Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, December 21, 2012

Ashton apparently only has a problem with Jewish, but not Israeli Arab, "settlers"

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton made this statement earlier this week:

The approval of an additional 2610 housing units in the settlement of Givat Hamatos is extremely troubling, coming in addition to announcements made at the end of ovember and Monday’s approval of 1500 units in Ramat Shlomo. This plan for Givat Hamatos would cut the geographic continuity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I strongly oppose this unprecedented expansion of settlements around Jerusalem.

First of all, Ramat Shlomo and Givat Hamatos are in Jerusalem, not "around" Jerusalem.

But more interestingly is how there is one set of announced housing that Ashton did not mention, namely, the plan to add 688 units to the neighborhood of Beit Safafa.

Why would she mention some neighborhoods and not mention Beit Safafa? Because Beit Safafa is Arab.

But which side of the Green Line is Beit Safafa on? The answer is - both. The Green Line divided it into two. Before 1967, residents who were literally across the street from each other - even within the same family - were separated.

The ones in the north are Israeli citizens, the ones in the south generally are not (unless they choose to become citizens, as any Jerusalem Arabs have the right to do.)

Since 1967, Israeli Arabs have moved to Beit Safafa, including Christians from Jaffa and Nazareth, on both sides of the Green Line. The residents themselves are adamant that their neighborhood never be divided again, and certainly most of the Israeli citizens will refuse to become citizens of "Palestine."

Beit Safafa will never be divided and the Israeli Arabs who live there will not agree to change their citizenship.

So why does the EU not consider Israeli Arabs on the other side of the Green Line to be "settlers"? Why does Ashton not object to building in Beit Safafa?

Yaacov Lozowick looked at Beit Safafa in more detail and noted:

The odd thing is that in all the endless verbiage on the matter, no-one (NO ONE) ever calls the Israeli Arabs from Beit Safafa who moved in the same direction, settlers. Yet it can't be that Jewish Israeli citizens who crossed the Green Line to settle are illegally forbidden settlers, while the Arab Israeli citizens who did the exact same thing are not. That would make international law explicitly racist and antisemitic, and for all its silliness, it isn't those.

...In the decades since 1967 thousands of Israeli Arabs from elsewhere - Nazerath, Jaffa, Sachnin and so on - have moved to Jerusalem. It's a big city, it's got the country's largest university, it's got hospitals, government ministries, and all sorts of other things to encourage migration. Some of them have moved to Beit Hakerem or Rehavia, and that's all right. Others have moved to Beit Hanina, a wealthy area on the city's north side, so they're clearly legally forbidden settlers. Some have moved to Beit Safafa, because it's the one part of town that already had a community of Israeli Arabs and it felt hospitable. Of course, if they moved to the northern part of the neighborhood (it has long since ceased to be a separate village), no problem. If they moved to the southern part however, they're illegal settlers, as we've already seen. The thing is, when you walk through the neighborhood, there's no way of recognizing which it is, unless you happen to be old enough or savvy enough to remember where the long-defunct line ran. Most people aren't. Most people, that is, except for the teeming millions who know that Jerusalem must be divided.

..So now we've got the following situation. There are about 8,000 people in Beit Safafa. Some have been Israeli citizens since 1948, but they'll move or stay depending upon where they live now. Some have become Israeli citizens since 1967, but that's immaterial. If they're Arab (they are), and they live south of the Green Line (many do), they obviously yearn to live in a free Palestine, not Israel. No? Some are not Israeli citizens, merely permanent residents, but if they live north of the line, they can stay put, or move to Haifa, or move 25 feet to the south, and thus choose to live in whichever country they prefer. And then of course there are the non-Israeli citizens who moved in 1974, or 1983, or 1992, or 2001, or whenever it was, to Haifa or Kfar Kassem or elsewhere in Israel, and they won't be affected in any case, since they're inside the Green Line and thus impervious to the entire discussion. It's only Jews who are on the wrong side of the line who need to do any explaining or accommodating.

Ashton's omission of Beit Safafa is only a small part of the inherent discrimination that most of the world applies to Israeli Jews. Only Jews can be "illegal settlers," not Muslims or Christians.

I think there is a word for that.

(h/t David G)

Whoops! PressTV forgot to replace "Jews" with "Zionists"

A couple of days ago, Iran's PressTV received a lot of attention from Western media as they discovered what we all knew: it peddles bizarre conspiracy theories using Western "experts" as cover. The most recent example was when someone named Mike Harris claimed, on Iranian TV, that Mossad "death squads" were responsible for the massacre at Sandy Hook.

This same Mike Harris is back today - but he let slip that he is really against the Jews, not the "Zionists."

The surge in violence in the US is the result of Zionist-controlled Hollywood and news media which have been creating a culture of violence in the country over the years, an analyst tells Press TV.

“We have had a Zionist-controlled Hollywood, a Zionist-controlled news media that is the conduit to all of this violence...this imagery into every home in America, and so you wonder why there is a culture of violence? It is because it comes from the Jews in Hollywood. That is where the conduit of violence comes from,” Phoenix-based Mike Harris said on Tuesday.

“The culture as we are talking about here is Jewish-inspired, comes out of Hollywood, comes out of the Jewish-controlled news media,” he added.

Usually, the Iranian media is careful to make sure that they only blame hook-nosed "Zionists" for controlling the media, banks and Hollywood, faking the Holocaust and so forth. Their English editor must be on vacation.

By the way, PressTV says that Harris is the (Arizona) managing director of AMT Capital Partners. There is a webpage for AMT - that has not been updated in over ten years.

Guess who is giving out free Christmas trees?

The city of Jerusalem!

From the Jerusalem municipal website:

If Israel is hellbent on "Judaizing" Jerusalem, as we are constantly being told, they are doing a really poor job of it.

(h/t Shraga Simmons, who also tells me that the entire city of Jerusalem is being decorated with Christmas lights.)

Thursday linkdump

From Ian:

What Is Behind Salam Fayyad's Call for "Economic Intifada"? by Khaled Abu Toameh

Instead of seeking way to solve the financial crisis, Fayyad chose to call on Palestinians to boycott all Israeli goods. He is hoping that by calling for an economic intifada, he will succeed in diverting the anger and frustration on the Palestinian street outward to Israel. This has always been the Palestinian Authority's way of avoiding responsibility for anything that goes wrong — by putting all the blame on Israel.

Man in the Middle — Israeli Ambassador’s Inside Account of Obama-Netanyahu Relationship (Inc. Video)

In a lot of ways, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren has been the man in the middle. Oren was born in New York and raised in New Jersey but gave up his American citizenship to take on the position of ambassador — a role that puts him squarely between two leaders who don’t always see eye to eye.

UN Watch: U.N. to Endorse Hero of Holocaust Deniers, Alfred De Zayas

While a handful of these decisions were good, many were despicable. One stands out for its ignominy: the appointment of a top official whose life’s work—authoring books on World War II that make Germans the victims and the Allies the war criminals—has made him a hero to Holocaust deniers.

PMW: European-funded Palestinian NGO glorifies plane hijackings, terror, and hatred of Israel and the US
Poem read by hosts of youth program on PA TV funded by the EU, the World Bank, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden

Expect us always, expect us where least expected. We’re in every airport, and in every ticket…A small rifle in the hand of a small boy can kill the big one.

