essay that starts off with anti-Jewish verses in the Koran and then goes through the Jews' corrupt history of assassinating prophets. The article goes on to say that Jews only believe in war,and have mastered the art of "crushing and displacement and corruption." According to the article, Jewish philosophy is an intellectual-based corruption meant to push immorality, crime, economic ruin and control of the media.

"Perhaps the first corrupt component in the logic of Jewish thinking is based on disregard for God, of all creeds and religions, with its diligent attempts to falsify facts and history," the newspaper says. It goes on to charge, as Islam claims, that the Torah is falsified and distorted so that the Jews would not listen to the wonderful message of Islam.

Today, Jews have manipulated the US into fabricating Islam to be the number one threat to humanity. They even fabricated the Holocaust in order to make the world feel guilty. In fact, the article claims, Jews were the power behind Hitler's rise.

Now, all of the wars in "Islamic Somalia, Sudan, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine" come because of Jewish/"Zionist" inciting against Islam and Muslims. America has become the Zionist colony par excellence, fabricating wars only to benefit the Jews and the Zionist dream of a Greater Israel.

This is only a small part of the article, which meanders back to Joshua and from there to Deir Yassin (grossly exaggerated, naturally), then to Jewish control of Europe and of Christianity.

It concludes that the only way is to kill the Jews.

This innate intellectual corruption is systematic and based in the depths of vision of the Streptococcus of Zionism and modern Zionist Christianity makes us decide that the venomous Jewish snake can only be dealt with by cutting off her head...as Allah warned us to fight corruption by fighting in the way of Allah as Jihad is the pinnacle of Islam.

This is followed by a litany of verses about the glories of fighting for the sake of Allah.

At my request, JWines.com set up two pages - one with wines that are from grapes grown in Judea and Samaria, and one with those grown in the Golan Heights.

In addition, the Barkan winery is also in Judea and Samaria, even if its grapes are not grown there.

At a time when products made by Jews, and only Jews, in the Land of Israel are being boycotted, buying these award-winning wines becomes more than just a good idea for your enjoyment.

Egyptian perverts wait outside girls' schools to expose themselves

We've discussed Egypt's rampant sexual harassment many times before, but things are even sicker than has been reported:

As the new school year begins next week in Egypt, school girls and their families are preparing to face yet another year of sexual harassment, this time waiting for the children outside their schools.

Egyptian mothers worry about their young daughters, who are subjected to sexual harassment outside their gated schools and daughters only pray to go home safely after the day has ended.

The phenomena of men waiting outside girls only schools to sneak a view, harass and self-expose themselves has made even school a difficult trip to take on a daily basis. Egyptian girls must join girls-only schools after elementary school in all public education, which has turned the gates of the schools into a pervert magnet.

I went to the Kolyet al-Banat school in Zamalek, an all-girls school from elementary through high school:

Right around the corner from our school is an all boys school similar in age group to ours, so we knew what was out there waiting for us every day after school. But it wasn’t exclusive to naughty school boy behavior, we had adult men who also used to wait for the final bell to ring and the thousands of girls to come out. We had a guy who looked like a father of any one of us, a lawyer or a businessman carrying a briefcase, who used to stand there outside of our school every single day. Once the girls started to leave the school he would swiftly move his briefcase, exposing his penis to us. As children we would run away, some laughing and some crying. But he wasn’t the only one. A building guard, or bowab as they are called in Egypt, who worked in a nearby building, a 60-something old man who wore the traditional male dress and sat on his bench watching the street. Once we passed by him, he would lift up his dress and expose his naked flesh to us. We stopped walking by that building and warned other girls as well.

When the problem became overwhelming and parents started to complain to the school and the police, the authorities and the Qasr al-Nil police station sent a police car that stood there outside of our school everyday during my senior year. Problems were getting out of hand and leaving the school meant being exposed to the worst of human nature. That was in late 1999, but the problem has not improved, not even slightly, since. In fact it became widespread to the point where mothers are hiding horror stories of what happens to their girls in school, fearing the father would prevent them from having an education.

...Sexual harassment is no stranger to the experience of being a female in Egypt; in fact it became a fundamental element of being outdoors. Last week, the National Council for Women (NCW) said that Egyptian women get harassed 7 times every 200 meters, and a 2008 report by the Egyptian Center for Women Rights found that well over two-thirds of Egyptian women are harassed on daily basis. Even activists who protest the grotesque practice are also harassed, defying logic.

It is a lot easier to get a protest in Egypt to protect Mohammed's "honor" then to protect the honor of everyone's sisters and daughters.

(h/t Yoel)

Rosh Hashanah video from Latma

(h/t Andreas, Cheryl)

Horrific tale of anti-semitism at British state school

From a pseudonymous author at TheJC:

As a trainee teacher in an inner-London school in the last two years, I dealt with countless remarks about my religion, ranging from the perplexing to the deeply offensive. After his students drew swastikas all over his classroom, my supervisor said simply: "It's not our job to project our own moral compass on to the students." Had I been any other ethnicity experiencing something similar there would doubtless have been instant outrage and punishment. Sadly, by this point I was used to this kind of reaction.

It began when, mystifyingly, a colleague told students about my religion, and the reasons for my so-called "persistent" absences (for the chagim). Later, other colleagues openly discussed my beliefs with students, without my consent or knowledge. Some were interested, but other pupils subjected me to inappropriate and insulting questions, chants and disruptions. Needless to say, had I wanted to share my private religious beliefs, I would only have done so on my own terms.

I found myself the constant prey of a group of roaming lower schoolers who would verbally abuse me everywhere and anywhere - including in my classroom - with screams of "Hitler! Hitler!" Amazingly, each time I reported an incident, it was ignored. Knowing there would be no consequences, no discipline imposed on them, only encouraged the group. Later, someone scratched "Kill Jews" on to a computer in my classroom. The school got rid of the evidence only after I involved the police.

I could detect no racism towards the other, ethnically diverse staff members. Minor incidents of racist name-calling between students were always swiftly punished. Why were the endless attacks on me ignored?

To my mind, the reason was the undisguised and relentless antisemitism of a number of staff members. Some colleagues concocted tenuous issues relating to my beliefs, others were deliberately and inexplicably provocative, calling me "Christ-killer" and other names.

