Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, January 25, 2013

Hamas formally teaching kids to be terrorists

From JPost:

Hamas plans to establish a military academy in the Gaza Strip to train and educate schoolchildren.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh announced on Thursday that the military academy, the first of its kind in the Gaza Strip, would prepare the children for the “phase of liberating Palestine.”

He said that children in grades 7-9 could join the school and graduate with a diploma or a BA in military affairs.

Haniyeh made this announcement during a ceremony in the Gaza Strip marking the birth of the prophet Muhammad. More than 10,000 schoolchildren attended the ceremony, which included a “military parade” by some of the teenagers.

The prime minister said he has instructed the Hamas-run Education Ministry to draw up plans for the establishment of the military academy. Haniyeh said that the new academy would educate and prepare children for the establishment of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea.”

The Hamas-run Palestine Times reported this.

Here's a photo of the "military parade" with armed teenagers:

This photo with Haniyeh was taken at the same ceremony:

Last month, senior Hamas commander Zaher Jabarin said in a video interview published later on the IDF blog that Hamas labors “day and night” in educating Palestinian children in Gaza to become suicide bombers.

I wish to talk about our choice, the choice of resistance. There was training of the divine generation, the true generation of martyrdom-seekers, through which we can participate in the battle. First, before anything else, before any Jihadi action, before the transfer of weapons, money, etc., and everything required for action, first and foremost is the individual person. The Islamic Movement [Hamas] took care of the education of this youngster who will participate in this battle, and afterwards we found out, as we always say, that the martyrdom-seekers stood in line, moreover, the thought among themselves who will be first to perform the suicide operation or Jihad operation. There was a quarrel between these Jihad warriors. We labored day and night to build the person, who will participate in this battle, and indeed, after 26 years, today the results are clear and visible to the entire world, that Hamas indeed has succeeded to build in this period of 26 years, what others wouldn’t have succeeded to build in centuries, such a person and such a resistance.

The Palestinian youngsters, the resistance and Jihad warriors, fight and quarrel over performing a courageous suicide operation. No doubt when Rabin said he has no solution for this weapon (suicide bombings), it’s because you want to kill this man, but he himself is essentially coming to die, so how can you scare him and how do you want to deal with this weapon? There is no treatment, and you cannot find a treatment for this weapon. With God’s grace, Hamas originated the use of this weapon.

We in Hamas are now convinced that our leaders are preparing for the battle of liberation, not resistance. We will remain “The Islamic Resistance Movement” — Hamas — but we now have the concept of liberation, and we are preparing for the battle of liberation and entering Jerusalem, God willing. I am convinced that you will interview me — if Allah wished that we stay alive — from the courts of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem. The Palestinian people and the Arab people are now convinced that Israel will be defeated, and indeed it will be defeated, and we will succeed to liberate our country. We are now preparing for the battle of liberation, and not just the resistance as we have done in the past.

Major explosion reported at Fordow underground Iranian nuclear facility (UPDATE)

From Reza Kahlili at WND:

An explosion deep within Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility has destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground, according to a former intelligence officer of the Islamic regime.

The previously secret nuclear site has become a center for Iran’s nuclear activity because of the 2,700 centrifuges enriching uranium to the 20-percent level. A further enrichment to weapons grade would take only weeks, experts say.

...According to a source in the security forces protecting Fordow, an explosion on Monday at 11:30 a.m. Tehran time rocked the site, which is buried deep under a mountain and immune not only to airstrikes but to most bunker-buster bombs. The report of the blast came via Hamidreza Zakeri, formerly with the Islamic regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security,

The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast, the source said. As of Wednesday afternoon, rescue workers had failed to reach the trapped personnel.

The site, about 300 feet under a mountain, had two elevators which now are out of commission. One elevator descended about 240 feet and was used to reach centrifuge chambers. The other went to the bottom to carry heavy equipment and transfer uranium hexafluoride. One emergency staircase reaches the bottom of the site and another one was not complete. The source said the emergency exit southwest of the site is unreachable.

The regime believes the blast was sabotage and the explosives could have reached the area disguised as equipment or in the uranium hexafluoride stock transferred to the site, the source said. The explosion occurred at the third centrifuge chambers, with the high-grade enriched uranium reserves below them.

The information was passed on to U.S. officials but has not been verified or denied by the regime or other sources within the regime.

Fordow is the major known centrifuge facility in Iran, and it had recently doubled the number of centrifuges there.

So if true this is very, very big.

The problem is that there may be many secret facilities, not all of which are known by Western inteligence.

But Fordow was virtually impervious to an airstrike, so this reported sabotage was apparently more effective than anything that could have been done militarily.

(h/t Ellen)

UPDATE: I am told that Reza Kahlili does not have a great record for accuracy with a long history of making similarly stunning claims. I generally don't like to quote WND but this was so specific that I felt it was better to get the story out there.

The IAEA inspects Fordow regularly, so within a few months we will know whether it mysteriously lost many of its centrifuges. But for now we should be skeptical until we hear something corroborating it - for example, that Iran closed off the area this week.

From YNet:

US multinational networking giant Cisco announced Wednesday its acquisition of Raanana-based startup company Intucell, a developer of mobile network management technologies, to the tune of $475 million.

This is an impressive price tag considering that only two years ago a meager $6 million were invested in the company.

This is almost getting boring. Cisco has bought lots of Israeli companies.

May 1988, Cisco bought ClassData for $50M
March 2000, Cisco bought Infogear for $300M
April 2000, Cisco bought PentaCom for $118M
Also April 2000 - Seagull for $19M
June 2000 - HyNex $127M
March 2004 - RiverHead $39M
June 2004 - Actona $100M
August 2004 - P-Cube $200M
September 2005 - Sheer networks $97M
March 2012 - NDS $5B

That adds up to about $6.5 billion that Cisco has invested in Israeli companies.

So far.

To confuse the BDSers even more, Cisco is investing heavily in creating thousands of high-tech jobs for Israeli Arabs. Not only that, but in 2010 it received an ACE award from the US State Department for "helping to connect the Israeli and Palestinian economies and people, and engaging in several partnerships and initiatives to enhance technical capacity, connectivity, education, and opportunities for women and youth in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza."

Do you think the PA is boycotting Cisco?

(h/t George)

The winner for the worst post-election analysis goes to...

Hamas!

The impact of the Palestinian victory over Israel in the latest assault on Gaza was evident in the outcome of Israel's election Tuesday, according to Hamas.

Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered losses because he failed to face the resistance in the mid-November deadly assault.

In terms of child development, Hamas appears to be in what Piaget calls the "preoperational stage" found in children aged 2-7:

Their thoughts and communications are typically egocentric (i.e. about themselves).
Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does. Piaget wanted to find out at what age children decenter - i.e. become no longer egocentric.

Then again, Western analysts often have the same problem to a certain degree, for example, projecting the importance of the moribund "peace process" onto Israelis.

(h/t JW)

Thursday linkdump

From Ian:

Israel’s UN envoy: If Mali is on France’s doorstep, Gaza is in our living room

France’s foreign minister said this month that his country was fighting to prevent the creation of an Islamist terrorist enclave ‘at the doorstep of France and Europe.’ If Mali is on France’s doorstep, Gaza is in Israel’s living room,” Ron Prosor said at the UN Security Council’s monthly open debate on the Middle East.
“Make no mistakes: France’s principled stand should be commended. We only ask that France and all the countries who are supporting its principled stand today, support Israel tomorrow when we fight Islamic terrorism on our borders.”