Fatah Official: Palestinians have not abandoned armed struggle VIDEO

PA TV glorifies terrorist mastermind of suicide attacks that murdered 31 VIDEO

BBC Watch: Myths and lethal narratives on the BBC website

.. what happens when that “permanent public record” is inaccurate or misleading? Should the BBC be obliged to clearly label it as such or even to remove the webpage?
One example of such BBC material still available on the internet are its many reports on the ‘Jenin Massacre‘ that never was.

Journalists in wartime: a legal view

The law of armed conflict distinguishes between different types of journalists:
1. Journalists who work for media outlets or information services of the armed forces..."
"The first category of journalists constitutes members of the armed forces. Accordingly, they don’t benefit from the protections afforded to civilians and their deaths don’t constitute a violation of the law.

2013: The year of Iran
Will the US president truly resort to force if all else fails to thwart Tehran’s nuclear program? Perhaps more important, does Israel’s PM think he will? By David Horovitz

He will be torn, furthermore, between a certain fealty to his late father’s fierce mindset — confront the threat, take action, use the Jewish nation’s hard-won restored sovereign power to strike down the latest advocates of Jewish genocide — and his own far more cautious inclinations, his tendency to talk the talk (on defying international pressure on settlements, refusing to negotiate with terrorists, ousting Hamas) but not always walk the walk.

Opposition to Hagel nomination grows, but supporters rally around likely defense chief pick
Washington Post claims Obama’s choice for Pentagon is ‘well to the left’ of the president, while defenders argue he is pro-Israel ‘but knows the grim costs of going to war without a plan’
(includes Emergency Committee for Israel video)

No-go Areas for Jews in Europe
Israel has room for all Jews and welcomes them, but that does not have any bearing on what is going on in Europe. Rabbi Lau predicted that European Jewish history is nearing its end.

Indeed, it seems a tragic but unavoidable process: Europe as a Jew-free continent or a realm of fear in which Jews will survive as "invisible", like during the Inquisition, where even lighting candles on Shabbath is a hazard because someone could see the holy flames from the street.

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: The “Day After” Scenario in Syria Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi,

After overthrowing the Assad regime, a potential military-terrorist threat to Israel will likely emerge in the transition period, which will be marked by governmental instability and a lack of central control over at least some of the fighting forces.

Destroyed Hezbollah Weapons Depot Held Missiles Capable of Being Equipped With Chemical Warheads

What should we make of these reports? First, the Syrian chemical-warfare capability may be even more dangerous than people had thought, because the weapons can be moved to other locations and mixed en route. And, second, there’s a significant risk of proliferation to other groups, such as Hezbollah, which could pose a global terrorist threat.

UN confirms Hezbollah fighting for Assad in Syria
Report warns that civil war fighting has split along sectarian lines, pitting ruling Alawites against majority Sunnis; investigators say conduct of both sides "increasingly in breach of international law."

Report: Morsi Suffering From Brain Tumor
Recently installed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is apparently suffering from a brain tumor, Egyptian media reported

Turkey Declared a 'Prison for Reporters'
Reporters Without Borders says Turkey has become the “world’s biggest prison for journalists.”

Tunisian Imam Accused of Inciting Hatred Against Jews
Tunisian group for minorities has lodged a complaint against an imam, accusing him of inciting hatred against Jews in a fiery sermon.

Racism behind defections from Al Qaeda in Mali

Racism is one of the main factors that motivate many young Africans from non-Arab to defect and resume their normal lives in their country of origin.This occurs at a time when the majority of these young Africans beginning to realize more than ever that the promises of equality, freedom and dignity advocated by the true Islam does not materialize in jihadist movements. (Google Trans)

Analysis: IAF preparing surprises for enemies
Upgrades to fighter jets creating operational capabilities that would have been considered fantasy years ago.

As a senior Air Force official stated on Tuesday, a single aircraft can now strike four different targets far away, with the push of one button, meaning that fewer sorties are required to level heavy damage on the enemy. The strike capabilities of several aircraft in the past are now possessed by a single warplane.

Keeping data safe on a billion and a half cellphones
Red Bend is the world’s most popular solution for safe over-the-air software updates for smart devices

An Israeli company is responsible for nearly three quarters of the wireless software updates for cell phones around the world. Red Bend, which has developed a secure firmware over-the-air (FOTA) system, allows users to get automatic operating system and firmware updates on their cellphones. It’s used by more than 80 mobile operators and device manufacturers to manage updates on more than 1.6 billion mobile phones.

Egypt's economy is royally screwed

From Egypt Independent:

Egypt has announced that it has changed from a gas-exporting to a gas importing country based on a decision issued by the Petroleum Minister that went into effect on 17 December.

According to the ministerial order, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company would either import the gas itself from international markets or via contracting companies. The gas would be transferred via national networks with necessary approvals.

Petroleum expert Medhat Youssef said the decision was “unprecedented,” especially as Egypt would import gas from international companies in Qatar, not the Qatari government. The import price is expected to reach US$14 per 1 million thermal units, whereas the government sells gas to factories for no more than $4.

The Egyptian government exports gas to Jordan at $5.50 per one million units, while Qatar exports it at more than $9, Youssef said, arguing that Egypt administers its petroleum supply poorly and should reconsider prices.

Egypt's economy is already in the toilet, and yet it still subsidizes private factory energy by as much as 70%? And it will import gas to be able to export it to Jordan at a huge loss?

The free market might help a little. Just a thought.

Importing gas at international prices would affect industries such as cement and fertilizer production.

Meanwhile, Hany Suleiman, former Petroleum Ministry deputy for gas affairs, said gas production in Egypt does not meet demands, referring to expectations that the deficit would reach 3.7 billion cubic feet by 2018.

Daily consumption, according to Suleiman, will double by the fiscal year 2014/2015 reaching 25 million cubic feet, compared to around 12 million cubic feet in 2011/2012.

Importing gas requires infrastructure and facilities that would cost around $600 million to develop.

Egypt could be negotiating with Israel to import natural gas from the Mediterranean gas fields (Tamar is almost online, Leviathan expected in a few years). After all, it seems unlikely that Jewish terrorists would bomb the pipeline repeatedly as Islamists did when Egypt was exporting gas to Israel.

But Egypt would rather destroy itself than allow Israel to help.

Which is, when you think of it, pretty much the reason why the Arab world is doomed.

EU-funded NGO glorifies terrorism on TV

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Two teenage hosts on the Palestinian Authority TV program for youth Speak Up, which is co-produced with the Palestinian NGO PYALARA, chose to read aloud a poem that glorified plane hijackings and threatened Israel and the United States:

“People of Israel, don’t get caught up in arrogance,
the hands of the clock will surely come round...
Expect us always, expect us where least expected.
We’re in every airport, and in every ticket.
We emerge in Rome and in Zurich from under the rock…
Our men arrive without warning, with the fury of thunder and the pounding of rain.
They come in the Prophet’s robe and with Omar’s sword (Muslim conqueror).
Remember, always remember that America, important as it is, is not Allah the Almighty and Omnipotent, and that America with all its strength will not stop the birds from flying.
A small rifle in the hand of a small boy can kill the big one.”
The mention of Rome and Zurich in the poem is a reference to hijackings by PLO/PFLP terrorists. In July 1968, El Al Flight 426 from Rome was hijacked. In February 1969, terrorists attempted to hijack El Al Flight 432 before taking off from Zurich.