It gets worse from there.

I am told that this happened a year ago; the teacher got herself transferred to another school and did not want to make this a big issue at the time. This seems to be anomalous, from what I gather, although there are lesser amounts of anti-semitism - often disguised as "pro-Palestinian" - at other schools.

Egyptians torch US embassy flag over film that alleges Mohammed was gay (updated)

From Al Ahram:

Egyptian protesters on Tuesday took down the American flag from the walls of the US embassy in Cairo during a thousands-strong demonstration held to protest a short film produced by US based Coptic-Christians that critics say demeans Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

A number of protesters managed to climb atop the walls surrounding the embassy, while others were able to breach the embassy's garden, where they removed an American flag and replaced it with another one bearing the Islamic declaration of faith: "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah."

The Ultras White Knights – hardcore football fans – claimed that members of their group had brought down the US flag. While group members have since retreated from the scene, they say they are planning additional rallies to protest the film.

Many of the more Islamist-leaning protesters had answered calls by Salafist leader Wesam Abdel-Wareth – who is also the president of Egypt's ultra-conservative Hekma television channel – to protest the film 'Mohammed's trial' at 5pm outside the US embassy in Cairo's Garden City district.

Abdel-Wareth, for his part, denied that protesters had managed to breach embassy premises, claiming that the American flag had been torched in front – rather than inside – embassy grounds.

The El-Hekma channel's official Facebook page, meanwhile, has posted a photo of a group of young men removing the flag outside the embassy with a comment that reads: "Ultras Zamalek tear the American flag in front of the embassy."

US embassy spokesman David Linfield, for his part, confirmed that protesters had been able to enter the embassy and remove the flag. He went on to deny rumours, however, that shots had been fired at demonstrators or that anyone had been injured or killed.

Protesters carried signs condemning the alleged insults to Prophet Mohammed, while others vowed vengeance. Some protesters demanded the embassy's closure.

"Obama, Obama there are still a billion Osamas," they chanted in reference to slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

Other protesters wrote "There is no God but Allah and Mohamed is the Prophet of Allah" on the embassy's main gate, obscuring the sign reading "Embassy of the United States."

"Everyone is here for the Prophet," said protester Osama Abdel-Halim. "Why is it that, in politics, everyone takes to the streets over things like the constitution, but not when the prophet is insulted?"

Protester Mostafa Khallef told Ahram Online: "President Morsi must take steps to prevent the broadcast of this offensive film."

I can't find details on the film yet, but here is what is being reported:

The controversial film is reportedly being produced by US-based Coptic-Christian Egyptians, including Esmat Zaklama and Maurice Sadeq.

Maurice Sadeq, a Coptic lawyer based in the US, announced earlier this week that the US-based 'High Authority of the Coptic State' would broadcast the 13-minute film on Tuesday to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

According to Egypt Independent, the film claims that Mohammed was gay.

UPDATE: YNet reports that the film - which looks spectacularly bad - was not done by Copts but by an Israeli in America and financed by anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones.

But later news on Wednesday indicates that the filmmaker, "Sam Bacile," is a pseudonym and it is unclear if he has in fact any Israeli or even Jewish connections as he has claimed.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Israel used 17 tons of explosives to destroy Syrian reactor in 2007, magazine says

Mossad agents stole key information on Assad’s nuclear project from Vienna home of Syrian atomic agency head, New Yorker claims
"These details and the full story of the attack, dubbed Operation Orchard, against Syria’s nuclear reactor near al-Kibar in September 2007, were reported in the New Yorker magazine on Monday. Israel has never publicly claimed credit for the strike, and Syria has never acknowledged that its reactor was destroyed."

AP Exclusive: Diplomats say UN agency has new intelligence Iran worked on nuclear arms

Imagining a Post-Israel Middle East

"Getting rid of the Jewish State will not make the region more stable, heal any wounds, deter terrorism or improve the life of even a single Muslim. The killings will go on and so will the tyrannies. All the old crimes and atrocities will continue without the illusion that they are being done for the greater purpose of destroying the collaborators of the Zionist Entity.
The Middle East will not change without Israel. It will be the exact same place that it always was. Unlike George Bailey, Israel did not make the Middle East better. Nor did it make it worse. Israel did nothing to the Middle East. It just tried to survive living in the middle of it and showed everyone else what was possible."

Gaza Prepares to Declare Independence (From Palestine)

"It’s no secret that Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist faction that controls Gaza, has long considered exchanging its underground smuggling tunnels to Egypt for a policy of above-board trade. What has only recently begun to register is that Hamas may be contemplating a bolder political gambit still: Cutting its financial ties to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank, in preparations for declaring full independence on behalf of Gaza."

PMW demands retraction from Corrie family's lawyer

Abu Hussein recounted how he once addressed an Israeli judge in court during a case regarding land rights:
"We Palestinians have Canaanite and Phoenician roots which are an integral part of our history, and you [Israelis] are new, you are new occupiers. And there is no proof, in spite of all the digs you have done in Palestine by Zionist archeologists, who until today have not found one proof of their connection to this homeland." VIDEO

Brother of French al-Qaeda-inspired killer questioned

"French anti-terrorism judges interrogated for the first time on Monday the brother of an al-Qaeda-inspired gunman who killed seven people in March, including three Jewish children, to determine his involvement in the spate of bloody attacks."

Fake ad for 'Mengele' weight pills causes furor

Jewish groups upset over Estonian paper's use of photo showing emaciated Holocaust survivors; paper calls ad ironic.

Muslim Brotherhood official shuns Israelis at international conference

Terror gangs said to be planning to attack US and Israeli embassies in Cairo

Murdoch Endorses Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

News Corp CEO throws support behind King David
“My platform is pretty simple,” the News Corp CEO told the audience at the start of his opening address. “If it’s good enough for King David, it’s good enough for me.”