Turkey: Syrian bombardment of citizens a war crime
Foreign minister calls for greater access for aid groups, says he expects UN Security Council to step in, stop bloodshed

Denial still is a river in Egypt

"Denial, it turns out, really is a river in Egypt. I refer not to the world's longest waterway, but the world's largest outpouring of pious expressions of confidence in Egypt by American and European politicians. Infusions of real cash, to be sure, could delay Egypt's deterioration into a failed state, but not by long, because the country requires more than US$20 billion a year simply to meet its basic needs, and Western governments will not provide that much money."

The OIC Needs to Show It’s Serious About Human Rights

"You speak of human rights. Instead of standing behind the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, your organization has been pushing the United Nations to endorse a different document, the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights (CDHR). Article 22 states: ”Everyone shall have the right to express his opinion freely in such manner as would not be contradictory to the principles of Sharia.” What happens those who do not believe in Sharia? The Universal Declaration takes for granted the equality of men and women. Article 6 of your document, however, says that a woman, although equal to a man in human dignity, “has her own rights to enjoy.” Those rights rights do not yet extend to driving a car in Saudi Arabia, or to girls seeking education in Afghanistan, or the right of a girl to avoid rape in the form of child marriage – a right that may disappear under the new Egyptian Sharia-based constitution."

‘Comment is Free’ contributor claims 1967 Six Day War was act of Israeli aggression

"Shehadeh didn’t waste any time contextualizing what he characterized as Palestinian indifference to the particular results of the Israeli election by evoking the political parallel of disenfranchised blacks under South African apartheid, and soon pivoted to the following additional fiction:
“Since the beginning of the occupation more than 44 years ago, no Israeli government has indicated willingness to accept that its status is that of an occupier of territory acquired through a belligerent war, and consequently been willing to withdraw from these areas and hand them over either to the surrounding Arab states or to a newly created sovereign, independent Palestinian state.”
The idea that Israel acquired territory in June 1967 though a “belligerent war” is a gross historical lie."

Promoting the BBC’s preferred Middle East narrative: how is it done?

"What we see here are two methods used by Davies to promote a specific agenda by framing a story in a particular manner. The first method is by use of carefully chosen language: terms such as “illegal under international law” and “occupied Palestinian Land” do not stand up to scrutiny, but when used frequently enough without presentation of the opposing point of view, they become accepted – though erroneous – terminology which steers audiences towards a preferred narrative."

Threat to Israel Explained on Capitol Hill
Over 80 Congressional staffers, diplomats and activists receive lesson on threats facing Israel.

"The Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET, which is Hebrew for “truth), held a series of discussions on Capitol Hill Thursday, to a standing room only crowd of over 80 Congressional staffers, foreign diplomats and citizen activists, focused on the geopolitical and ideological threats facing the nation of Israel."

IDF jeep firebombed, troops' fire kills Palestinian
Jeep struck by Molotov cocktails in Al-Arroub near Bethlehem; 21-year-old woman killed by return fire in clashes.

Palestinians warn of recourse to the Hague over E1
Malki says PA may lodge complaint with ICC if Israel proceeds with plans to build housing on sensitive E1 corridor in West Bank.

Hamas plays hardball ahead of unity talks with Fatah
As rivals prepare for meeting next week, PA’s security coordination with Israel and the issue of ‘political arrests’ by Fatah are two of the thorniest issues

Christian Egyptian Convert and Her Children Sentenced to Prison

"An Egyptian woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison together with her seven children for converting to Christianity. Her supporters are now appealing to the U.S. government to stand up for religious minorities being persecuted in the Middle East."

Survey: 40% of France Holds Anti-Semitic Beliefs

Amid the rise in hate crimes in France, the World Zionist Organization calculated the level of anti-Semitism among French citizens
"The survey also found that 47% of the population believes that "French Jews are more loyal to Israel than the country where they live."

Muslims claim Jabba's Palace Lego toy is racist as it is 'based on iconic mosque in Istanbul'

Claims that Jabba's Palace set resembles Istanbul's Hagia Sophia mosque (originally an Orthodox Cathedral)
Describes Star Wars character Jabba the Hutt as resembling a 'terrorist'

19th Knesset Record-Breaker for Women, Religious MKs
Israel’s new parliament will see more female Knesset members time around than previously -- another record-breaker for this election.

Israeli promoter: Springsteen will perform here
Shuki Weiss tells 'Post' that logistics, not boycott, behind inability to bring the Boss to Israel thus far.

Israeli Daily Picture: Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, Is Celebrated on
Saturday

One major activity of the JNF, or in Hebrew the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, was the planting of trees on Jewish-owned land in Palestine. Many a Jewish home had the iconic JNF blue charity box, or pushke, in order to buy trees. In its history, the JNF is responsible for planting almost a quarter of a billion trees.
The photographers of the American Colony recorded the JNF's efforts.

Also:

Remembering the Holocaust (The Asians)

Unity! Hamas continues to arrest journalists and Fatah members

Palestine Press Agency reports that Hamas has arrested dozens of Fatah members in Gaza in the past day, endangering reconciliation efforts.

Moreover, Hamas continues to hold 6 journalists and is insisting that they go on trial.

Their crime? "Sabotaging the reconciliation!"

So people who report that Hamas is arresting Fatah members might be arrested for saying such a terrible thing.

Reporters Without Borders has nothing to say about this. But the International federation of Journalists did come out with a statement today:

According to the PJS, Hamas security operatives began arresting journalists, especially PJS members, on Sunday when they raided their homes rounding up six of them in two days. They include Abdul Karim Hajji, Hussein Abdel-Gawad Karsou' and Bassam Darwich who were arrested on Sunday followed by their colleagues Ashraf Abu Khasewan of Deir al-Balah and Mustafa Mekdad held since Monday evening.

Security forces also arrested family members of Jumua' Abu Shoumer, correspondent of al Hurrya radio in Gaza, to force him to turn himself in, added the PJS.

The Syndicate accused the Hamas authorities of working with pro-Hamas journalists to undermine its work on building unity among journalists in Gaza and strengthening their standing among their colleagues in the region, including within the Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ). The PJS, which took part in the recent FAJ Congress, believes that Hamas' recent actions belie an attempt to frustrate on-going efforts to achieve national unity which are expected to be concluded soon in the signing of a reconciliation pact and the forming of a national unity government.

Meanwhile, Hamas media reports that the PA is arresting Hamas members in hte West Bank as well.

Abbas: "Frankly, yes, we are waging diplomatic war against Israel"

Mahmoud Abbas gave a wide-ranging speech on the occasion of the birthday of Mohammed today.

Abbas mentioned the occasional use by Israel's Foreign Ministry of the phrase "diplomatic terrorism" to describe some of the ways that the PA is trying to delegitimize Israel. He said, "I do not understand the meaning of this expression, but, frankly, yes we are waging diplomatic war against Israel for our rights to isolate Israel's policy in our land and delegitimize Israel on our land."

He also complained that Arab nations have never fulfilled their pledges given in years past of money to help "defend Jerusalem." he similarly complained about the many fatwas forbidding Muslims from around the world to visit Jerusalem while Israel controls the city.

Additionally, Abbas said "Today the world recognizes us; we are a state under occupation. All actions taken in our home since 1967 are invalid because the Fourth Geneva Convention says there is no right for a state that occupied another state to create a demographic change or to transfer its population to live in that state."

Of course, the Fourth Geneva Convention says nothing about demographics and was written to prohibit the forceful transfer of citizens to occupied territory; it does not address the voluntary movement of people to their traditional homeland in a disputed area.