PYALARA, the co-producer of this program, is funded by NDC. NDC's international donors include: the European Union, the World Bank, the French government’s Agence Française de Développement, a donor consortium of Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Palestinian Appeal, and the Palestinian private organization the Welfare Association. [NDC website, accessed Dec. 20, 2012]
PYALARA is also funded by the Swedish Olof Palme International Center.

Earlier this year I exposed real anti-semitism in PYALARA's youth magazine.

HRW gives benefit of doubt to terrorists, but accuses Israel without proof

The latest HRW report condemning Israel reveals, within its own text, how biased the organization is towards Israel and how "fair" it is with terror groups.

First, look how they characterize Israel's actions in the first paragraph:

Four Israeli attacks on journalists and media facilities in Gaza during the November 2012 fighting violated the laws of war by targeting civilians and civilian objects that were making no apparent contribution to Palestinian military operations.

There is no caveat. HRW is stating, as a fact, that Israel targeted civilians, without any knowledge of what Israel was actually targeting.

HRW's reading of international law is flawed - read this invaluable NGO Monitor article that explains exactly why - and its "evidence" is laughable.

The two men’s families, interviewed separately, said the men were neither participating in the fighting nor members of any armed group. Human Rights Watch found no evidence, including during visits to the men’s homes, to contradict that claim. Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, has not put either man on its official list of killed fighters– an unlikely omission if the men had been playing a military role.

HRW's "investigation" is talking to families of suspected terrorists, seeing if there is any "evidence" in their homes (what are they looking for, rockets?) and saying that Hamas hasn't put them in their list of "martyrs." This last point should note that Hamas has been adding "martyrs" to their list as recently as this week, and those killed in Cast Lead were often posted many months after the fighting.

But this is enough for HRW to make definitive statements that Israel targeted civilians.

Now, look at how HRW reports this other incident where Israel bombed a media building:

A second and separate attack on the third floor of the Shoruq Building on the afternoon of November 19 appeared to target specific Palestinian militants, who, if present, would have been unlawfully placing the building’s civilian occupants at risk, Human Rights Watch said. The IDF apparently contacted at least one international journalist in the building to warn them to evacuate.

All of a sudden, when there is evidence of Islamic Jihad violating the laws of armed conflict, HRW is hedging. "Appeared," "would be," "if present," "apparently" - all phrases that it doesn't use in reference to Israeli actions.

Later on, we see that HRW knows very well that Islamic Jihad terrorists were there:

A second attack that afternoon on the building’s third floor appears to have been on a military target, killing one member of Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, Ramez Hareb. If Palestinians involved in military operations were meeting in the Shoruq Tower, as the IDF claimed, they were placing civilians at unnecessary risk in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said.

Now, the IDF gave out a list of the people it was targeting on that floor of that building, including Hareb:

Baha Abu al-Ata: Commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Gaza City Brigade; involved in planning attacks against Israel, arms manufacturing and long-range rocket launching capabilities

Tissir Mahmoud Mahmed Jabari: Senior Islamic Jihad operative; responsible for training within the organization and approving terrorist attacks against Israel

Halil Batini: Senior Islamic Jihad operative; a key figure in planning the group’s long-range rocket launching operations; responsible for internal security

Ramez Harab: Responsible for propaganda in Islamic Jihad’s Gaza City Brigade; an aide to Tissir Jabari; the former head of the Sheikh Rajuan Division

Obviously, the IDF had good intelligence on who was in that building - yet HRW doesn't even lift a finger to investigate whether Islamic Jihad was performing a war crime!

This also proves that the IDF was obviously not targeting people indiscriminately, and that it had specific military targets in mind. HRW's blanket statement that they were not military targets shows that it would not believe anything the IDF says, no matter what, unless they can twist it into making it look guilty.

HRW - in its own words, in its own report - consistently gives the benefit of the doubt to Islamic Jihad and Hamas terror groups, but gives no such slack to the IDF which is accuses, without any reservation, of war crimes.

If that isn't bias, then I don't know what is.

Latest member of the Zionist Attack Zoo: Super-Rhinoceroses

From conspiracy site Terminal X (h/t Judge Dan at Israellycool):

[S]ources close to TX revealed on Sunday evening via email that Israel is working on a heavily-funded bio-engineering program which is funded by a select group of retired elites within the Israel Defence Forces on 'hybrid animals'.

The source, who is a retired security official from a Gulf country, made the claims while referring to one of his junior comrades who was tasked with undercover information gathering in the illegitimate state more than 7 years ago.

"He described a large, underground laboratory adjacent to the Negev desert where a highly-secured bunker was located, guarded by about two dozen troops of the elite Sayaret Matkal commandos and Military Intelligence units".

"He observed various visits to the facility by then Military Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi-Farkash accompanied by a panel of scientists who changed on rotation every other day. Although he wasn't able to capture any footage owing to the high security and sensors in the area, he was able to have several glances from very narrow openings".

The retired officer described how the underground bunker had another sub-station inside it which had no window at all:

"He recalls those Zionists (Israelis) talking of 'super beasts' equipped with improvised weapons".

Did the said spy who claims to have found such a facility actually see any such 'mutated beasts'? This question was posed to the source:

"Once, he shared details of a group of bizarre rhinoceroses and canines but never spoke on the subject again. Our superiors thought we had been feeding on telltale rumors hence that chapter was closed once and for all".

At the end, the source said that he, along with his subordinate, retired early from service.

After exhaustive research, I found a photo of one of the super-rhinos that the Arab spy witnessed:

Protesters close down ICRC offices in Ramallah

Palestinian Arab activists held a protest that closed down the International Committee of the Red Cross offices in Ramallah today.

They were protesting Israel's treatment of terrorist prisoners and the supposed lack of ICRC pressure on Israel.

If the Red Cross provides health services from this location, this is a clear violation of international law.

Even if not, the Palestinian Arab propensity to protest those who are trying to help them - a practice that goes back to the early 1950s with attacks on UNRWA - shows a particular immaturity.

Al Ahram publishes Khaled Amayreh's incitement for Egypt to go to war

In the past we've seen prolific and completely nutty Khaled Amayreh showing his anti-semitism, his inability to tell the truth, his belief in parapsychology and UFOs, and his desire to incite an all-out terror war against Israel.

Now, he is writing in Al Ahram to convince Egypt to start a war with Israel.

Whether we like it or not, Israel has been, is and will always be Egypt's existential enemy. There is a preponderance of evidence corroborating this fact.

...Yes, the two states reached a peace treaty in 1978. However it is crystal clear that the Camp David treaty, which the Egyptian leadership signed more or less under duress, did very little to put an end to undeclared but definitive Israeli designs against Egypt.

Israel wanted to use the Camp David treaty to strip Egypt of its Arab and Muslim character as well as cause irreparable damage to the collective conscience and consciousness of the Egyptian people. However, thanks to the enduring vigour and strong moral fabric of the Egyptian people, the morbid Israeli designs were a gigantic fiasco.

According to Israel Shahak's book, Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, much of Egypt is actually part of Biblical Israel according to some sages of the Talmud. This mythology is taught to Jewish students in hundreds of Talmudic schools (yeshivot) and colleges throughout Israel.

I would have thought that these ideas were no more than mythical hallucinations on the part of some deranged so-called 'sages'. But when I found out that many otherwise level-headed rabbis kept regurgitating these myths, I began to view the matter differently.