For the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Tel Aviv, a sort of homecoming

America’s masters of funk, rock, and subtle melody delight a huge crowd in the country where their late founding guitarist was born

Israel Daily Picture: Blowing the Shofar on the New Year 80 Years Ago

Also:
CAMERA in TOI: Cheap shots: Palestinians put kids in the line of fire

Jews question their future in Germany (Der Spiegel) (h/t Sophie)

People who quoted or linked to EoZ recently:

Fake Gaza Art at Aish

Obama’s Favorite Islamic University Outlaws Judaism in Egypt at FrontPageMag

Egyptian newspaper: How Jews control the world at Jihad Watch

The Democratic Party and the Betrayal of the Jews at TOI

Red Hot Chili Peppers Elicit Evidence of the Massive Gap Between Pro-Palestinian Israelis and Anti-Zionist Arabs at the Augean Stables

Based on:

The U.S. is “not setting deadlines” for Iran and still considers negotiations as “by far the best approach” to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said

Hundreds throw shoes at Fayyad's picture in Hebron

From Palestine Times, photos of yesterday's protests in Hebron:

As if they didn't already accuse Fayyad of being a "Zionist," reports say that Israel is trying to get money from the US and Europe to prop up the PA (since the alternative would be even worse.)

Since anything that Israel does is by definition evil, then Israel cooperating with the PA proves that the PA is Zionist. As a result, these brilliant secular protesters are going to open up their lives to be run by Hamas, purely because Hamas is more anti-Zionist.

Egypt ready to buy oil from Iran?

From Reuters:

Iran is in talks to sell crude oil to Egypt, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Monday.

Iran has been looking for new buyers for its oil as western sanctions over its disputed nuclear program squeeze sales to long-time customers.

Egyptian Petroleum Minister Osama Kamal told state owned Al-Ahram newspaper earlier this month that Cairo had "no objection" to importing Iranian crude and processing it in Egyptian refineries.

There was a similar report on September 6:

According to Iran's governor, Iran wants to sell oil to Egypt, days after Egypt said it had no objection to importing crude from the state.

Once again, it appears that the new Egypt is quite ready to slap the US in the face.

Interestingly, the Saudis say that they would like to lower the price of oil at the same time that Iran wants to raise the price of theirs.

Some Alawites defecting from Syria too

From Time:

[Alawite] members are increasingly breaking rank, as defections swell along with mounting uneasiness about the government’s crackdown against what started as a peaceful protest movement.

Captain Umar in Syria is a rebel fighter and an Alawite, and he considers Assad a “butcher.” The officer no longer believes the regime’s propaganda and says he abandoned his unit after the government began shelling civilian neighborhoods in his hometown. But Umar says it is Assad who is injecting the conflict with a sectarian hue. “Bashar is telling us the Sunnis will slaughter us,” he says via Skype from Syria. “He is scaring Alawis and pushing them to the edge. This is why the army is killing the people in the street. They are scared the Sunnis will massacre us.”

Umar says that it was the military’s daily shelling of civilian areas that pushed him to defect. “I just couldn’t see Syrians dying anymore.” He refuses to reveal how many Alawite officers have defected, but he does say the “number is significant.”

Others with ties to the security forces have also turned their back on the Alawite leadership. Luban Mrai’s father is a senior leader in the paramilitary organization known as the shabiha that targets civilians. She recently left the country after experiencing “serious moral and ethical dilemmas” stemming from the targeting of civilians. Today she resides in Istanbul, trying to mobilize support for the rebels. “The regime is using our religion for political ends,” she explains in a phone conversation. “Alawis are killing Syrians for no reason. This is wrong.”

Leading Alawite intellectuals have abandoned the regime as well. Rasha Omran is one of Syria’s better-known poets and has been invited to read her poetry at literature festivals throughout Europe. Since the beginning of the uprising, she has lent her voice and pen to the cause. Omran announced her support of the revolution within days of its eruption on her Facebook page. She marched in protests and spoke out against Assad. “This is a dictatorial regime,” she said in a phone call from Egypt. “How can I support a government that kills its citizens?”

Omran wanted to support the revolution by remaining in Syria. But her vocal protests embarrassed a regime trying to project sectarian unity. Because she belongs to a respected Alawite family, the government risked an Alawite backlash if it arrested her. Instead, she says, intelligence agents pressured her to leave the country in a series of visits to her house. She finally left Syria at the beginning of the year.

"We're not against Jews. We're against non-Arab Israeli citizens"

972mag's Noam Sheizaf brings us a fantastic example of how Arabs will never accept the existence of Jews as equals in the Middle East.

A Jordanian "anti-normalization" group put out a notice to ban all "Zionists" from traveling to Jordan to attend an after-party with a popular Lebanese band called Mashrou Leila (that recently canceled a gig opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Beirut because the RHCP are playing in Israel.) Apparently, many anti-Zionist Israelis are big fans of the band.

Well, that's not quite true. The "anti-normalization" letter says it intends to ban all Zionists, but its definition of Zionist is interesting:

Finally, we would like to inform you clearly that despite your confirmation and that of your associates here in Amman, that the event you're organizing will not host any Zionists (to be clear we take this stand against all Israeli nationality holders that are non Arab) we are still taking certain measures to ensure that you will abide by your word on this matter, fully realizing and taking into consideration the continuous arguments and justifications in favor of accompanying Zionists to the event here in Amman. We simply reject all Zionists' irrelevant of their race, political or religious orientations or beliefs.

We are very vigilant to all cultural events in Amman and we will have narrow to the ground during Mashrou Leila, so we urge you to keep your word and promise to keep our events and country zionist-free.

Now, a number of vehemently anti-Israel Jewish citizens of Israel - people who completely share the Arab desire to destroy Israel and create a single "Palestine" from the river to the sea - were offended by this letter. Here is a dialogue between "Noa" and Jordanians who make it quite clear that if she is a true anti-Zionist, she should leave the country she was born in because she is Jewish:

Noa: (Israeli) Cau I ask a question?

how come Zionists are “all Israeli nationality holders that are non-Arabs”, but then you say you reject all Zionists, irrelevant of their race and religious orientation”?

I was born Jewish in Israel. I have fought all my life along with my rifaq, the Palestinians of 48′, and other anti Zionist Jews as myself, against Zionism inside Israel.

I refused to serve in the Israeli occupation army and my friends sat in jail 2 years for that refusal. I’m involved with bi-National anti Zionist activism for years, and I can tell you more if you’re interesting. you can also ask Palestinian activists from here, they can tell you, I’m sure.

I’m also sure you can guess how the Israeli mainstream treats Jewish anti-Zionists as myself.