Abbas also claimed that getting the UN resolution on non-member state status passed was extraordinarily difficult, although the voting hardly reflects that.

Two months without a rocket

A couple of days ago, a little-noticed milestone was reached.

It has been over two months since the last rocket was launched from Gaza into Israel. (There was a rocket test-firing into the sea reported in November, two reported rocket tests this month, and two mortars shot into Israel in December.)

As far as I can tell, there has never been a two-month period without rockets into Israel since the first Qassam was shot into Israel in February 2002.

It sounds like Israel achieved a major goal of Pillar of Defense.

I wish I came up with this cartoon before it was found out to be true:

Last week in Cairo, seven U.S. senators had a highly contentious meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy during which the Muslim Brotherhood leader implied that he was the victim of an American media run by the Jews.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) led a delegation last week to Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Afghanistan that included Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Kirsten Gilibrand (D-NY). Their stop in Cairo included a 90-minute meeting with Morsy that devolved into an uncomfortable set of exchanges as the senators pressed the Egyptian president to explain his 2010 comments describing Jews as "bloodsuckers who attack Palestinians" as well as "the descendants of apes and pigs."

Inside the meeting, the discussion over Morsy's 2010 remarks was much more heated than either side publicly acknowledged afterwards, according to Coons. Addressing the comments was the first item on the senators' agenda, and the discussion did not go well, he told The Cable in an interview.

"We tried to give President Morsy an opportunity, now that he is the president, to put his comments in a different context because he was claiming that he was taken out of context. On their face they seemed to be very offensive and inappropriate," Coons said. "It was a difficult conversation."

Morsy told the senators that the values of Islam teach respect for Christianity and Judaism, and he asserted repeatedly that he had no negative views about Judaism or the Jewish people, but then followed with a diatribe about Israel and Zionist actions against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.

Then Morsy crossed a line and made a comment that made the senators physically recoil in their chairs in shock, Coons said.

"He was attempting to explain himself ... then he said, ‘Well, I think we all know that the media in the United States has made a big deal of this and we know the media of the United States is controlled by certain forces and they don't view me favorably,'" Coons said.

The Cable asked Coons if Morsy specifically named the Jews as the forces that control the American media. Coons said all the senators believed the implication was obvious.

"He did not say [the Jews], but I watched as the other senators physically recoiled, as did I," he said. "I thought it was impossible to draw any other conclusion."

"The meeting then took a very sharply negative turn for some time. It really threatened to cause the entire meeting to come apart so that we could not continue," Coons said.

Multiple senators impressed upon Morsy that if he was saying the criticisms of his comments were due to the Jews in the media, that statement was potentially even more offensive than his original comments from 2010.

"[Morsi] did not say the Jewish community was making a big deal of this, but he said something [to the effect] that the only conclusion you could read was that he was implying it," Coons said. "The conversation got so heated that eventually Senator McCain said to the group, ‘OK, we've pressed him as hard as we can while being in the boundaries of diplomacy,'" Coons said.

(h/t Yid With Lid)

Arabs desecrate Joseph's Tomb again

Ma'ariv reports that Joseph's Tomb was desecrated with urine and apparent attempts to set it on fire:

More than 2,500 visitors came Wednesday night to Joseph's Tomb. A special tour was organized by the Samaria Regional Council and "Shechem Echad" and it was held with the approval and support of the IDF and the Israel Police.

Upon arrival of the first soldiers and worshipers there they observed that Palestinians had desecrated the tomb building and tried to set it on fire. According to the deputy head of the regional council Yossi Dagan, the entrance to the tomb was awash with urine, and wall and window of the building were filled with soot from Palestinian ignition attempts.

Shomron Regional Council officials immediately cleaned the grave and washed the entrance and within minutes visitors who came to pray there could enter.

Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said tonight "Only barbarians do these horrid things to desecreate this holy place."

According to Arutz-7, it was even worse:

Visitors to the Tomb of Yosef in Shechem were shocked to discover Wednesday night yet another instance of major Arab vandalism to the holy site. Arabs trashed furniture, destroyed books, and defaced the site with anti-Semitic graffiti, and there was evidence that they had tried to burn the structure down. In addition, human and animal waste was found all over the floor of the site.

Ma'an adds:

Kever Yosef in 2009

Witnesses told Ma'an that clashes erupted as local youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas and stun grenades.

The tomb has been desecrated numerous times, and several Jewish visitors to the site have been murdered over the years.

Under the Oslo Accords Interim Agreement, Jews should have free access to their holy places. Visiting once a month with armored buses in the middle of the night under heavy guard while the tomb is left open to desecration the rest of the time is not exactly "free access."

(h/t Kramerica, Ian)

Iraqi news sites publish more pure Jew-hatred

I've noted that Iraqi news sites have been publishing increasing amounts of pure anti-semitism (one example was here.)

The hate continues on.

Kitabat has an article called "The Biblical roots of racist Zionism." It is a review for a book published in 2002 in Baghdad. Outside of finding an excuse to spout anti-semitic conspiracy theories, it is unclear why this review is being published now.

[The book] demonstrates that Jewish/Zionist violence and crimes committed against the Palestinian people is an extension and a repetition of what happened since before the Zionist entity existed. What is happening now is not a reaction to confront the Palestinian as Jews/Zionists claim as they brainwash world public opinion, Western particularly, but is an extension of the ethnic philosophy thast derives its origins from the Jewish faith, and not just from the philosophy of racism that prevailed in European thought during the imperialist 19th century.

The Old Testament or the Torah is written by rabbis during the first millennium BC and have nothing to do with the original Torah...tying together fables that have no archaeological basis...

They didn't only write the Torah as a reaction to the so-called Babylonian captivity. But they meant to implant in the Jews the spirit of intrusion, aggressiveness and violence, hatred and cruelty in dealing with others and not to give them mercy or pity, and other barbaric practices of killing, genocide, destruction and burning.

There is nothing more proof of this matter than the commandments the scribes wrote in the Old Testament, which states the need to transfer this barbaric heritage from generation to generation, as it says multiple times: "Let these words which I command you today be on your heart, and teach them to your children and talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the way and when you lie down and when you get up, and make them a sign on your hand and on headbands between your eyes and write them on the doors of your house and on thy gates."

The transplant and development of this fierce psychological aggression is instilled in the depths of the individual Israeli since childhood through religious education. They are not limited to people in the Zionist entity, but includes Jews living in the so-called diaspora.

The Torah has been planted in the depths of Jewish self, for centuries, this trend of bloody obscurantism and hatred of all others, their love of bloodshed and destruction and annihilation, and the right to extract the wealth and property of the gentiles as the wealth of the world are all belongs to them...

Apparently, the Iraqis aren't too concerned over the ban on "defamation of religion" that the Muslim world always claims it desires.

The West, as usual, is clueless that writings like this are being published every day in the nation that it liberated.

The dwindling Jews of Yemen

The Yemen Post has a very nice article tracing the history of Jews in Yemen, and how things have been going downhill since, oh, Mohammed:

According to traditions the Jews of Yemen history can be traced back as far as King Solomon , with legends telling the tale of some 75,000 Jews who, having foretold the fall of Jerusalem - destruction of the first Temple - emigrated to Yemen in search of a more hospitable land where they would spread their beliefs and sprung forth a new community.

Historians established that the first mention of the immigration of Jews to Yemen took place at the beginning of the second century BC.

While Judaism flourished in Yemen provinces for several centuries the coming of Prophet Mohammed and the fast-paced spread of Islam throughout ancient Arabia changed everything.

By the fifth century C.E. The Jewish population had rose to about 5,000 souls, with communities scattered throughout the country.