How can you argue with that? An anti-semite writes nonsense and another one quotes him! I must not have spent enough years in yeshiva to learn about how it is part of Eretz Yisrael. But those clever Jews returned the Sinai because they want to conquer all of Egypt!

Only a Jew is smart enough to figure out how that works. Oh, and Khaled Amayreh.

The Egyptian media reported on several occasions the arrest of Israeli agents with instructions to spread the AIDS virus in Egypt, generate chaos, including sectarian conflicts between Muslims and Copts.

More to the point, it is absolutely logical to assume that Israel's agents are implicated in one way or the other in the current crisis between the Egyptian government and the opposition.

I don't have hard evidence to prove this impression, but the Hebrew press reported numerous times of late that the Israeli intelligence was heavily involved in manipulating events in the largest and most important Arab country.

And with the January 25 Revolution, it is very likely that Israeli designs against Egypt have become more virulent and daring, given the tumultuous transitional period Egypt is undergoing these days.

Damn, we're good!

The man is certifiably insane. So he is well qualified to write an op-ed for Al Ahram.

(To their credit, most of the commenters say he is nuts, too.)

Birzeit terror university calls Technion immoral

Mondoweiss, exhibiting the remarkable lack of shame that we come to expect from sites like that, published a piece of propaganda from "The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University."

In light of news that Cornell University has engaged in a joint bid with Israel's Technion Israel Institute of Technology to build a campus of applied science and technology on New York's Roosevelt Island, we, the students and volunteers at Birzeit University's Right to Education campaign, support the initiative of New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership (NYACT).

Cornell University's students, professors and partners alike will be implicated in Israel's colonial project in Palestine through the University's decision to work in collaboration with the Technion, an institution that has long been, and remains deeply complicit in the design, implementation and justification of Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

To give a flavor of how moral the students at Birzeit are, here is a pro-Hamas march there only a week ago:

Here's part of an "art exhibit" shown there this month:

Here's more:

At the end of 2003, elections were held [at Birzeit] for the student government council. The campaign featured models of exploding Israeli buses. In the debate, the Hamas candidate asked the Fatah candidate: "Hamas activists in this university killed 135 Zionists. How many did Fatah activists from Bir Zeit kill?"

Here's a photo from last month of a Birzeit student quietly going about his studies:

Moral indignation from Birzeit students towards Israel? Now, that's funny.

(h/t Lori)

Biased reporting from Reuters on West Bank labor strikes. (Guess who's to blame?)

Some biased reporting from Reuters:

Palestinian government employees in the West Bank began a two-day general strike on Wednesday to protest against a delay in the payment of their wages because of Israeli economic sanctions.

Israel is withholding some $100 million in monthly customs revenues it collects on the Palestinians' behalf as punishment for their successful bid at the UN General Assembly last month to gain de-facto statehood recognition.

Is it all because of Israeli sanctions? Well...

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, was experiencing a deep financial crisis even before the move, and its 153,000 public sector workers have seen their salaries repeatedly issued late this year.

...Government workers last received salaries for October, which were payed belatedly at the end of last month. There was no word on when November or December wages might be handed over.

If the October wages were not paid on time, and the UN stunt was in late November, then...how exactly is Israel the only party responsible?

Reuters manages to admit in a later paragraph:

Israel said the Palestinian UN initiative contravened their peace accords and has threatened to withhold tax returns for four months to cover outstanding Palestinian debts with Israeli utility firms.

Oh! So the PA owes Israel hundreds of millions of dollars! Something that we knew for months already!

Meaning, if the PA had paid their debts to Israel, they would have the exact same financial crisis today! Yet the world expects Israel to keep providing free services and never to dare to do anything to collect the debts. How dare they!

Oh, and this:

Arab countries have yet to fulfill pledges to offset the Israeli measures with cash donations.

In fact, they have yet to fulfill pledges to the PA given years ago. Most recently before the UN stunt. But Israel is the only party to blame, apparently.

Reuters here is parroting what the Palestinian Arabs are saying .For example, Fayyad today said that "the financial crisis is because of the Israeli piracy of Palestinian tax revenue," pretending that there was no crisis beforehand.

And imagine if the Israel electric company simply turned off the power instead. What an outcry would ensue! Reuters would have photo essays of kids with candles and patients in hospitals without electricity.

As usual, Israel is set up to be the bad guy, no matter what it does.

Meanwhile, teachers in the West Bank also went on strike earlier this week for non-payment of salaries.

By the way, I have never heard Fayyad amend his plan to have the PA be financially independent by the end of 2013. In fact, their debt has skyrocketed since then - again, while Israel transferred tax monies every month.

Not to worry. The World Bank assured us already in 2010 that the PA has the infrastructure ready to become a state.

Wednesday linkdump

From Ian:

UN Watch: Hypocrisy: UN adopts 9 resolutions on Palestinians & Golan, yet silent on Syrian massacre of Palestinians

GENEVA, December 18 – The U.N. General Assembly today adopted nine resolutions on Palestinian rights and the Golan, sharply criticizing Israel yet making no mention of Sunday’s massacre of Palestinians by Syrian warplanes firing missiles into a mosque in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus. Nor did the texts mention the tens of thousands of Palestinians who continue to flee the camp.

CIA game changer
Now is the time for President Obama, finally, to respond to all the official requests for Pollard’s release by commuting his sentence to time served.

Moreover, the document puts the lie to American allegations that have been used for over a quarter of a century to justify Pollard’s continued incarceration. For example, Pollard’s full cooperation with the prosecution was one of the welcome admissions in this document, as was the confirmation that the volume of information Pollard transferred to Israel was far less than claimed.
The CIA document also reveals the subterfuge used by the US government to breach its plea agreement with Pollard.

Abbas Asks UN for First Step to Flood Israel with Foreign Arabs
Abbas asks UN to take first step to flood Israel with foreign Arabs by suggesting Syrian “refugees” move to the PA.

His latest diplomatic ploy could place Israel again in the role of “bad man.” Abbas asked Ban “to help the Palestinian refugees in Syria, who are suffering from the bloody conflict there, to return to live in the Palestinian Territory.

Israeli Druze Envoy: Abbas Does Not Even Represent His Wife

The so-called problem of the Palestinian Authority-Israel struggle actually disguises the real problem of Islamic fundamentalism, Israeli Ambassador to Norway Naim Araidi told the local ABC news outlet. He said that Muslim extremists want to replace modern life in Europe with Islamic Shari'a law.
As for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, “He does not even represent his wife," according to the ambassador.

As Terror Attacks Increase, Samaria Residents Protest Security Deterioration

During November, the GSS reports that there were 122 terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, with 98 of those attacks occurring during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense aimed at halting rocket fire emanating from Gaza. In Jerusalem, 44 attacks were recorded, with 27 occurring during Operation Pillar of Defense. A majority of the attacks, 156 of the 166, involved Palestinians throwing Molotov cocktails."

Iranian news site pins Newtown shooting on ‘Israeli death squad’
American Press TV panelist charges that ‘Zionist-controlled Hollywood, news media’ cultivate American culture of violence

Michael Harris, the financial editor at Veterans Today, a website littered with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theories, charged in an internationally broadcast interview on the Iranian station that “Israel has been operating death squads.” Harris, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, used the interview as a soapbox for an anti-Semitic rant against Israel and American Jews.