But then you call me a Zionist, just for being a non-Arab Israeli – well, these identities are ones I was born with. I chose to be an anti Zionist, and your decision to ignore this choice and see me as a Zionist just for my Jewish family goes against all the other things you say.

Your attempts to set the Palestinians of 48′ apart from their Jewish anti-Zionist allies hurts the possibility of struggle for both sides, and pushes us anti Zionist Jews back to our original community, and away from the connections with the activists who can teach us about the Palestinian reality and fight with us against the Israeli apartheid.

So actually you want me to be Zionist?

Of you just don’t care, I was born a Jew and that’s all I can ever be?

Palestinian from Jordan ALL CITIZENS OF THE ILLEGAL STATES OF “ISRAEL” ARE A PART OF THE ZIONIST COLONIAL PROJECT, EXCEPT THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF PALESTINE, AND SO, ALL THOSE WHO SERVE THE ZIONIST PROJECT ARE ZIONISTS FOR US, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RACE, RELIGIOUS BELIEVES OR DISBELIEVES OR POLITICAL VIEWS, FOR DISAMBIGUATION, ANY NON-ISRAELI JEW IS NOT A ZIONIST, ANY PALESTINIAN JEW IS NOT ZIONIST, AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT SERVE THE ZIONIST COLONIAL PROJECT BY OTHER MEANS THAN CITIZENSHIP

Noa: How do I serve the Zionist project? I was among the organizers of the refusal movement, of Jewish Israelis who refuse to serve the Israeli army, my male friends sat years in jail because they refused to serve. I was born in Israel and so were my parents. My grand parents were refugees from three different countries – where is that you want to send me? Poland, Romania or Hungary? I have no other citizenship, and I have fought against the Zionist regime more than most of your friends.

So if you still judge me just on the background of my birth, what does it make you?

Palestinian from Jordan YOU CAN ASK FOR YOUR ORIGINAL CITIZENSHIP AS WE SHOULD DEMAND FOR OURS

Noa wanna split me into 3 different pieces?

I belong here, and not going anywhere else.

I believe you need to start to differentiate between Jewish and Zionist. The struggle against Zionism is the struggle to live together in an open and equal democratic state of Palestinians and Jews together, and not the struggle to return back to the past and send all the Jews away in a second Nakba. Otherwise you’re no better than the Zionists.

Zeina (Palestinian): Noa, you keep throwing religion into this, while the letter is clearly not making any distinctions on the basis of religion. Rather, it is the Zionist movement that is claiming Palestine as a land for Jews. There were Palestinian Jews coexisting in Palestine with Christians and Muslims long before 1948, for us, it is not about religion. The issue is very simple, any person who came from anywhere else in the world to live in Palestine under the so called name of “Israel” is serving the Zionist project. I don’t think I need to remind you that every one of you is living in the place of a Palestinian that was either martyred or expelled. For us, it is Palestine, always has been and always will be. A true anti-Zionist would pick and up and leave the land to its native inhabitants: Muslims, Christians, Jews, or atheists; doesn’t really matter as long as they are Palestinian.

Noa: Jaffa is my only homeland, dear Zeina.

Colonialism is different in different contexts, and unlike the French in Algeria, in this context there’s no metropolin to return to. The Jews were thrown here because of hirtorical events unconnected to Palestine, but after 3 generations, we’ve mixed so much, cut all our roots in our previous countries and grown roots in here. That’s the reality of our generation, and if you stll think 6 million people need to be uprooted again, and no joined future is possible, well – you sound just like the Zionists to me.

972, which is a magazine by and for Jewish anti-Zionists, is clearly uncomfortable with this exchange showing that no matter how much Jews try to twist themselves into pleasing Arabs, they will still be considered "Zionist."

Sheizaf, in order to be able to square his readings of virulent anti-semitism among his friends and heroes, manages to come up with a further fantasy to deepen his cognitive dissonance:

At the end, I feel that what the recent Facebook conversation showed is the futility of any form of “dialogue” at this point in time. As long as the political issue remains unsolved, such contacts make both sides more angry and “extreme.” The heart of the matter are the issues on the ground – the occupation, the refugee problem – and when these are solved, or even when there are some real steps taken in the right direction, I believe that rhetoric and ideologies will change too, at least in the mainstream.

Noam, why resort to putting your head in the sand? The answer may be even simpler. Just read these words out loud: "There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet."

Now there is a slight chance that you can be the equal you dream of living in a liberal Arab society, as you watch your Jewish - I mean "Zionist" - former friends being shipped out of the Middle East in cattle cars.

And when that happens, you can scream Allah Akbar with your fellow "Palestinians" and hope that your embrace of Islam will help you avoid being discriminated against - for another year or two.

It's all about "justice," right?

(h/t Sasha)

More crazy quotes about Canada from Iran and its fans

These are just so funny....

The brick Ottawa built within the shaky wall of Zionism will remain forever as a black stain in the brief history of Canada.

It goes without saying that Canadian extremist Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the key to this entire anti-Iran move.

Known as the ‘Ugly Canadian’, Harper has been widely criticized for shamelessly pandering to Israel and constantly throwing one-sided support behind the Zionist regime in the Palestinian issue.

Canada is hitching its cart to dead horses by making Washington a model of emulation in its foreign policy. Cutting ties with Iran, pandering slavishly to the Zionist regime, ignoring the plight of the downtrodden Palestinians, supporting the despotic Arab regimes in the Middle East and many other things to boot constitute only a small portion of the twisted policies of Canada’s conservative government which will be faced with eventual isolation and left with a legacy of domestic and foreign debts just like Washington. - PressTV

Although there are three times as many Muslim and Arab Canadians as there are Canadian Jews, Harper only retains political control because of his favorable treatment by the Zionist media in Canada and the deep pockets of Canadian Jewish donors swelling his coffers. Harper has attempted to purge the government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) of those who maintain an even-handed approach to Middle East issues in the same way that the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio in the United States has seen a similar purge. -PressTV

Iran on Monday said Canada had a "neo-conservative extremist government" as it kept up a furious response to Ottawa's decision last week to cut diplomatic ties.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi used that description in an interview with the Iranian parliament's website (icana.ir) in which he also said the Canadian government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper was "boundlessly defending international Zionism." - AFP

The Zionist-beholden, pro-war Canadian Government has broken off diplomatic relations with remote, peaceful Iran and justified this with a comprehensively false litany of allegations. While Iran has not invaded any other countries for centuries, the pro-war, pro-Zionist, US lackey, Canadian Government has been involved in the Zionist-promoted US War on Muslims that has killed 12 million Muslims through violence or war-imposed deprivation since 1990. Further, 1.1 million Canadians have died preventably since 2001 linked to perverted Canadian Government fiscal priorities of killing Muslim abroad rather than keeping Canadians alive at home.- Gideon Polya at Countercurrents

That last statistic is so ridiculous that you have to read the article to believe it. In short, every Canadian who died from, say, cancer - or homicide - since 2001 are assumed to have been indirectly killed by the Canadian government.