When Saladin became sultan in the last quarter of the twelfth century and the Shiites revolted against him, the trials of the Yemenite Jews began. Their capital at the time was Teima and they called themselves Rechabites.

Tribes lost in the middle of the Islamic empire, the Jews of Yemen were often at war with their Ismaelitic neighbors.

As centuries past and Islam became the beating heart of Arabia, Yemen Jewish communities were ostracized, forced back to the outskirts of Yemen metropolis.

In the 19th Century, under the rule of the Imams, the Jews of Yemen became social pariahs, being forced to follow harsh and often humiliating rules -- they were forbidden from wearing new or flamboyant clothes, compelled to walk long distances on foot as riding donkey and mules were reserved for Muslims; they were also prohibited from engaging in money transactions --

Reports estimated the Yemeni Jewish community to be standing at 30,000 with 200 in Aden - southern seaport - 10,000 in Sana'a, 1,000 in Sa'ada, 1,000 in Dhamar and 2,000 in the desert of Beydha --

A series of mass migration to the Jewish of Israel left only a handful of Jews in Yemen northern highlands, the only remnants of a long exhausted line of Israelite migrants, who once upon a time sought refuge in the land of Queen Sheba.

Yemen 2011 Revolution left the Jewish community ever more so vulnerable as sectarian tensions started to flare up again in Yemen, awaken by the Houthis' claims over provinces lying north of Sana'a and Sunni extremists clamoring for a return to Sharia law.

With most of the remaining Jews of Yemen now living in a guarded compound in Sana'a, the dwindling community has said to be living a nightmare, with the walls of history literally closing down on them.

There's more, read it all.

Now there are rumors that Israel is trying to save the remaining Jews of Yemen. The rumors are coming from Arab and Iranian sources, though, not Israeli, so they are a bit suspect.

As a result of these rumors, a Houthi spokesman says that they have no problem with Jews and they are willing to let them go back to their homes. Except for those who supported the deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh, which is realy every single Jew in Yemen. Saleh saved their lives by protecting them and giving them a place to live when the Houthis took over the areas the Jews lived in.

So the offer seems a bit hypocritical.

Especially since, as I've reported, the Houthi logo includes the words "Damn the Jews".

But wasn't it nice of them to offer?

Reason #82,654 the UN is worthless

Mahmoud Abbas will tell anyone who listens to him that the UN General Assembly recognizes the State of Palestine within the "1967 borders."

Just today, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said "We will deal with any Israeli government that is committed to the decision of the General Assembly of the UN for a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital."

(By the way, the UN did not declare Jerusalem to be the capital of "Palestine" in the relevant, operative part of resolution.)

I looked again at how the resolution referred to borders.

Here is the only part of the operative section that mentions it:

4. Affirms its determination to contribute to the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the attainment of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and fulfils the vision of two States: an independent, sovereign, democratic, contiguous and viable State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security with Israel on the basis of the pre-1967 borders

There is only one problem. There are no such things as "pre-1967 borders." The Green Line was never accepted by either the Arabs, Israel or the international community to be the legal borders of Israel.

Certainly UN diplomats are well aware of this fact. Indeed, UNSCR 242 says that Israel and its neighbors have the "right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force," a reference to the fact that the Green Line was not recognized as a border.

If the UN would draft a resolution based on the borders created by pink elephants in 1873, would it be worth the paper it was written on? Because that is exactly what this is.

In fact, not a single person debating the resolution noted this obvious error in the text itself.

This isn't the only mistake in the resolution, of course. It contradicts itself between two of the operative clauses, which also have to do with borders. On the one hand, it says the UNGA "Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their State of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967," which implies all of the territory. But then it says it wishes for "a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides that resolves all outstanding core issues, namely the Palestine refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, borders, security and water."

Did the UNGA determine the borders or is it a final status issue? It cannot be both. Yet this contradiction is embedded in the text, again, without a note of caution from a single member of the UN.

Instead of creating a committee to iron out these self-contradictory parts, the UNGA rubber stamped whatever the Palestinian Arabs wrote.

Which is another reason that the UN is worthless.

Wednesday linkdump

From Ian:

Disrupting the ecosystem of extremism By Ron Prosor

We cannot rest until the evil ideologies that fuel terror become nothing more than relics of the past.

"There is a specific kind of ecosystem that creates terrorism. Terrorism is rooted in hate, watered with instability and state support, and then planted in the next generation.
Every roadside bombing, every suicide attack, and every act of terrorism begins with words and thoughts of hate. It begins with al-Qaida websites that turn suicide bombers into jihadi celebrities. It begins with Hezbollah summer camps that use arts and crafts to glorify martyrdom and teach bombmaking skills to children.
It begins with statements by Hamas leaders like Atallah Abu al-Subh, who recently said on public Palestinian television (and I quote) “The Jews are the most despicable and contemptible nation to crawl upon the face of the Earth.” This is the poison that is being fed to people across the Middle East, day after day."

Won't Syria Be Obama's Main Middle East Crisis in 2013? By Barry Rubin

"The Obama Administration, especially now with Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and CIA director John Brennan will maintain a consistent policy of helping to create an Islamist-dominated regime in Syria, believing that this is a great idea since the Muslim Brotherhood is moderate and will restrain the "real" extremists. To paraphrase what a former U.S. intelligence official said: So, they tell us they're going to take over; they tell us exactly how they're going to do it; then they do it. Now we watch the results playing out in front of our eyes and there's still some question out there that this threat even exists!"

Obama Needs to Realize It’s Not About the Palestinians

"Mutual threats to the U.S. and Israel — such as nuclear Iran, Islamic terrorism, the proliferation of advanced missiles and nuclear technologies, and the clear and present radical menace to pro-U.S. Arab regimes — transcend the Palestinian issue. Moreover, pro (and anti) U.S. Arab leaders have never considered the Palestinian issue a cardinal matter on their agenda. They are currently traumatized by the lethal Iranian nuclear threat, raging Arab Winter, emboldened Islamic terrorism and the erupting Iraqi, Syrian and Muslim Brotherhood lava, which might trigger their downfall."

Obama tried to meddle in Israeli elections, says senior source
Reports claim that Obama has attempted to undermine Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli elections, showing his hostility, as well as his ignorance of Israeli politics

"Dan Senor, a former foreign policy adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign today said that during a recent trip to Israel, two US officials admitted that recent comments by US President Barack Obama were intended to undermine Benjamin Netanyahu’s election bid."

Genocide Abuse Day at the IHRC

"The far left have tackled this problem by keeping Jewish victimhood centre stage, whilst alleging that Zionists wanted the Holocaust and/or actually colluded with the Nazis to bring it about. They turn the moral tables on Zionism, by claiming that Zionists needed and desired and worked towards dead Jews in order to gain global sympathy for their enterprise.
The pro-Iranian IHRC ( Islamic Human Rights Commission), however, prefer the tactic of declaring a Genocide Memorial Day. This year it is subtitled “Remembering Man’s Inhumanity to Man” and will be held on 20th January. The day’s title enables the IHRC to gently subsume the genocide of European Jewry under the sheer scale of man’s inhumanity to man. Challenge this as sophistry and you are forced into a somewhat nauseating comparative study in human suffering."