[Veterans Today/PressTV reacted to the articles about their nuttiness, saying that they are effectively an admission of guilt by Israel. Possibly crazier than this article was. - EoZ]

Defiant Iran vows to continue enrichment, dismisses sanctions as insignificant
Ahmadinejad says international pressure will not slow down Tehran’s nuclear program

Syrian jets again bomb Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus
Government claims Yarmouk camp houses PFLP-GC fighters

Iran keeps silent on the killing of Palestinians in Syria

Based on the Iranian government’s claims that it wants to help Palestinians defend themselves, will the Iranian regime provide weapons to Palestinians in Syria who are under attack from Assad’s forces?
Or are Palestinians victims only when Iran’s adversaries attack them, and not when Iran’s allies do the same?

Israeli Attorney Wins $338 Million Case Against Syria

Syria was ordered to pay $338 million to two American families for its funding of a 1991 kidnapping of American biblical archaeologists during an excavation in Turkey for the remains of Noah’s Ark, the Israeli law center that helped win the judgment announced in a press release.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin Law Center, represented the families along with New York attorney Robert Tolchin. Syria was found vicariously liable for the kidnapping, which was perpetrated by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) terrorist organization.

Review of deadly Benghazi attack finds systematic security faults
Panel cites State Department failures, says there was no protest outside US Consulate before terrorist ambush

Systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place,” the panel said.

Egypt orders probe into alleged vote violations
Low turnout, irregularities have opposition crying foul in referendum on Islamist constitution

Hungarian Minister reveals he’s Jewish ‘whether you like it or not’ following Jewish list controversy

BUDAPEST (EJP) --- A Hungarian Minister confronted the country’s recent anti-Semitism row head on when he told parliament he was Jewish. After the far-right Jobbik party was roundly criticised by both the government and Jewish community alike for calling for a registry of Hungary’s prominent Jews to be drawn up in the interests of “national security”, the State Secretary of the Development Ministry Janos Fonagy revealed to cross-party politicians: “My mother and father were Jewish, and so am I, whether you like it or not.

ISRAEL21c’s year in videos
From hummus ice cream to cardboard bikes and Olympians, we bring you the 10 most-watched 2012 videos we’ve produced showing the ‘real’ Israel.

Also:
U.S. "Cautiously Optimistic" On European Hezbollah Designation: State Department

Netanyahu: "We will continue to build in Jerusalem for eternity"

Jews unsure why everyone else still looking forward to "holidays" (h/t Yerushalimey)

It is that time of year when everyone, it seems, is asking for your money.

Elder of Ziyon is not nearly as large as the mythical organization I named myself after. It's pretty much just me. Even so, this blog has made an outsized impact in the pro-Israel world.

This quarter alone the blog has been seen on CNN, quoted in The New York Times Lede column, as well as the Jewish Press (more than once), Israel National News, FrontPage, Breitbart, Algemeiner (multiple times,) the Jerusalem Post, Commentary, BuzzFeed, PJMedia, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Blaze, plus many other blogs and websites.

And it has made a difference. We helped get mainstream media to issue corrections and change the tone of their reporting during the latest Gaza conflict.

During this quarter, my Twitter feed has exploded from about 2700 followers to over 3500. The blog itself had over 215,000 pageviews in November, shattering my previous record.

I have continued to scoop every major English-language media outlet dozens of times with stories big and small. I have given you original research and fascinating historical information. Hopefully, I have also entertained you.

Meanwhile, the anti-Israel sites are raising tens of thousands of dollars to publicize their hate, managing to put together professional operations with paid staff and slick layouts. The Electronic Intifada hate site claims to have already raised some $90,000 while the virulent Mondoweiss claims $17,000.

Unlike most other sites that have similar influence, I do most of the work myself - writing, graphics, comics, posters, infographics, videos, not to mention blog maintenance. But it takes a lot of time - and a little money - to consistently research and publish the number of posts a day I do. (And thanks again to Ian for his stellar work in the daily linkdumps.)

If you find this site valuable, and many of you have told me you do, please consider making a donation.

The New York Times charges $180 a year for digital only subscriptions. Ha'aretz charges abut $100 annually to access their content online. My content - all 15,645 posts - is all free. If you spend more time here than you do at the commercial news sites, please consider paying what you would to subscribe to a newspaper or news-magazine.

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As always, thanks to all of you who have donated, or helped out by giving me news tips. Thanks also to those who have complimented me and who have used my posts to do direct actions that help Israel and fight the haters.

News editor reveals his ignorance and bias - in a single tweet (UPDATE)

Here's a tweet by Douglas Herbert, International Affairs Editor at France 24:

Herbert thinks that one of the US' top two priorities is to pressure Netanyahu - while Abbas is breaking signed agreements!

And this news editor is not even aware that Time's Person of the Year is not an award or an honor; rather it is just Time's opinion of the person who "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year." Stalin was named Man of the Year twice and Hitler once.

Yes, one tweet shows that a news editor is both ignorant and biased against Israel. Not surprisingly, the two often go hand in hand.

France 24 is wholly owned by the French government, and broadcasts in three languages: French, English - and Arabic.

(h/t dmo)

UPDATE: Herbert deleted the tweet, perhaps thinking that no one will notice. You would think a person in the media would realize that silently erasing evidence makes things look even worse.

Two-year old Israeli technology sold for $37 million

From Times of Israel:

An Israeli start-up that provides technology for the development of browser extensions has been sold for $37 million. Israel’s Crossrider has been bought by e-commerce company Market.com, which will continue to operate the developer as before, the company’s CEO told reporters.

Crossrider’s is an exceptional success story. It’s less than two years old, and already has over 200 million users developing extensions for browsers. With the “browser wars” heating up to full steam, Crossfire’s easy-to-use platform that allows users to develop cross-browser extensions has made the company a sort of “kingmaker.”

Here is a sympathy card you can send your anti-Israel friends.

(h/t Adam L. for text. Previous BDS sympathy card here.)

Tel Aviv bus bomb suspect indicted

From YNet:

A day after his 18th birthday, Muhammad Mafarji left a bag containing an explosive device on bus No. 142 which was traveling in Tel Aviv. About 10 minutes after the terrorist got off the bus, as it reached Shaul Hamelech Street, the device was activated.

Twenty-four people were injured in the bombing, which took place on the last day of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Mafarji was indicted Wednesday at the Tel Aviv District Court. The charges include multiple murder attempts, aiding the enemy during wartime, and conspiracy to commit a crime. The most serious charge of aiding the enemy could result in a life sentence.

According to the indictment, in the two months before the attack the culprit lived in his uncle's house in Beit Lakiya while studying at Birzeit University near Ramallah. On the sixth day of the Israeli operation in Gaza, while shopping at a West Bank grocery shop, he expressed his desire to fight alongside Hamas activists in the Strip.

The store owner, Ahmed Mussa, asked him to come back later so he could guide him on how to fulfill his desire.

Some observations:

This makes two attacks done by teenagers against Israelis - for their birthdays.

This terror cell does not seem to be directly associated with any major organizations; four were arrested altogether.

Mafarji is an Israeli who was living in the territories. Does that make him a "settler?" Will any anti-settler groups condemn his terror attack? Will this be listed as another example of "settler violence" by the UN?

Kudos to UN Watch for forcing HRW to fire Richard Falk

From UN Watch:

I want to share good news: thanks to our advocacy, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just expelled U.N. official Richard Falk -- the notorious Hamas supporter, 9/11 conspiracist and antisemite -- from one of its prestigious committees, where he helped played a key role in the organization's global work.