I'm sure we'll see some swastika maple leaves with the Star of David on some of these sites any day now.

Classic!

Arab media cover Jewish refugee conference more than Israeli media

Times of Israel reports:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon (Yisrael Beytenu) vowed Sunday to promote the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands despite the possible negative political implications for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Netanyahu, speaking via a pre-recorded message at the international “Justice for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries” conference in Jerusalem, said he raises the issue of Jewish refugees wherever he goes.

“The Arab world has neglected Arab refugees for decades and has used them as a battering ram against Israel, while Israel, who was just born as a nation-state, has managed to absorb and resettle the Jewish refugees from Arab countries and turn them into productive citizens,” said the prime minister.

“This government has decided to promote the issue and therefore I raise this issue as well everywhere I go,” he added.

Ayalon, who last week launched an online advocacy campaign entitled “I am a refugee,” told the conference, “The issue of refugees from the Middle East has two sides. Granted, there are Palestinian refugees, but there is a larger number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.”

Ayalon was referring to hundreds of thousands of Jews who fled Middle Eastern and North African countries at the time of Israel’s establishment, most of them heading to Israel. Ayalon’s campaign aims to raise this issue in part as a counter to Palestinian demands for a “right of return” for Arabs who left what is today Israel at around the same time. The Palestinians claim that millions of fourth generation descendants of those Arabs should be allowed to “return” to Israel under a peace agreement — a demand that would demographically end Israel as a Jewish state. Israel argues that Arab refugee descendants should be absorbed in the new “Palestine” under a peace accord, just as Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees.

Ayalon, too, emphasized the Netanyahu administration’s focus on the matter: “The Israeli government has decided to put its full force behind this issue, of which there are political implications, in particular regarding peace negotiations.”

There has been some coverage of this in the English-language Zionist media, the Arabic press has been treating this as a major story. In fact, the only place I found the full text of Netanyahu's speech was at an Arabic Israeli site!

The anger that Palestinian Arabs have at being equated to any other refugee group is palpable, and some of their comments are revealing. For example, Al Wafd reports that Ahmed Hannon, head of the refugee committee for the PLO, said that this is "Israel's strategy in questioning the right of return for Palestinians," adding that this mythical "right of return" is the most prominent of the sticking points that prevent the revival of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Since that "right" is wholly meant to destroy Israel, that shows how interested Palestinian Arabs are in building their own state.

This conference is shining a lot of light on Arab hypocrisy.

WTF???

Here's the entire text of a small story in Egypt Independent:

Police seized a high explosive "bomb" from two men driving on the Cairo-Ismailia road on Sunday, but the men escaped, said Interior Ministry sources.

Bomb squad director Alaa Abdel Zaher said this type of bomb could destroy a whole city.

Monday links

From Ian:

Steps to Disempower Iran by Christine Williams

"A coordinated effort is required by all Western allies, and these nations need to pull their weight; with the goal of isolating Iran. There is an urgent need for an approach of zero tolerance to Iran's terrorist strategies practiced both within its boundaries against dissidents and Westerners, and those exported by means of a fifth column in Western democracies. Taken straight from the Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah: Being on the European terrorist list would "destroy Hizbollah," drying up its financial, political resources and moral support."

Lessons for Israel from Captured Iraqi Nuclear Documents by Dore Gold

"To prove their point that stability will not be the likely result of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, they cite a meeting of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council on March 27, 1979 in which Saddam presented his strategic thinking, when he was the de-facto ruler of Iraq and just about to formally become its president. His thinking was surprising for he explained that Iraqi nuclear weapons would neutralize what many believed was Israel’s nuclear capacity, thereby allowing Iraq to wage conventional war against Israel."

NGO Monitor: NGO Statements on the Rachel Corrie Verdict

NGO Conflicts of Interest: "The NGOs failed to disclose several conflicts of interest that call into question their ability to issue credible statements regarding this incident.
For example, HRW commented on the case without revealing that the Corrie family’s media contact during the trial, Stacy Sullivan, previously worked for HRW, a clear conflict of interest.
Amnesty International’s reporting is similarly marred. Both Amnesty International’s and Amnesty USA’s Israel researchers, Deborah Hyams and Edith Garwood, respectively, were activists in ISM around the time of the Corrie incident."

The Attacks on Israelis You Won’t Read About Anywhere Else, September 6-7

Disappointing Israel, Clinton says US won’t set deadlines for Iran

Netanyahu has been hoping Obama will specify ‘red lines’ that, if crossed by Iran, would prompt US military action

Ahmadinejad to address UN on Yom Kippur

Western leaders' speeches at General Assembly this year expected to focus on Iranian, Syrian issues. PM Netanyahu to speak day after Iranian president

Iranian rial plummets as sanctions take hold

The mission: Target Israelis

Iran's Quds Force, widely considered to be Tehran's black-ops arm, executes terror attacks overseas. Encouraged by its success in Burgas, it now has its sights on other destinations

Mexican authorities arrest suspected Hezbollah operatives

Two remain in custody, one extradited to the US

Syria transferred chemical weapons to port city last month, raising alarm bells,
report says

Russian and US warnings came after news that embattled regime had moved weapons

Greens Punished for their support of fringe issues including BDS

NSW (Australia) voters “thumped and punished” the Greens in the weekend NSW local government elections for their support for their support of fringe issues like the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) which attempted to de-legitimise the State of Israel.