Peter Oborne gives a free pass to Palestinian rejectionists
It is astonishing that Oborne's blatantly one-sided account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which eschews proper context, is allowed to pass for respectable journalism in Britain

"According to a very recent opinion poll carried out by a Ramallah-based research centre, some 88 percent of West Bank Palestinians believed that armed struggle is the right method to achieve independence. This accords with earlier polls which show a majority of Palestinians supporting a two state solution only as a stepping stone to the eventual 'liberation' of Palestine."
"Yet none of this features on Oborne's political radar. In describing his visit to Ramallah, he declares that 'there was not a hint of violent language from Riad Malki, foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority'. (Palestinians are adept at playing the game of public diplomacy, as we know). In other words, the violence and extremism that Oborne so disapproves of can only be found on the Israeli side of the border. This view is so one-sided and sloppy that it beggars belief that any serious journalist could entertain it."

Lee Jasper: 'Israel is racist oppressor'
Respect Party politician Lee Jasper has used the upcoming Holocaust Memorial Day to mount an attack on Israel as a "racist oppressor".

"Mr Jasper, a former equalities adviser to Ken Livingstone and an activist on race relations issues, made the comments about Israel and the Holocaust on his Facebook page.
Writing incorrectly that HMD is today – it is in fact later this week – he said: "We are asked to remember that which Israel has forgotten, that religious & racial hatred is a sin against God."

UK teachers encouraged to join pro-Israel unions
Jewish teachers in the United Kingdom are bring encouraged to join unions to combat anti-Israel rhetoric.

Senior Hamas Commander: We Labor “Day and Night” Educating Children to Become Suicide Bombers (VIDEO)

"On December 18, 2012, senior Hamas commander Zaher Jabarin gave an interview to Hamas’ Al-Quds TV, during which he said Hamas labors “day and night” educating Palestinian children in Gaza to become suicide bombers.
The role of suicide bomber is in high demand amongst children, Jabarin claimed. “The Palestinian youngsters, the resistance and Jihad warriors, fight and quarrel over performing a courageous suicide operation,” he said."

Abbas protests Malaysian prime minister’s Gaza visit
Palestinian Authority president says Abdul Razak’s meetings with Hamas leaders in the Strip undermine his status

"The visit prompted a bitter protest from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said it undermined his status and that of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. Abbas said he was seeking “clarifications” from the Malaysian government."

Canada: Pakistani protesters say: ‘Massacre of Shia Muslims a Zionist plot’

"A large crowd of about 300 men, women and children gathered outside the Pakistani consulate on Jan. 14 to protest against deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan, which had targetted primarily Shia Muslims.
The messages delivered by most of the speakers at the protest reflected that of the promotional flyer for the event, which stated in part, “Massacre of Shia Muslims; Zionist Plot – Local and Regional Extremist Hands” and “Down with Zionist Plots.”"

Italian MP: Anti-Semites Sitting in EU Parliament
Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein fights inclusion in EU parliament of representatives from ‘anti-Semitic’ European parties.

"More than 30 MPs in the European Union Parliament stood in protest Monday to express support for a request to keep representatives from anti-Semitic parties out.
The request, filed by Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein, seeks to challenge the membership of Greek representative Eleni Zaroulia of the Golden Dawn party, and Hungarian MP Tamas Gaudy-Nagy of the Jobbik party."

Israeli doc helps Haitian amputee get groove back
Georges Exantus underwent surgery in Israel after he lost his leg in the 2000 earthquake; today he’s boogying on the dance floor

"Israeli doctors and physical therapists who came to Haiti after the quake sent him to Israel for surgery and rehabilitation.
Three years later, the 31-year-old professional dancer is back on the floor, spinning away as he does the salsa, cha-cha and samba. A prosthetic leg doesn’t hold him back."

Yesh Atid to Make History with First Female Ethiopian MK

Pnina Tamano-Shata, number 14 on the Yesh Atid list, will be the first ever female MK from Ethiopia.
"Pnina Tamano-Shata, number 14 on the Yesh Atid list, made aliyah from Ethiopia at the age of three. She is a lawyer who in the past worked as a reporter on Channel 1 News. Now, she will be making history as an MK. Previous MKs from Ethiopia have all been male."

Reuters creates a "blockade" on the truth

From Reuters:

Malaysia's prime minister defied Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip to visit the Palestinian enclave on Tuesday, part of a diplomatic push by Gaza's Islamist rulers that is irritating their secular rivals in the West Bank.

Israel has not had any say over what goes through the Rafah border since the EUBAM observers left Gaza in 2007.

Since then, Hamas members have traveled back and forth to Iran for terror training, many buses filled with European sympathizers of Hamas have entered Gaza, Gaza's political leaders have gone on extended Middle East tours and attracting lots of fellow anti-semites, and construction material has been transferred into Gaza through Rafah.

Israel has a full naval blockade on Gaza - one that is entirely legal - and it limits the types of materials that go into and out of Gaza through Israel. But it doesn't restrict what transverses Rafah, although Israel is understandably concerned over the hundreds of tons of weapons that get smuggled in that way.

Reuters, however, is making the act of Malaysia's prime minister into a heroic act, saying he is defying Israel's blockade - as if Israel was trying to block him.

In fact, it is Mahmoud Abbas who condemned the Malaysian leader's visit, not Israel.

Najib's visit drew a stern rebuke from Abbas, who has not set foot in Gaza since his forces fought and lost a civil war against Hamas there in 2007.

"The Palestinian presidency rejects and denounces the visit ... and believes it undermines the representation of the Palestinian people," his office said in a statement. "It enhances division and does not serve Palestinian interests."

Reuters, once again, ignores the truth for its own narrative purposes.

(h/t Arnold)

"The settlements don't endanger Israel's existence - they guarantee it" (Dani Dayan video)

From a January 15th debate at the Royal Geographical Society.

(h/t Yoel)

Life in Lebanon "horrible" for fleeing Syrian Palestinians

From Reuters:

Palestinian refugees who fled Syria's war to neighboring Lebanon are living up to 20 in a room with no water, fresh air or electricity, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday.

Donors needed to do more to help at least 20,000 Palestinians who have already come in from Syria and more than 200 who join them every day to endure "horrible" conditions, UN Relief and Works Agency chief Filippo Grandi told Reuters.

He had toured the Shatila Palestinian camp and found "the conditions were horrible" for new arrivals.

"The main problem they have is accommodation. They rent small, cramped, very unsanitary premises without running water, without ventilation, without electricity," he said.

"And sometimes you see rooms in which 12, 15, 20 people live in really substandard conditions." He met one family living in a dark room with only one candle. "I couldn't see who I was speaking to," Grandi said.

Some politicians fear an influx of majority Sunni Muslim Syrians and Palestinians will tip the demographic balance of a country that is still reeling from its own 15-year civil war. More than 400,000 Palestinian refugees already live in Lebanon.

Grandi said Jordan, which already hosts 2 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants from the Arab-Israeli wars, was turning back Palestinian refugees from Syria, though he did not have figures.

Jordan has said it cannot take in more Palestinian refugees.

"I understand the sensitivity of the issue for the Jordanian authorities," Grandi said.

"I would like to appeal to (Jordan) to exercise all humanitarian considerations when Palestinian refugees ask to be admitted to Jordanian territory from Syria," he added.

It is funny how UNRWA is so understanding of Arab nations mistreating Palestinian Arabs. You never hear the UN or the EU condemn Arabs for specifically discriminating against Palestinians.

They save their condemnations for another target.

By the way, three Palestinian Arabs - including a child - were killed today in Syria. It was in all the headlines, wasn't it?

Iran: "If Assad is toppled, the line of resistance against Israel will be broken"

From Iran's ABNA:

Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, said the fall of al-Assad will damage the resistance front against Israel.

“The main reason behind our focus on the Syrian issue is to prevent the fall of the resistance line against Israel. If Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, falls the resistance line against Israel will break up,” Velayati stated.

