Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Human Rights Watch hires Israel-basher

Thanks to the excellent NGO Monitor organization.

Ken Roth and Human Rights Watch have employed Lucy Mair as a researcher in Israel/Occupied Territories. Ms. Mair's qualifications include writing for the "Electronic Intifada" and work with Grassroots International, a radical pro-Palestinian political organization. (Since HRW's employment process is secret, and not subject to independent review, we are unable to compare her credentials and expertise on universal human rights issues with the other candidates.) Her descriptions of Life in Palestine, and articles for "Palestine Now" etc., focus exclusively on Palestinian "fear and the loss and the humiliation and the despair", with no mention of terror, suicide bombings, and the human rights of Israelis. References to Israeli soldiers "protected by arrogance and hatred" are hostile stereotypes, and she echoes the false massacre claims in referring to Palestinians "killed in their homes in Jenin when the tanks and the bulldozers ate up their camp". In this extreme biased approach to Israel that extends far beyond legitimate criticism, she joins the other members of HRW's Middle East team, including Sarah Leah Whitson (from MADRE) and Joe Stork (from MERIP).

[...]
Thus, HRW has hired someone whose experience in 'human rights' is based upon a history of promoting the Palestinian cause with absolutely no regard for the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the rights of Israelis to defend themselves from Palestinian terror. Kenneth Roth has once again demonstrated his policy of filling HRW's Middle East department with like-minded politicized individuals whose priorities are not in keeping with the promotion of universal human rights values.

Chag Purim Same'akh!

To my legions, um, dozens, um, couple of readers!

חג שמח

Sports news!

When was the last time you heard of a "human rights" group boycotting any Palestinian event because of child abuse, suicide bombing, honor killings, incitement to hate, support for terror....

Human rights groups in Ireland are calling on Irish national soccer team supporters to boycott a World Cup qualifying match against the Israeli national team.

The organizations asked fans to refrain from making the trip to Israel for the May 26 match, and have also asked the Irish Football Association
to boycott the game entirely due to the political situation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

And another progressive brain surgeon/father weighs in:

France's national soccer team top goalie slammed Israel on Thursday, saying he refused to travel with his teammates to a planned match with Israel’s national team next week because of the the Israeli army's actions against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

“When I see all the suffering in the world, I don’t understand why they would want to play in Israel,” Fabien Barthez told a news conference in Paris.

The French goalie also slammed Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territories, saying: “I don’t like it at all. I am speaking as a father and not as a soccer player.”

Should Barthez not arrive in Israel with the rest of the French squad for the planned match on Wednesday, Coach Raymond Domenech would need to use his second-string goalie.

Apparently, Jewish kids blown up by bombs or from Kassam rockets do not have any fathers.
Hat tip to Hatshepsut.

Child Abuse: The New Islamic Cult of Martyrdom

A lengthy report from the South Asia Terrorism Portal site, trying to see if India can learn the lessons of Israel.

This disturbing practice of deadly child abuse is on the rise in Muslim societies all over the world, most notably in the Palestinian areas and in Pakistan as also in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). While the average Israeli or Indian citizen does not usually make the connection, there are striking similarities between the threats that face their two countries. Muslim terrorist organizations that recruit – sometimes forcibly – these teenagers, justify this illegal and immoral practice by noting that children, much like females, are less likely to be intercepted by security forces before they carry out their missions of death. In both conflicts, the value of a child’s life (not to mention the lives of those unfortunates who find themselves within the radius of death and destruction when the bomb is detonated) has become subordinate to the aspirations of militant Islam and militant nationalism. And while the recruitment and indoctrination of Muslim children to engage in terrorism and armed conflict in Indian Kashmir has not reached the unprecedented levels of the current Intifada that targets Israel; concerned Indian citizens (indeed persons living in any region where militant Islam has declared a Jihad) should be aware of the threat that the cult of martyrdom directs at democracies worldwide.8

Many of this Journal’s readers live in India and the surrounding region. While generally familiar with the problems emanating from Jammu and Kashmir, they remain largely unaware of the highly troubling direction taken by wide-scale Palestinian recruitment and training of children to engage in terrorist violence. This paper attempts to address the following vexing questions, in the hope that the lessons learned will be relevant to those facing similar threats in South Asia and elsewhere: How pervasive is this form of child abuse in the present Israeli–Palestinian conflict? How is it inspired?