After UN Watch's open letter was published and went viral on the Internet, HRW did the right thing and finally fired Falk, deleting his name from their website listing of committee members.

I received confirmation this morning from an HRW representative, who informed me that Falk "no longer" holds the position, and that the HRW website "has now been updated to reflect that fact."

The timing and specifics were provided today by none other than Richard Falk himself, who admitted on his blog that, following UN Watch's protest yesterday, he was "asked to resign."

Falk said he was told that it was "because of my connection with the UN, which is contrary to HRW policy."

If that were the real reason, of course, he would have been removed long ago.

Results in one day! Truly remarkable.

In fact, I was skeptical that UN Watch would be successful. On Monday, I even tweeted:

Does @UNwatch think @KenRoth will care that @HRW board member Richard Falk spouts anti-semitism and 9/11 conspiracies?

(Ken Roth is the head of Human Rights Watch and has ignored much more important criticism in the past.)

Hillel Neuer of UN Watch responded after the news that HRW did the right thing:

If the right pressure is brought to bear you can make anyone care about their actions, and the price they will be made to pay.

Anyone who has ever seen Hillel Neuer's videos where he stands up, alone, for truth and justice, in the hornets nest of the hypocritical and corrupt UN, knows that he is indefatigable. This is a much-deserved victory.

Now, to get the UN to be as thoroughly embarrassed by Richard Falk as HRW evidently was...

Surprise! Hamas bans EU observers from Rafah

On Monday, I reported that the EU, absurdly, expected to be able to resume monitoring the Rafah border with the EUBAM. I noted that there is no way that Hamas would allow such a thing unless the EUBAM mandate, which I quoted, was radically changed.

It turns out that Hamas responded pretty much as I expected.

From Middle East Monitor:

The Head of the Gaza Border Agency, Maher Abu-Sabha, has refused entry to the EU Mission charged with monitoring the border with Egypt at Rafah. The Mission was planning to return to Gaza after an absence of six years.

Speaking to a Palestinian newspaper, Abu-Sabha insisted that the Rafah Crossing is Palestinian and is under absolute Palestinian sovereignty. "There is no need for an EU mission in Rafah," he said.

EU High representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said earlier that the EU is thinking about resuming the work of the EU mission at the Rafah Crossing; it was suspended when Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006.

"Why does the EU think that it needs to come back?" asked Abu-Sabha. "Didn't it abandon Palestinian patients who needed the mission's help to cross the border for treatment abroad?"

But will EUBAM be dismantled? Nah. Doing that would be tantamount to admitting that well-meaning moonbats cannot compete with radical Islamists.

So EUBAM employees will continue doing the easiest job in the world, hanging out in Israel with nothing to do and getting a nice salary. As they have for the past five years. (They occasionally pretend to consult for the PA security services to justify their existence.)

(h/t Josh)

The UN tried to take Israeli territory in 1957

From Yaacov Lozowick's "Israel's Documented Story" blog:

As noted earlier this week, only once between 1956 and 1958 was there a discussion of any real interest in the Ministers' Committee for Foreign Affairs and Security - but that once it was very interesting. The most interesting part of all was when Foreign Minister Golda Meir reported about tensions with the United Nations.

...The armistice agreements of 1949 had left some patches of territory inside Israel's borders as demilitarized zones.

...Golda and her colleagues were convinced the UN was trying to undermine Israeli sovereignty in those areas (within the 1967 borders, of course). So, August 11th 1957:

Golda Meir: For a while now there's been tension and a sort of struggle with the UN officials including with Mr. Hammarskjold. Recently however Hammarskjold has stepped back a bit and he operates through Leary. General [Eedson] Burns [Leary's predecessor, whom we've already met here] filled Hammarskjold's orders, but he did so with charm. Leary doesn't know how to do that.

It's clear that Hammarskjold intends to demonstrate with facts that the demilitarized zones are not the same as the rest of Israel. His position is that these areas have a special status, and the UN has enhanced authority in them. He's never said so openly, nor has he asked us to agree with him, but his actions make clear that he sees it that way, for example when he insists the UN obsevers enjoy greater independence in those areas and need not liase with IDF officers.

Recently he [Leary] wanted to station observers above the [B'not Yaacov] Bridge [over the Jordan on the Syrian border]. We said: no, there's no need. He said, OK, so there will be visits of observers. We agreed to visits. So what did he do? He came one day and announced he'd put an observer there. Joseph Tekoa, of the Foreign Ministry, responded: What do you mean you're announcing. You must ask. He said it's demilitarized and he was announcing, not asking. Tekoa told him that wouldn't work and brought the matter to me. Of course we told [Leary] there was no such option: no observers and no special authority in that area. He went back to saying observers would visit. I said OK. What's he doing now? Fist an observer stood there an hour then left. A bit later another one came and stood there an hour. Now he has them standing there four hours, to be repalced by someone else for four hours. We told him again we would not allow it to become an observers position.

Our problem is that no outsider will understand what we're quarreling with them for. Possibly even some Israelis won't understand.

Justice Minister Pinchas Rosenne: I'm one of those.

Golda Meir: I'm surprised at you. At a different place we quarreled with them about another little detail. The wanted to raise the UN flag over one of the positions. One of our officers was positioned there too, we said it's Israeli territory, there's an IDF officer there, there's no way you're going to fly the UN flag. There's no precedent for such behavior. If you insist on a UN flag there will be an Israeli flag above it. They said no, that would anger the Syrians. We said Fine, so no flag at all. So they raised the UN flag, and when we saw that we raised our flag above it. He was angry and reported to Hammarskjold, who must also have been angry. They took their flag down, and then we took ours down, too. Then he wanted his observers to spend the night there. We said we don't see any sense in that but if they wish, fine. Leary then said the overnight observers must be armed. We said none of them are armed anywhere else in the country and they won't be armed there either... What Hammarskjold is trying to achieve is that the demilitarized zone isn't under full Israeli sovereignty, and once he suceeds at that he'll apply the same reasoning to the demilitarized zone on the Egyptian border.

I found some similar issues discussed in Foreign Relations of the United States from 1960, also with comments from Golda Meir:

Pass OSD, Army, Navy, and Air. Joint Embassy, Army and Air Attaché message. Reference Embassy telegram 729.2 In long discussion evening February 1 Foreign Minister made following points about southern demilitarized zone (DMZ) situation:

1. Decision to “clean up military base” old Tawafiq taken by Cabinet afternoon January 31.

2. In reply my query whether Israeli action not contrary to paragraph 5(B) Article V armistice agreement, she did not disagree but said it was necessary prevent further loss of life and in “interests self-defense within our border.” She also mentioned Article 51 UN Charter.

3. Israeli Army not going attack and will take no action except in self-defense. I inquired whether Israel as UN member would act in conformity Articles I and II UN Charter, to which she responded, “of course.” I then asked whether reported northward movement troops and equipment might not be misinterpreted. She stated she had not asked Prime Minister particulars these movements but she believed he would do what was necessary, and further that it was better to be alive and misinterpreted than be dead and eulogized.