[Velyati] described his fate as a “red line” for the Islamic Republic.

Westerners who pretend Iran is a rational player need to read this quote over and over again. Iran is stating that its major foreign policy goal is to fight Israel, to the extent of pulling out all the stops to prop up a ruthless, murderous dictator that the entire world agrees must go.

If Iran's hatred for Israel is so irrational, why do people still believe that their desire for a nuclear bomb that would be aimed against Israel is any less monomaniacal?

In a related story, the Times of London reports about Hezbollah's direct fighting for the Assad regime, along with Iraqi Shiites. No doubt this is at Iran's behest as well. As the CSM reports:

An unprecedented and slickly-produced video is being circulated around Shiite areas of Lebanon showing alleged Shiite combatants fighting in Syria. The video's production and open dissemination highlight how fighters outside Syria are jumping into the country's ongoing civil war – and growing more bold about it.

According to Lebanese sources close to the militant Shiite Hezbollah, the combatants seen in the video are a mix of Hezbollah members and Iraqi Shiites, but the video was produced in Iraq.

Hezbollah’s leadership has played down persistent reports that its fighters are helping defend the beleaguered regime of President Bashar al-Assad. But the video, which was clearly made with the consent of the combatants, appears to reflect the growing conviction within Shiite circles in Lebanon that the war in Syria is no longer one between an embattled autocratic regime and a grassroots opposition but a sectarian confrontation against the emerging and increasingly influential Salafi Jihadist groups that view Shiites as heretics and Hezbollah as an enemy.

The conflict in neighboring Syria presents Hezbollah and its Iranian patron with a strategic dilemma. Assad’s Syria represents the geopolitical lynchpin that binds Hezbollah to Iran and is a core component in the “Jabhat al-Muqawama” or “Axis of Resistance,” the pan-regional alliance challenging Israel and Western ambitions in the Middle East. If Assad falls and is replaced by a moderate Sunni regime that turns away from Iran and towards Saudi Arabia and Turkey, Hezbollah could become isolated on the Mediterranean coast and potentially threatened by a Sunni resurgence in the Levant.

Sources in the Syrian opposition, the rebel Free Syrian Army, and Western embassies concur that Hezbollah is participating in some fighting and also training regular Syrian troops in urban warfare tactics and turning the pro-regime Shabiha militia into an effective paramilitary force.

How do you act in your holiest site when it snows?

It is hard to tell the difference between the third holiest place in Islam - and a schoolyard at recess.

Palestinian Human Rights Foundation declares the Holocaust a "myth"

The Palestinian Human Rights Foundation (Monitor) has an article in its website by Dr. Mustafa Ahmed Abul Khair, chairman of its Advisory Council and a professor of international law.

In the article, Khair claims that Israel should compensate Egypt for damages Egypt claims Israel has done to it over the years, up to some $500 billion.

In order to buttress his argument, he says that "the Zionist entity is extorting Germany to get too much financial compensation for the myth of the Holocaust."

I will be speaking at Yeshiva University in Manhattan next Tuesday night.

The topic is "דע מה להשיב: How to answer the 20 most popular anti-Israel libels clearly and concisely."

I will also be speaking about Hasbara in general. In addition, I will be giving out the Hasby Awards for the best examples of Hasbara for past year (although it will be more low-key than I originally planned given I am in mourning, so no song-and-dance routines.)

I don't yet know specifically which building/room I am going to be speaking in.

It is sponsored by the YU Israel Club.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

Study: Allow Gaza population to expand into Sinai By Khaled Abu Toameh
Palestinian study recommends solving “population explosion” by transferring residents to West Bank, setting birth control rules.

"A study published Monday by a Palestinian engineer recommends solving the Gaza Strip’s “population explosion” by allowing the enclave to expand into the Sinai Peninsula.The study also recommends transferring some of the Gaza Strip’s residents to the West Bank and setting rules for birth control as a way of solving the problem.
The study was prepared by engineer Mustafa al-Farra and published in the daily Al- Quds newspaper."

France marches on Mali, and the Left's anti-war fervour falls silent. Is liberal interventionism back on the agenda?

"Surely it is only a matter of time before the righteous legions begin their counter-march. The demands for a boycott of French produce. The recall of our Ambassador from Paris. Soon the Mall will echo to lusty cries of “Pas en mon nom!”, while lawyers begin to draw up papers for the arrest of the 24th president of the Republic.
Then again, perhaps not. It may just be me, but the anti-war movement seems to have been a little slow off the mark when it comes to France’s latest bout of international adventurism. Seamus Milne has been strangely silent. A search of Google uncovers no condemnation from venerable anti-imperialist John Pilger. Even George Monbiot doesn’t yet appear to have found a pipeline with which to explain and expose Hollande’s true motives."

Caroline Glick: Bye-bye London

"At another point, I was asked how I defend the Nazi state of Israel. When I responded by among other things giving the Nazi pedigree of the Palestinian nationalist movement founded by Nazi agent Haj Amin el Husseini and currently led by Holocaust denier Mahmoud Abbas, the crowd angrily shouted me down.I want to note that the audience was made up of upper crust, wealthy British people, not unwashed rabble rousers. And yet they behaved in many respects like a mob when presented with pro-Israel positions."

London Review of Books Cheerleads for Hamas

"The London Review of Books is nothing if not consistent in its contemptuous attitude towards the Jewish state. A recent article, "Why Israel Didn't Win" (Dec. 6, 2012), by Adam Shatz is illustrative. Ignoring a litany of violent provocations and repeated proclamations by Hamas leaders that "Palestine is ours from the river to the sea," Shatz grasps at the disingenuous figleaf of a "temporary truce" offered by Hamas in order to cast Israel as the villain responsible for last November's intensification of violence. Shatz's argument is shoddy, transparently reversing cause-and-effect. It typifies the diminished quality of analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict coming from The London Review of Books."

BBC outsources coverage of Israeli elections to writer for far-Left magazine

"+972 magazine showcases the opinions of a tiny fringe on the far Left of Israeli politics which is alien to mainstream Israeli opinion. As its Editor himself admits, its English language format is intended to appeal primarily to foreign readers, with the aim of securing “dramatic pressure from abroad” in order (rather undemocratically, some might think) to influence the internal Israeli political process.
The BBC’s decision to outsource some of its election coverage to a contributor to such a forum is the equivalent of its publishing analysis of British elections by a writer for the ‘Socialist Worker’. One doubts very much that the BBC would dare to try that one at home."

Quick-Thinking Security Officers Head Off Arab 'Fire Libel'
Arabs who set several fires in central Samaria may have been trying to smear area Jews for the destruction of an Arab olive grove

Egyptian soccer referee threatens boycott of Israel

‘Israel is a cancer and we must fight it,’ official says, decrying upcoming European championships in Israel
“This Zionist Entity is planted, like a cancerous tumor, in the body of the Arab and Islamic nation. We must tear it out and, until we do, we must fight it as much as we can,” Nasser Sadeq Abdel Naby said in an interview on Egyptian television earlier this month that has been translated by MEMRI."

Syrian government has pattern of attacking bakeries, bread lines

"After a week without bread, people in the small central Syrian town of Halfaya got word two days before Christmas that a shipment of flour had arrived at the main bakery, prompting several hundred to queue up for the staple of life in the war-ravaged land.
For the Syrian air force, it was a moment of lethal opportunity. Soon, a Sukhoi-22 ground attack plane flew over the bakery and dropped eight bombs, each filled with cluster bomblets. The first struck 150 feet from the bakery, but the second was a direct hit on the bread line, killing at least 68 people, witnesses said."