Arab nations buy Israeli medical equipment

Perhaps their leadership should be regarded as collaborators and lynched.

Arab countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf emirates are among the recipients of medical equipment exported by 24 Israeli companies in 2004, Globes reported. Israeli exports of medical equipment rose by 7.2% in 2004 to $1.09 billion. The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute predicts that medical equipment exports will rise by another 5-7% this year. Export Institute director Yechiel Assia said medical equipment exports to Europe rose by 10% to $318 million, and exports to North America rose by 17% to $471 million. 400 companies currently export medical equipment to the US, 212 to Germany, 150 to France, 100 to Australia, 135 to Italy, 70 to Hong Kong, and 185 to the UK. This year, the Export Institute plans to send three delegations of medical equipment companies to the UK, France, and Turkey, and to participate in national pavilions in two exhibitions in Germany.

A new version of a biomolecular computer developed at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology - composed entirely of DNA molecules and enzymes - outdoes even the fastest of its kind, performing as many as a billion different programs simultaneously.

Previous biomolecular computers, such as the one built by a joint team from the Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science three years ago, were limited to just 765 simultaneous programs.

Current computers consist of metal, plastic, wires and transistors. The manner in which they process information is called linear because they conduct one computation at a time. In the latest generation of computers, biological molecules replace all the components. One advantage of these biomolecular computers over linear computers is their ability to simultaneously carry out an enormous number of complex operations.

This new biological computer is also autonomous; it processes calculations from beginning to end without any human assistance. Other biomolecular computers require humans to analyze and decipher results and perform intermediate tasks at different points in the process before the computer can complete the operation.

'A final innovation is the incorporation of a gold-coated chip, which allows simple, real-time readout of the results,' said lead researcher Professor Ehud Keinan of the Technion Faculty of Chemistry. He explained that results produced by current biomolecular computers can only be
analyzed by using elaborate techniques that include separating and sorting molecules according to size and the use of radioactive materials.

The development of the Technion's biomolecular computer is reported in the March 2005 Journal of the American Chemical Society.

A tribute to MEMRI (Jay Nordlinger)

This article is three years old. I was inspired to look it up because this Purim is the third anniversary of the newest blood libel from the Arab world - that Jews eat the blood of Gentiles in their Purim pastries (hamantaschen). And if it wasn't for MEMRI, we wouldn't know about the medieval bigoted rantings that are commonplace in Arabic media.

There are other Arabic media watchdogs as well, like Palestine Media Watch, and MEMRI now has an entire section devoted to TV shows, but the original MEMRI is invaluable and has already shown many times the differences between the smooth Western face of Arab propaganda and the way many Arabs really think.

How the MSM describes Hamas and Hezbollah

From the New York Times:

Hamas, the Islamic group that combines philanthropy and militancy, confirmed publicly on Saturday that it would take part in Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for July 17.....

They sound just like the Boy Scouts!

And check out the Washington Post:

Hezbollah, an armed Shiite Muslim political movement that operates in the south (of Lebanon).

Is it any wonder that the mainstream media is becoming more and more irrelevant?
Hat tip to Daniel Pipes.

Last Summer, the Israeli company Tadiran Spectalink revealed one of the more successful information tools used in recent Israeli counter-terrorist operations. The system, called V-Rambo (Video Receiver And Monitor for Battlefield Operations), is a 3x3 inch color video screen, with a wireless communications link to overhead UAVs. The battery powered system is worn on the wrist and provides the user with live video (at 30 frames a second) from the UAV overhead. The receiver, battery and antenna are carried on the soldiers web equipment or jacket. V-Rambo can also display digital maps. The Israeli manufacturer is trying to sell the system to foreign armed forces, most likely American. V-Rambo proved very useful in counter-terrorist operations, allowing small groups of soldiers to be led by officers or NCOs equipped with a real time video of the surrounding terrain. This put enemy fighters at a big disadvantage, and reduced the risk of friendly fire incidents. A vehicle version of V-Rambo uses a five inch color screen. V-Rambo can, of course, accept video feeds from any ground or air based source.

Palestinian terrorists want legal weapons? Just sign up!

Here is how Abbas is stopping unlicensed weapons: he's licensing them! After all, if armed terrorists can't be trusted, who can?