UNESCO site in Uruguay points to a forgotten Jewish past

The small historical city of Colonia del Sacramento is slowly unearthing remnants of Port Jews who fled persecution on the Iberian peninsula and slowly assimilated in the New World.

Red Hot Chili Peppers visit Western Wall<

Those evil Israelis helping Gaza farmers again

From COGAT, part of the IDF:

On Tuesday, the Gaza District Coordination and Liaison held a day-long preparatory seminar in anticipation of the export season. Starting in November, strawberries will be exported from the Gaza Strip to European markets. The seminar was planned and coordinated by the Coordination and Liaison Administration's agricultural coordinator, Mr. Ori Madar.

The seminar opened with a meeting between the heads of Palestinian farmers' associations and representatives from the Israeli company that will export the crops from Gaza to Europe. The meeting's objective was for the two sides to reach an agreement, and indeed during the meeting the Palestinian farmers signed a marketing contract. In addition, they shared with Mr. Madar their expectations and needs for the upcoming export season, and he will address them in order for the export to go as comfortably and smoothly as possible

Later in the day, 40 Palestinian farmers heard a lecture delivered by Mr. Nabil Ganaim, a world expert in growing strawberries. His lecture provided the farmers with knowledge about growing and exporting strawberries, with the goal of helping them produce crops that adhere to the standards of the European market.

In anticipation of the conference, Mr. Madar organized and coordinated all aspects of the day, including permits for the farmers who attended the seminar at the District Coordination and Liaison offices. At the beginning of the day, Khatib Mansour, commander of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, greeted and welcomed the Palestinian farmers. He emphasized that Israeli support for exporting crops is strong and will continue.

Strawberries are not the only crop being exported: the Coordination and Liaison Administration is preparing more conferences in the upcoming weeks, in order to prepare the Administration and Palestinian farmers for exporting more vegetables and spices.

Naturally, this meeting didn't make it into the Arab press.

I wonder if Gaza farmers who export their goods via Israel are "collaborators"?

IAEA "frustrated" by Iranian coverup of nuke work

From Radio Netherlands:

The head of the UN atomic agency hit out Monday at Iran's refusal to address allegations of nuclear weapons research and called on Tehran to allow access to a suspect military site "without further delay".

"Despite the intensified dialogue between the Agency and Iran since January 2012, no concrete results have been achieved so far," Yukiya Amano said at the start of an International Atomic Energy Agency board meeting.

"This is frustrating because, without Iran's full engagement, we will not be able to start the process to resolve all outstanding issues, including those involving possible military dimensions to its nuclear programme.

"We consider it essential for Iran to engage with us without further delay on the substance of our concerns," Amano said, according to the text of his speech released by the Vienna-based IAEA.

Amano also said that activities at the Parchin military base near Tehran, where Iran is accused of having carried out weapons research and of removing evidence in recent months, "will have an adverse impact on our ability to undertake effective verification there".

Activities spotted at Parchin by satellite "further strengthen our assessment that it is necessary to have access to the location at Parchin without further delay in order to obtain the required clarifications," Amano said.

So what's the level of "frustration" that constitutes a red line? A mushroom cloud?

Muslims freak over "Judaizing" Christian concert south of Temple Mount

The Aqsa Foundation has released another seething press release that has been copied verbatim throughout the Arabic media world about the latest Israeli crimes.

And today's crime was a concert held last night by the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

The Foundation says that this concert, attracting foreign tourists, in the days before Rosh Hashanah, is another manifestation of Judaizing Jerusalem.

The Foundation complained that the sound of the music could be heard at the Al Aqsa Mosque and "confused" worshipers, which apparently is a human rights violation. They also really disliked the fact that there were dancers.

The photos of the concert provided in the article show that the singers and the audience were anything but Jewish:

Hmmm... that last photo makes it very hard to argue that the concerts were meant to "Judaize" Jerusalem!

The Al Aqsa Foundation also noted that Jews have been flocking to the Kotel at midnight and early morning to perform the Selichot services done every year before Rosh Hashanah and up until Yom Kippur. They declared that these concerts and prayers will never destroy the Islamic character of Jerusalem.

Notably, when it is in their interest, the Muslim leaders will cooperate with Christian dhimmi leaders of Jerusalem to complain about "Judaization" of the city, but when they are by themselves they will not admit any Christian history in Jerusalem either.

PalArabs protest fuel prices; West Bank paralyzed (update)

Public transport workers in the PA called a general strike today, paralyzing life throughout the West Bank.

People who rely on public transportation were unable to go to work or school.

Beyond that, other protesters have been burning tires to block roads, in Ramallah and Jenin.

Rising fuel prices sparked the protests last week.

Panicked citizens have been buying up bread as they fear that bakery owners will join the strike. The bakers say that they won't, but people are worried about supply lines to the bakeries or that tomorrow they won't be able to even reach the bakeries altogether.

Yesterday, protesters demanded the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas. Up untl now, prime minister Salam Fayyad had been the focus of the protests. The main road between the northern and southern West Bank was blocked yesterday by protesters.

Abbas had a major press conference on Saturday, but as far as I can tell he again did not say a word of support for Fayyad. (UPDATE: He does defend Fayyad to the West here, h/t David G.)

Seeing the writing on the wall, Hamas announced that they would reduce the price of fuel in Gaza, lowering the cost of fuel by 20 agorot a liter.

UPDATE: Protests getting violent in Hebron, according to tweeters.

Hamas to build terror museum with Iranian help

The Hamas-based Palestine Times reports that a new museum is being planned in Gaza to commemorate the "resistance," i.e., terrorism.

The Hamas minister of Culture, Youth and Sports signed an agreement with his Iranian counterpart on a number of cultural initiatives, including the terror museum in Gaza.

Minister Mohammed al-Madhoun visited Tehran and met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Mohammad Hosseini, his culture minister, along with other Iranian officials. After more than five days of talks the Hamas minister signed a memorandum of cultural cooperation with Iran. They agreed to exchange delegations and have Iran offer training courses in various fields, especially film, for Gazans. One of the major promises was cooperation to build a museum to commemorate the "resistance."

It seems likely that the museum will be patterned after a similar museum in southern Lebanon that Hezbollah uses to indoctrinate youngsters into lives of terrorism.