Reports: Saudi commutes sentences of death-row inmates who agree to fight 'Jihad' in Syria
Reports claim that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been commuting the death penalty for those willing to fight against Bashar Al-Assad in Syria

UN chief blames Israel for Arab world stagnation

‘Conflict, injustice, occupation’ — and especially the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate — have prevented progress, says Ban; our conflict is not the core Arab issue, Israel responds

Hungarian lawmaker to speak on ‘Zionist threat’

"A lawmaker from Hungary’s Jobbik Party who recently called for listing Jews as a “security risk” reportedly is planning a lecture tour about the “Zionist threat."

Ethics board summons Belgian doctor over Israel boycott

Order of Physicians holds hearing to discuss efforts to block sales of Teva pharmaceuticals
"Gorissen, a veteran anti-Israel activist, is a member of GVHV, a group providing free medical services as part of an initiative started by the Marxist Belgian PvDA party."

Upgraded Iron Dome intercepts medium-range missile
Rafael and the Defense Ministry successfully test improved version of rocket interception system

Tel Aviv Ranked Seventh Best Beach City Worldwide

"Tel Aviv, known as the “White City,” placed seventh in the Lonely Planet’s review of top beach cities behind top-ranked Barcelona. Tel Aviv beat cities such as its Middle Eastern neighbor Dubai, Miami, as well as Brighton and Hove in Great Britain on the list."

New EU Marie Curie Prize goes to Israeli woman
Israeli biomed engineering researcher Sarit Sivan received the European Commission’s new prize for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sui generis - int'l law only for Israel (Robbie Sabel - video)

Robbie Sabel, professor of international law at Hebrew University, gave this brief talk last summer that is worth watching. He is discussing how many seeming international laws are"sui generis" for Israel - meaning they apply to Israel and no one else.

(h/t Dave Gold)

PLO puzzled that it wasn't invited to Obama inauguration

From The National: (UAE)

With its pomp and ceremony, a US presidential inauguration is frequently touted here as an inspiring example for less fortunate countries of peaceful and orderly transitions of power.

But one diplomat from a people long denied statehood, in some ways as a direct result of US policy, had no seat at the festivities yesterday.

"You know it's a funny thing," said Maen Rashid Areikat, the Palestinian envoy to Washington, about not receiving an invitation to Mr Obama's swearing-in. "Technically we are not on their diplomatic list because we are not recognised as a full-fledged state.

"When we checked last they told us that because we changed addresses and emails," he said, his voice trailing off. "It could be technical, it could be logistical. But I don't feel angry."

...Mr Areikat, in the face all facts to the contrary, believes that Middle East peace is still a core US interest and that Mr Obama's second term holds glimmers of promise.

John Kerry's nomination for secretary of state is promising because he is an advocate of a strong US role in the Middle East and in resolving its conflicts, he added. "But presidential involvement in any effort is crucial."

Mr Areikat also sees opportunity in the US policy of engagement with the new democracies of the Middle East, especially Egypt.

But was the PLO invited to the 2009 ceremony?

(h/t AR)

Hamas earning its bad Freedom House score

In the annual Freedom House report on how free various countries and territories are, Gaza received one of the worst rankings - 6 for political rights and 6 for civil liberties (7 is the worst.) It did beat out Syria, though, which was scored 7 and 7.

Hamas seems hell-bent on hitting the Syrian rankings, though, as Palestine Press Agency reports that Hamas started a new campaign of arresting journalists.

Hamas detained one radio journalist's family in order to get him to come to security headquarters this morning so they could arrest him.

Two others were arrested yesterday, including the managing director of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. Yet two mores were detained on Sunday.

The West Bank under the PA was not much better than Hamas, with scores of 6 and 5.

Israel was ranked the only free country in the Middle East, with scores of 1 and 2.

Egyptian "expert" says Jews stole Star of David from Muslims; Menorah symbol stolen from Romans

Al Ahram quotes an Egyptian "antiquities expert" as saying that the Star of David and the Menorah symbols of Judaism are stolen from other cultures.

Dr. Rahim Rihan, who we have seen recently as claiming that there were no Temples in Jerusalem and that Israel is using super-secret chemicals to dissolve the Al Aqsa Mosque, is apparently going to keep on making things up as long as the Arabic media quotes him seriously.

He says that the Star of David as a Jewish symbol has its roots in Prague in 1648. A Jewish army contingent was defending the city and the Emperor of Austria, Ferdinand III, suggested the star as the symbol of the Jewish troops, using the Greek Delta (triangle) character and doubling/inverting it to symbolize David. In fact, says Rihan, it is an ancient Islamic symbol.

This is a very nice story, but it doesn't explain why the Leningrad Codex Hebrew Bible of 1008 has this on its cover:

Or why a 3rd century synagogue was decorated with this:

It is true that other cultures used a six-pointed star and it wasn't seen as being exclusively Jewish until relatively recently, but it clearly predates Islam.

Rihan doubles down with his discussion of the menorah symbol. He says that it is really a Roman symbol, and that the Biblical description of the menorah is really from the Romans - who lived quite a few centuries later.

Here's a menorah on a Hashmonean coin circa 40 BCE, already a clear Jewish symbol:

Dr. Rihan is clearly enjoying making things up and being taken seriously by the Egyptian media. And the Egyptian media is happy pushing his lies.

So we can expect to see many more of them.

Abbas won't save Palestinian Arab lives - on principle!

Yesterday there were reports that implied Mahmoud Abbas might allow thousands of imperiled Syrian Palestinians to enter the West Bank, as opposed to what had been reported last week.

Last night, however, Abbas made it very clear that he will not act to save the lives of these people in danger - because of the principles involved.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina repeated on Monday evening that President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israel's condition to allow up to 150,000 Syrian Palestinians to the relative safety of the PA.

Israel said it would allow them to come to the West Bank if the immigrants would sign that they are giving up their claim to move to Israel itself.

Abu Rudeina said that Abbas rejected this condition "categorically." He said "The issue of Palestinian refugees and the right of return are final status issues, and one may not act against international resolutions providing for their return to their homeland and their homes, which they fled, in particular resolution 194, which provides for the right of return of Palestinian refugees."

You see? They must die because the principle of misinterpreting a non-binding UNGA resolution and to avoid "final status" issues in a moribund "peace process" is more important than human lives!

Note also that Abbas is not giving the Syrian Arabs of Palestinian descent even the option of making their own decision in this matter. He is dooming perhaps hundreds more to death, because to him and other Arab leaders, their entire utility is to act as pawns to pressure Israel on the bogus "right of return" - and if they are not acting as these pawns, they might as well just die.

People say that Abbas is taking pages out of the Zionist playbook in trying to build a state, but the contrast between how Zionists were willing to compromise on their state in order to save Jewish lives and how callously Palestinian Arab leaders act towards their "people" could not be starker.

(Remember when the world media breathlessly reported that Abbas was softening on the "right to return" a couple of months ago? Yet another example of wishful thinking trumping explicit Palestinian Arab statements? Good times.)

Four more Palestinian Arabs were killed in the past few days in Syria. Their families should send a "Thank You" card to Mahmoud Abbas.

Latest nutty Arab rumor: US ambassador says Jews are real owners of Egypt

Arabic media is in an uproar over alleged statements from US ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson.

According to the story, Patterson told Ma'ariv that Jews are the real owners of Egypt, since they were expelled after they built the Pyramids and that DNA analysis showed that King Tut was of Jewish origin.