4. On DMZ history Mrs. Meir said Israel had made over 700 complaints to UN and MAC. “UN more to blame than Syrians” and should have made an attempt to get Syrians to stop work. Last Saturday she had sent personal word to Von Horn and to Cordier through Tekoah urging return to “status quo” and Israel’s complete willingness discuss matter. GOI considered DMZ as much of Israel as Tel Aviv and would not discuss with Syrians anything pertaining to DMZ. Israel would discuss with Syrians questions border tranquility and would discuss with chairman of MAC or Von Horn Arab cultivation and grazing rights in DMZ if Arabs had previously cultivated land. Mrs. Meir added one thing certain these Syrians “not farmers” and action “pure and simple attempt to get foothold in Israel territory called DMZ.”

Comment: At end of meeting I again urged on Mrs. Meir the need for fullest cooperation with UN, the danger of misinterpretation by other countries over reported substantial troop movements even if defensive in character, and the need to find a constructive peaceful solution to present situation. She said Israel “day or night would be prepared for discussion,” but that the “UN should tell the Syrians to stop this.” She was willing to see Von Horn “any time.” Mrs. Meir concluded, we are concerned with “self-defense of our people; not looking for a war.”

There was tension along the DMZ in 1964 as well.

Israel's oil shale reserves update

I came across this video from a conference last week that explains everything you need to know about Israel's significant oil shale reserves and how they can be extracted efficiently:

The speaker, Dr. Howard Vinegar (who is a world-renowned expert on the topic,) says that within the decade Israel could be energy independent just from shale at a production price of $40 per barrel, much less than the current price of oil. Israel's total reserves rivals those of Saudi Arabian oil.

This is all besides Israel's huge offshore natural gas deposits.

Meanwhile, another Middle Eastern country that doesn't have much in the way of traditional oil reserves is also sitting on top of huge oil shale deposits.

Jordan has approximately 40-80 billion tons of oil shale (about 34 billion barrels of shale oil) that could last for over 900 years at current consumption, said a top official at an Estonian company tapping the Kingdom's reserves of oil shale.

The economic map of the Middle East will be completely redrawn in the coming years.

Ignoring evidence EU funds paid for PLO terror

Here is a 2008 letter written by Paul van Buitenen, a former Dutch MEP who did his own research on the way EU money was spent by the PA. It has not been made public until now. (This has been scanned and OCRed, so there might be minor errors.)

Buitenen charges that the European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF ignored evidence that money given by the EU to the PA was diverted to buying weapons for use in terror attacks.

European Antifraud Office (OLAF) The Director-General
Mr. F-H. Brüner
30, Rue Joseph Il
B-1049 Brusseis

Subject:
Palestinian monies Final Case Report

Place and Date:
Breda (NL), 28 April 2008

Dear Mr. Brüner,

The European Union financially supports the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian society as well as organisations that work in the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority. This is performed through various mechanisms, either directly by the EU, or indirectly through the EU Member states individually, the World Bank or through United Nations organisations such as UNRWA. Although EU-support already started in the year 1994, more structural support started in the year 2000 and has since then increased to the present level of an estimated amount of almost 800 million per year (exact figures not known to me). The amount of this EU financial support, is unmatched by any other EU support in the world, if compared to the size of the Palestinian territories and population.

Following allegations in the past that some of the EU funding to the Palestinians may have been used for corruption or financing of terrorist activities, the European Parliament initiated a Working Group (WG) in March 2003 (active until March 2004), while OLAF carried out an investigation into these allegations in 2003 and 2004, with a Final Case Report and press release in March 2005.

The WG analysed the EU Direct Budgetary Assistance (DBA) to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The period under their examination was the end of 2000 to the end of 2002. Next to its task to assess the decisions of the European Commission with respect to the DBA, it was to establish whether the above mentioned allegations were founded.

With respect to the documents handed over by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) which claimed these would prove transfers of funds to terrorist activities, the WG report (endorsed by Wynn, on behalf of the Committee of Budgets, and Mrs. Theato, on behalf of the Budgetary Control Committee) states that the Commission responded as followed:
"many of these documents were already known and had been commented upon. Furthermore, many documents related to the period before 2000 when EU was not supporting the PA budget”. Moreover, the report also claims that the evidence was insufficient since "proven execution of payment" were missing (pp. 6). Also OLAF holds the view that it discards the documents provided by the IDF as evidence which would be acceptable in court since these were "based on, or largely rely on, intelligence reports” (pp. 7). The IDF, however, remained convinced that EU funds were used for terrorist purposes while the Minister of Finance of the PA at the time, Mr Fayyad (Minister of Finance since June 2002, Prime Minister since June 2007), denied these claims. While the other report of Mr. Laschet (on behalf of the Committee of Foreign Affairs) confirms this position of OLAF, it does state that "this is OLAF’s way of proceeding. However from a political point of view, the numerous documents with President Arafat’s signature and authorising the payment cannot be discarded" (Draft Conclusions by Laschet, pp. 13). Both reports finally conclude that the allegations of payments to terrorists cannot be proven.

This OLAF investigation covered the Palestinian Authority budget period of 2000 to 2003. On 17 March 2005, OLAF published an official press release stating:
”On the basis of the information currently available to OLAF, the investigation has found no conclusive evidence of support of armed attacks or unlawful activities financed by the European Commission’s contributions to the budget. However, the possibility of misuse of the Palestinian Authority’s budget and other resources, cannot be excluded, due to the fact that the internal and external audit capacity in the Palestinian Authority is still underdeveloped."

Moreover, the press release also contains the following passage which is not elaborated upon any further:

"However, there are consistent indications to support the hypothesis that it cannot be excluded that some of the assets of the PA may have been used by some individuals for other than the intended purposes”

On 12 January 2006 and 6 November 2006, I have made a request for access to the 2005 Final Case Report of OLAF on the alleged abuses of the spending of the subsidies received by the Palestinian Authority. You refused such access on 3 April 2006 and on 18 December 2006.

On 17 January 2007, the former chairman of the EP Committee on Budget Control, Fazakas MEP, also asked access to this OLAF report under the provisions of the framework agreement between the Commission and Parliament. You replied on 22 February 2007 in which you offered a confidential 10-page summary of the OLAF report. This summary did not meet the needs of the Committee on Budgetary Control as it did not reveal any additional substantial information in comparison to the press release of 17 April 2005, which OLAF had published on its report.

On 25 April 2007, the newly appointed chairman of the EP Committee on Budget Control, Bösch MEP, reiterated the request for access to the OLAF Final Case Report on the Palestinian moneys. He even suggested access to be granted just to one member of the Budget Control Committee, namely me. On 25 May 2007, you refused to grant access, even under the confidentiality clauses that are applicable for such circumstances.

On 17 July 2007, OLAF gave a presentation behind closed doors, in the Budget Control Committee, on the results of the investigations, which were covered in their report of March 2005. Again no new information was given to the MEP’s.

Finally, on my parliamentary question of 2nd October 2007, requesting further clarifications on the conclusions of the 2005 OLAF investigation as well as the follow-up that was given, the Commission, on proposal of OLAF, replied on 29th November 2007 that the OLAF conclusions were confidential and that disclosing them would undermine public security, military matters, international relations and commercial interests.

This leaves me, as Member of the parliamentary Committee on Budget Control, with the question what indications were found by OLAF towards abuses of the Palestinian moneys and whether the conclusions, as presented in the OLAF press release, actually cover the contents of the findings in the Final Case Report. As OLAF systematically refused to provide me and the EP Committee on Budget Control with any substantial information on this matter, l have tried to obtain the information that OLAF possesses, elsewhere.