Egyptian newspaper: How Jews control the world

From Egypt's El Balad, one of the types of articles that seem to be multiplying under the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Egypt.

It goes into great detail into how Jews are taking over the world:

The close intellectual and spiritual cooperation between the Jews and the British shows their desire to capture the world, and then this cooperation extended to include the United States.

Here are their steps and protocols to achieve this control:

1 - the destruction of any community authority for the benefit of state power
2 - reducing the power of States to increase the authority of the United Nations
3 - put the United Nations authority in the hands of the five permanent members of the Security Council and to have Jews achieve control of the governments of these countries

Here are their steps to destroy the authority of society:

1 - a culture of equality between men and women, so men lose their sense of ownership of the family
2 - fight and destroy the marriage relationship and family authority and make the man and women as a means of producing children to be taken over by state care so the identity of the individual is only as determined by the state.
3 - to justify adultery.
4 - laws on child protection to reduce the power of family and inciting children to disrespect authority of the father or the mother or the family and freedom from any community limitations.
5 - insulting the clergy and ridicule them and show them that they are hypocrites, and incite young people not to obey them.
6 - to prevent beatings or any means of punishment of children in schools so teachers lose their prestige and their ability to control them, and the children are brought up to disrespect anyone.
7 - stripping tribal elders of their material and moral powers
8 - Revolution on popular fashion "folk"; new forms of clothing fashion so citizens lose values of cultural identity.
9 - looting ancient cultures from the minds of the people and replace them with stories and Western films.
10 - rewrite history to guide peoples' cultures, including the historic Islamic stories of our Ancestors and sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
11 - the establishment of parties and political groups that are pro-religious Jews and America, and support for access to the rule, which in turn works to achieve indirect occupation by Jews of America.

I'm not sure whether El-Balad is a state-run newspaper, but its been a while since I saw such raw anti-semitism so explicit in an Egyptian media outlet outside of religious sermons.

The dreaded open thread

Here. Now.

Jordanian protesters arrested for "lèse majesté"

From Ammon News:

Jordanian security forces on Saturday arrested nine Pro-reform activists who belong to the Free Tafileh Movement after tense protests that took place Friday in both the southern governorate of Tafileh, and the Tafileh neighborhood in eastern Amman.

The protests turned violent after pro-reform activists reportedly chanted slogans against the Jordanian regime and insulted King Abdullah II and the Royal Court. Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters and went on a campaign to arrest the activists.

A security source told Ammon News that the slogans chanted during the protest went against Jordanian norms and standards of decency, in addition to defamation, slander, and distorting reputation of top figures in Jordan.

Ammon News learned that the nine activists will be facing five major charges, including breaching security and order, Lese-Majeste, slander and defamation, violating public decency, and opposing the existing regime.

I had wondered why previous protests stayed away from saying anything bad about the king - it is because to protest against the king violates more laws!

I'm not sure if these protesters were Islamist, but there is an Islamist protest scheduled today as well.

Sunday links

From Ian:

Abbas attacks Israel, Hamas over PA economic woes By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

PA president clarifies no date set for UN application; protesters surround PA Prime Minister Fayyad's car, calling on him to resign.
“He also said that he would go the UN General Assembly on September 27 “to consult with friends” about upgrading the status of a Palestinian state in the international agency to non-member.
However, Abbas did not say that he would submit a request to the General Assembly in this regard. No date has been set for filing the application to the UN, he clarified."

Canada’s moral leadership

Canada’s bold words and actions give us Israelis hope that there are indeed many decent people, some of them in positions of power, who will not bow to demonization or to the Orwellian twisting of history and language that often pertains to Israel these days. And they will stand in defense of Israel.

PM: World must follow Canada's example, cut ties with Iran

Netanyahu praises Canada's decision to sever ties with Tehran, says int'l community needs to set down this type of "red line" which sends message "dark regime" mustn't obtain nuclear weapons.

Facebook Fails Review

OHPI (Online Hate Prevention Institute) recently reported a number of antisemitic images to Facebook using the regular reporting facility available to all users. Every one of our reports was swiftly reviewed and swiftly rejected.
Facebook is making a serious effort to respond faster to complaints, but this is meaningless if the response is to invariably reject the complaints. There is also no appeal and we have no details of any internal review process – if there is one, Facebook is welcome to share details to reassure us.

MEMRI Clerics and Experts on Yemeni Houthi TV Indulge in Multiple, Antisemitic 9/11 Conspiracies

'Kill the Jews' Spray-painted in New Jersey

Residents of a neighborhood in Monmouth Heights, NJ, awoke on Thursday to find swastikas and hate-filled slogans.

Arsonists burn Jewish eatery; 2nd attack at Hollywood plaza

A strip mall where arson destroyed a Judaica store last year became the site of a second fiery attack Friday, when two masked arsonists in hoodies broke into a kosher restaurant and splashed flammable liquid all over the kitchen to make it go up in flames.

Jihadists join Aleppo fight, eye Islamic state, surgeon says

The foreign jihadists included young Frenchmen who said they were inspired by Mohammed Merah, a self-styled Islamist militant from Toulouse, who killed seven people in March in the name of al-Qaeda.

Syrian troops storm Palestinian refugee area

Latest act of brute force comes as Syrian Observatory for Human Rights raises estimated death toll in uprising to over 23,000.

Brother of Al-Qaeda leader justifies 9/11 attacks, says group would strike at Israel if it could

‘We consider anyone hostile towards the Muslims to be an enemy, but all in good time,’ says Muhammad Al-Zawahiri, brother of bin Laden’s successor

Iran releases persecuted Christian pastor

Iran’s judiciary issued orders to hang the dissident Christian, arrested in 2009 for seeking to register a home-based church.

Israeli actress wins big at Venice festival

Hadas Yaron takes best actress award for portrayal of a young Hassidic bride in 'Fill the Void.'

Israel: Where US vets come to heal

The unique Heroes to Heroes Journey to Israel gives America’s disabled veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan a spiritual and physical new start.

Mahmoud Abbas' Lies of the Day

From AFP:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he will make a bid on Sept. 27 to obtain non-member status at the United Nations.

“We will go to the U.N. General Assembly for consultations with our friends on the draft resolution calling for the upgrade of Palestine (to non-member status)” in the United Nations, Abbas said in a televised address.