Moreover, the ambassador is alleged to have said that "Israel will no longer be threatened by Arab barbarians who want to destroy it."

Poverty and eventual bankruptcy in Egypt will push the Egyptians to famine, and then Jews will return again to the land of Egypt to enslave the Egyptians and feed them and save them from starvation and poverty, according to the bizarre rumored interview, which seems to be based on the biblical story of Joseph.

Patterson is then supposed to have stressed that by the end of 2013 all of Egypt will be under the control of the Jews, perhaps through an all-out war with NATO, the US and Great Britain.

One Egyptian politician has already called for Patterson to be expelled from the country because of these supposed statements.

The US Embassy in Egypt issued a strong denial that any such interview took place, and of course, there is no such interview in Ma'ariv or anywhere else. They posted the denial on their Facebook page in Arabic and English:

Statement on Falsehoods in the Media

Online and media reports claiming that the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne W. Patterson, made statements to the website of the Israeli newspaper Maariv asserting that Israel has the right to Egyptian land are completely false. The Ambassador has never conducted an interview with Maariv and never made any of the reported statements. We encourage journalists to call our press office (which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) to check the facts about U.S. Government policies, activities and statements before publishing stories about the United States

Arabic media is endlessly amusing.

Hamas starts new campaign against immodest clothing, hairstyles

Al Ahram and other media are reporting that Hamas has started a new campaign against "Western-style" clothing in Gaza, both for men and women.

The campaign is titled "Upholding values and virtue."

Hamas is especially cracking down on low-hanging pants that reveals undergarments, tight jeans, immodest abayas and "puffy" hairstyles.

Preachers will emphasize the issue in their Friday sermons, and webpages and Facebook pages are being set up to teach Gazans how to dress in ways that do not reflect negatively on the sector that happens to be run by terrorists.

Yes, MLK really did say the quote that anti-Zionism is anti-semitism

It is always a pleasure to read the work of Martin Kramer, a real scholar, doing real research. This comes from last March:

“When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Aptly quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. is a common way to make a point or win an argument, and it’s no surprise that his new memorial in Washington includes an “Inscription Wall” of quotes carved in stone. It’s also no surprise that the quote about critics of Zionists didn’t make the cut for inclusion in the memorial. Still, it’s been put to use on many an occasion, most recently by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year, in his address to the Knesset on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A few years back it even cropped up in a State Department report on antisemitism. So I was perplexed to see it categorized as “disputed” on the extensive page of King quotes at Wikiquote—for better or worse, the go-to place to verify quotes. Indeed, as of this writing, it’s the only King quote so listed.

The attempt to discredit the quote has been driven by politics. In particular, it’s the work of Palestinians and their sympathizers, who resent the stigmatizing of anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism. Just what sort of anti-Zionism crosses that fine line is a question beyond my scope here. But what of the quote itself? How was it first circulated? What is the evidence against it? And might some additional evidence resolve the question of its authenticity?

King’s words were first reported by Seymour Martin Lipset, at that time the George D. Markham Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard, in an article he published in the magazine Encounter in December 1969—that is, in the year following King’s assassination. Lipset:

Shortly before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Boston on a fund-raising mission, and I had the good fortune to attend a dinner which was given for him in Cambridge. This was an experience which was at once fascinating and moving: one witnessed Dr. King in action in a way one never got to see in public. He wanted to find what the Negro students at Harvard and other parts of the Boston area were thinking about various issues, and he very subtly cross-examined them for well over an hour and a half. He asked questions, and said very little himself. One of the young men present happened to make some remark against the Zionists. Dr. King snapped at him and said, “Don’t talk like that! When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!”

For the next three-plus decades, no one challenged the credibility of this account. No wonder: Lipset, author of the classic Political Man (1960), was an eminent authority on American politics and society, who later became the only scholar ever to preside over both the American Sociological Association and the American Political Science Association. Who if not Lipset could be counted upon to report an event accurately? Nor was he quoting something said in confidence only to him or far back in time. Others were present at the same dinner, and Lipset wrote about it not long after the fact. He also told the anecdote in a magazine that must have had many subscribers in Cambridge, some of whom might have shared his “fascinating and moving” experience. The idea that he would have fabricated or falsified any aspect of this account would have seemed preposterous.

That is, until almost four decades later, when two Palestinian-American activists suggested just that. Lipset’s account, they wrote, “seems on its face… credible.”

There are still, however, a few reasons for casting doubt on the authenticity of this statement. According to the Harvard Crimson, “The Rev. Martin Luther King was last in Cambridge almost exactly a year ago—April 23, 1967″ (“While You Were Away” 4/8/68). If this is true, Dr. King could not have been in Cambridge in 1968. Lipset stated he was in the area for a “fund-raising mission,” which would seem to imply a high profile visit. Also, an intensive inventory of publications by Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project accounts for numerous speeches in 1968. None of them are for talks in Cambridge or Boston.

---
When King was assassinated, the Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, did write that he “was last in Cambridge almost exactly a year ago—April 23, 1967.” That had been a very public visit, during which King and Dr. Benjamin Spock held a press conference to announce plans for a “Vietnam Summer.” War supporters picketed King.

But in actual fact, that wasn’t King’s last visit to Cambridge. In early October 1967, when news spread that King would be coming to Boston for the Belafonte concert, a junior member of Harvard’s faculty wrote to King from Cambridge, to extend an invitation from the instructor and his wife:

We would be anxious to be able to sit down and have a somewhat leisured meal with you, and perhaps with some other few people from this area whom you might like to meet. So much has happened in recent months that we are both quite without bearings, and are in need of some honest and tough and friendly dialogue…. So if you can find some time for dinner on Friday or lunch on Saturday, we are delighted to extend an invitation. If, however, your schedules do not permit, we of course will understand that. In any case, we look forward to seeing you at the Belafonte Concert and the party afterwards.

Two days later, King’s secretary, Dora McDonald, sent a reply accepting the invitation on King’s behalf: “Dr. King asked me to say that he would be happy to have dinner with you.” King would be arriving in Boston at 2:43 in the afternoon. “Accompanying Dr. King will be Rev. Andrew Young, Rev. Bernard Lee and I.”

Who was this member of the Harvard faculty? Martin Peretz.

...It was against this background that King came to dinner at the Peretz home at 20 Larchwood Drive, Cambridge, in the early evening of October 27, 1967. A few days later, King’s aide, Andrew Young, thanked the couple

for the delightful evening last Friday. It is almost too bad we had to go to the concert, but I think you will agree that the concert, too, proved enjoyable but I am also sure a couple of hours conversing with the group gathered in your home would have been more productive.

In fact, the evening’s significance would only become evident later, after King’s death. For the dinner was attended by Peretz’s senior Harvard colleague, Seymour Martin Lipset, and it was then and there that Lipset heard King rebuke a student who echoed the SNCC line on “Zionists”: “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism!” Peretz would later assert that King “grasped the identity between anti-Israel politics and anti-semitic ranting.” But it was Lipset who preserved King’s words to that effect, by publishing them soon after they were spoken. (And just to run the contemporary record against memory, I wrote to Peretz, to ask whether the much-quoted exchange did take place at his Cambridge home on that evening almost 45 years ago. His answer: “Absolutely.” )

It is worth reading the whole thing.

And yet, even today, anti-Israel activists are casting doubt that the quote is accurate. For good reason: they know it is, and the idea that MLK was probably a Zionist drives them crazy.

(This tweet was deleted after I responded, but her sarcastic response is still up.)

More on MLK and Israel, between Kramer and Yaacov Lozowick, here.