For the OLAF investigation, the Israeli Authorities provided extensive information to OLAF, including documentation from the Palestinian Authority and Fatah that they had confiscated during the operation 'Defensive Shield’ in 2002, when they entered the Ramallah Headquarters of the late PA President Arafat. According to the Israelis, this information contained clear evidence of PA support to terrorist activities. When I asked some Israeli Authorities to provide me with the same information, they initially promised me to provide the material, but finally I did not get it. Informally, one of the Israeli officials told me that the Israelis did not want to undermine the position of Fatah and President Abbas in their power struggle with Hamas. Revealing incriminating material to a Member of the European Parliament that would prove corruption and the financial support of terrorists by Fatah and/or the Palestinian Authority would have an undermining effect and was to be avoided by the Israeli authorities.

Meanwhile however, I have managed to obtain parts of this material through informal channels. After studying the material, I conclude that its contents confirms what the Israeli authorities have stated all along. The documents show clear evidence that the High representatives within the Palestinian Authority, including President Arafat himself, at least until April 2002, which is almost two years after the start of massive and structural EU financial support to the PA, were providing financial support to a significant number of known terrorists as well as supporting the dealing and production of light and heavy arms.

Copies of letters and lists showing the names of these terrorists and proving the involvement of the highest political authorities within the PA are now in my possession and must also be in the possession of OLAF. The hand-written notes and signatures of Arafat, asking the PA Treasury department to execute payments to many lists with between 5 and 20 named terrorists each, of S350, S600 and $800 per person, leave no doubt of the involvement of the official Palestinian Authority Treasury.

Also documents with altogether 150 Fatah activists were found on which it is shown that these Fatah activists are integrated on the payroll of the official Palestinian Authority security forces. Yet another example are the financial reports that were found with the costs of a production plant for heavy artillery rockets and mortars (costs $80,000), as well as the calculation of financial needs for the buying of rockets, bombs and rifle ammunition. This is the same Palestinian Authority Treasury that received, at the same time (in 2001/2002) millions of Euros from the European Union as Direct Budgetary Assistance to the same budget as from which these abusive payments were made.

In sharp contradiction with these findings is the official OLAF press release of 17 2005, concerning the closure of the OLAF investigation into the allegations of abuses by the Palestinian Authority over the period 2000-2003. In this press release, OLAF concludes the following (I repeat):

”On the basis of the information currently available to OLAF, the investigation has found no conclusive evidence of support of armed attacks or unlawful activities financed by the European Commission's contributions to the budget. However, the possibility of misuse of the Palestinian Authority'5 budget and other resources, cannot be excluded, due to the fact that the interna/ and external audit capacity in the Palestinian Authority is stil/ underdeveloped."

On 24 April 2008, I met with your chief investigator in charge of Palestinian moneys, Vlogaert, in his office at OLAF, who confirmed that you gave clearance for this meeting. I informed Mr. Vlogaert that I could not match the information I possess on the Palestinian Authority support to terrorist activities with the text of the official OLAF press release on this matter. After I showed to Mr. Vlogaert some of the documents that I obtained he confirmed to me that OLAF had received similar information and that they had taken it into account in their investigation. The conclusions of the OLAF final case report would confirm the following:

It was established that in the years 2001 and 2002, indeed payments from the official Palestinian Authority budget have effectively been made by the Palestinian Authority Treasury to terrorists and terrorist activities.
At the same time, the European Union contributed substantially to this same official Palestinian Authority Budget.
It is not realistic to make a distinction between parts of the PA budget that would originate from EU moneys and parts that would not originate from EU sources. The PA budget, from which these irregular payments originated, was one budget of which the EU moneys were one of the substantial sources.

During the meeting, I agreed to submit to OLAF a copy of all the material that I have obtained concerning irregularities with the Palestinian budget. OLAF would then check whether they are already in possession of this material or whether there is new information included. I would get feedback on this from OLAF. Please find this material attached to this letter.

Therefore, I have the following questions:

1. Can you confirm the above observations made concerning the OLAF Final Case Report?

2. Which members of the European Parliament Working Group received access to the documents as handed over by the IDF to OLAF?

3. Why did OLAF not provide this information to the European Parliament, but instead chose to stick to its official declaration made in the press release of 17th March 2005, as quoted above?

4. As the parliamentary Working Group concluded in its report of March 2004 that there was no proof of execution of payments, did you inform the parliament that OLAF indeed found proof of payment on request by President Arafat, by the PA Treasury to terrorists?

5. What information did OLAF transmit to the European Commission on its conclusions of the Final case report? Did the Commission get a copy of the complete Final Case Report? Did either the Israeli authorities or the Palestinian Authorities receive a copy of the Final Case Report? Did any other organization or individual receive a copy of the Final Case Report or their conclusions?

6. Can OLAF confirm to me in detail whether the information attached to this letter was
already in possession of OLAF in the course of its investigation that lead to the report on which the 17 March press release was issued?

Paul van Buitenen
Copy: Vice-President of the European Commission, in charge of the fight against fraud, Mr. Siim Kallas

Attachments:
Copies of captured IDF documents from the Palestinian Authority, with translations and explanations by the Israeli Defence Forces; 141 pages.

Much of Israel's documentation and findings can be seen here, including documents with Arafat's signature authorizing payments to terrorists.

It appears that the EU stonewalled the investigation into misuse of funds by the PA.

See also this 2005 analysis from EU Funding:

If the aid was effective in alleviating poverty, the World Bank may not have been moved to comment "55% of those who receive emergency assistance are not needy.... 32% of the needy do not receive emergency assistance." [Related story]
If the aid has been effective, then Muhammed Dahlan, Abu Mazen's close ally, would hardly have stated in August 2004 that all of the funds which foreign countries had donated to the Palestinian Authority, a total of $5bn "have gone down the drain, and we don't know to where." [Related story]
To put it bluntly, aid has been diverted and the EC cannot admit it.

(h/t MP, CHA)

British Muslim MP praises Israel

From Daphne Anson:

I am a proud, British-born Muslim, and I love my country more than any other place on earth.

But, if for some reason, I had to leave, with my young family, and I was told that I must go and live in the Middle East, where would I decide to go?

Would I choose Dubai, with its vibrant city life and soaring skyscrapers?

No.

Would I choose Saudi Arabia, a fabulously wealthy nation and the birthplace of the holy Prophet Mohammed?

No.

There is only one place I could possibly go: Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that shares the same democratic values as Britain.

And the only nation in the Middle East where my family would feel the warm embrace of freedom and liberty.

Thus spoke Sajid Javid, MP for Bromsgrove since 2010 and, since September this year, economic secretary to the Treasury, addressing the 700 attendees at a business lunch of Conservative Friends of Israel last week.

Mr Javid, who is married to a Christian, observed:

In Britain, we are rightly very proud of our long history as a nation. But we are mere beginners compared to Israel, a nation that is governing itself in the same territory, under the same name, with the same religion, and the same language as it did 3,000 years ago. Now that’s what I call sustainability!

Israel is a country about which almost everyone has a passionate opinion — an opinion which they’re not usually shy about sharing, especially when that opinion is based on total ignorance.

If you want to have any chance of understanding the complexities of the Middle East, you can’t just read about Israel, you have to experience it.

(h/t Ian)