“We are going to the U.N. to say that we are a state which applies the fourth Geneva convention (on the protection of civilians in time of war). There are 133 countries that recognize us as a state with east Jerusalem as its capital and where we have embassies hoisting the Palestinian flag.”

Given that it has been years since Abbas has condemned rocket attacks against Israeli civilians from Gaza, which he considers part of his territory, the idea that the PA adheres to the Fourth Geneva Convention is laughable. (Not to mention that Abbas' own Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades celebrate rockets fired at Israeli houses.)

Also, according to the official PLO UN page, there are PLO embassies in 80 countries, not 133. More may have opened since that page was updated in January 2011, but 53 seems unlikely.

Peaceful PalArabs rampage, murder, riot. Let's give them a state!

Besides the Grad rockets from Gaza overnight, the Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank were also busy being violent this weekend.

The worst incident was the murder of a Jew:

A 50-year-old man was killed in a suspected hit-and-run accident Sunday morning on Road 505 between the Jewish settlements of Oranit and Elkana.

The man, a security guard who lives in one of the area's communities, was apparently trying to document the entry of illegal Palestinian workers into Israel when he was hit by a car and critically injured.

Police are searching for the driver, who fled the scene of the incident.

Judea and Samaria District Police Commander Amos Yaakov said that "the security guard arrived to document the entry of an illegal resident and tried to stop the vehicle, which kept going at high speed, hit and killed him. It was an intentional hit. We are currently investigating all leads."

There was also an attempted pogrom against a Jewish village:

Hundreds of Palestinian Authority Arabs have been assaulting a Jewish village in the Binyamin region since Saturday afternoon, Tatzpit reports.

Residents of the Jewish village of Esh Kodesh reported that the assault began when three men from the community were walking in one of the town’s vineyards on Saturday afternoon, during the Jewish Sabbath.

The men were attacked by a large Arab mob armed with clubs and sticks, residents said. The attackers apparently came from the nearby PA town of Kotzra.

A security team from Esh Kodesh was called to the scene, as were nearby IDF units. The responders encountered hundreds of PA men armed with rocks and other makeshift weapons, and were unable to stop the assault.

“Children in the village are crying,” community spokesman Aharon Katzuf told Tatzpit. “They can’t sleep because of the screams of ‘Yitbach al Yahud’ [Slaughter the Jews – ed.] and ‘Allahu Akbar.’”

As of Saturday night clashes continued. An IDF spokesperson said, “Security forces are at the scene, and the circumstances are being investigated.”

Palestinian Arab media, not surprisingly, only reports about the security forces' response and nothing about the rampage. Oh, and they also claim that the religious settlers destroyed olive trees and wells on the Sabbath.

There was a similar attack against Esh Kodesh a year ago.

But the violence was not only against Jews. Riots against the PA intensified, as protesters burned vehicles and blocked roads.

Dozens of protesters blocked the main road connecting the south and north West Bank on Sunday morning, witnesses told Ma'an.

The Wadi al-Nar road was jammed with burning tires and rocks, they said, as protests against economic hardship continue across the West Bank.

Several students told Ma'an they were not able to travel to schools and universities because of the protest.

A northern West Bank governor was injured on Saturday night after a protester threw rocks at him during a protest against rising living costs.

Governor of Tubas Marwan Al-Tubasi suffered a moderate head wound when he was hit by a rock in Fara village, he told Ma'an. The governor said he went to the village to appeal to people not to shut down roads and damage property.

Sounds like they are ready for a state, doesn't it?

Rockets from Gaza increase; Netivot house destroyed

From YNet:

Two Grad rockets were fired Saturday night at southern Israel. One of the rockets hit a street in the town of Netivot, while the second one exploded in an open area in Beersheba.

Two houses were badly damaged in Netivot, but luckily there were no injuries in the attack. One of the residents whose house was hit escaped injury by running into the bathroom. "The entire house collapsed on me," he said later.

Only two days ago, on Friday morning, two rockets hit open fields in the Netivot area. There were no injuries. The rocket fire was resumed over the weekend after the Israel Defense Forces increased its attacks in Gaza and assassinated a series of terrorist cells.

Lately, only Salafist groups have been taking responsibility for rockets fired into Israel.

But Grad rockets are smuggled into Gaza, not built there. And Hamas controls every weapons tunnel. Which means that Hamas knowingly allows supposed rogue groups to acquire them.

The only conclusion is that even though Hamas pretends it is suppressing rocket fire, the truth is the opposite. Hamas tacitly encourages these groups to fire rockets but maintains its plausible deniability.

That way, Hamas can look "moderate," while its own media gloats over the damage done to the "Zionist usurpers" in Israeli towns they consider "occupied."

Top 10 Iranian insults to Canada

After Canada announced it was severing diplomatic relations with Iran on Friday, Iranian spokespeople have gone on a number of funny tirades.

Here are the top ten comments about Canada by Iranian officials and media:

10. The Foreign Ministry said Canada has a bad reputation for protecting diplomatic headquarters and personnel and has repeatedly failed to protect the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa against attacks.

9. “The extremist regime of Harper did a lot to prevent the holding of NAM summit in Tehran but countries and international figures completely ignored it and imposed another defeat to this regime.”

8. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has described the decision as “an abuse of international law.”

7. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is known for adopting “extremist and failed policies.”

6. "The hostile attitude of the racist government of Canada that is following some policies dictated by Tel Aviv and London."

5. "Ottawa has made the move to satisfy Israel and the Zionist lobby and that it would leave no stones unturned to prove its devotion to the Zionist regime even if it costs Ottawa's international status and damage its respect in world public opinion."

4. "The closing down of the embassy was a psychologically and politically imbalanced behavior."

3. "Hostile attitude of the Canadian racist government is indeed pursuing the policies as dictated by the Zionist regime and the UK."

2. "Canada is under the control of Britain and the governor appointed by the British queen, saying that all important decisions are made by the governor in coordination with the queen."

1. "The government of Canada, according to the reports of United Nations Rapporteur on indigenous rights, has the worst record on violating human rights, with its radical actions and financially supporting the extremist forces in the region and its all-out, blind support for the Zionist regime which is a racist regime, has adopted policies which does not help the world peace but is a source of threat to international security."