According to the London newspaper al-Quds al-Arabiya, Palestinian Minister of Interior Nasser Yousef has been asking armed terrorists to sign contracts that would limit their use of weapons. Yousef has issued orders barring unlicensed weapons and carrying weapons in public. (Maariv-Hebrew)

Palestinians show no interest in disarming. World ignores.

So, once again we see that a period of relative peace has no relationship with real peace, in the minds of the terrorists and their supporters. But such is the power of wishful thinking that the Israeli and Western leadership can willfully ignore the explicit statements of their "peace partners", point to minor diplomatic victories like an Egyptian ambassador to Israel, and whistle past the graveyard.

I wonder whether we'll see any "peace" groups condemn the unambiguous words of war from the mouths of these Palestinian leaders?

Palestinian militant groups, weakened by more than four years of fighting against Israel, are capitalising on the relative calm of an informal truce to strengthen their political and military clout.

Representatives of the 13 main Palestinian factions agreed last Thursday to observe a period of calm until the end of the year at talks in Cairo, provided Israel ends all forms of aggression and releases prisoners.

What Palestinian representatives in Cairo did not sanction was an end to armed resistance nor the dismantling of armed factions as demanded by Israel.

"This calm is not a gift to the occupation. We will work on and prepare ourselves. Disbanding the armed wing of Hamas is absolutely out of the question," said Abu Ubada, spokesman for the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades.

The faction agreed to extend the informal truce, not out of love for Israel but "to put Palestinian affairs in order and to ensure a period of calm conducive to holding elections", he said.

Palestinian parliamentary elections are scheduled for July and Hamas has declared its intention to contest the legislative ballot for the first time.

Abu Ubada refused to countenance any idea of Palestinian disarmament.

"Our rifles are aimed at the occupiers. Weapons that have to be collected up will be used to unleash chaos," he added.

A spokesman for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, loosely affiliated to the mainstream Fatah party, said its militants would integrate into Palestinian Authority security forces without sacrificing the "resistance".

"A large number of our fighters already belong to the security services. Joining the security services does not at all signify the end of resistance against the occupation," said the spokesman, calling himself Abu Qussay.

He cautioned Israel against violating the period of calm.

"We are ready to fight back at any moment," the Al-Aqsa spokesman warned. "Weapons will remain in the hands of the resistance and we will direct them only against the Israeli enemy."

Abu al-Walid from the leadership of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said the faction aimed to take advantage of the lull "to prepare our military apparatus to confront any eventuality".

Support for the calm depends on concessions from Israel, particularly over its withdrawal from Gaza, the release of the more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and an end to aggression, he stressed.

Israeli reactive armor saves many American lives in Iraq

What are friends for?

Israeli-developed armor that has been installed on American armored personnel carriers (APCs) in Iraq has saved 'many lives', according to a letter of recognition the US Army has sent to Rafael, the Israel Armament Development Authority.

The Bradley and 7AV APCs in the service of the US Army and the Marines, which play a central role in the armed operations in Iraq, have been fitted over the last year with armor by Rafael in partial cooperation with the American General Dynamics company, based in Burlington, Vermont.

A source in the company told ISRAEL21c that the letter stated, 'When the fighting in Iraq was tough, and your product was urgently needed, you did everything you could to expedite production and delivery.'

The rush deliveries were part of the US military's effort to slow the damage done by roadside mines, explosive charges and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), which have killed more than 150 U.S. troops in Iraq.

According to the Israeli paper Ma'ariv, one of the senior officials in the American defense establishment said explicitly: the Bradley is the best protected vehicle in Iraq.

"They were trying to find American-made armor not something that comes from abroad," said the Rafael source, but after much research found that Rafael's was the most reliable.

According to Rafael's web site, with the new reactive armor, the Bradley is better able to withstand a direct hit from a variety of anti-armor munitions, including shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenades, which are in abundant supply in many of today's regional conflicts.

The armor is of the most advanced in the world: it is made up of passive protection, which is constructed of strong material that diverts the rocket, and of reactive protection, which is comprised of plates that contain explosives. The minute the rocket jet stream hits one of those plates the explosives go off, preventing the rocket from penetrating the APC.

The add-on armor consists of 105 tiles that attach to the sides, the turret and the front of each Bradley. The tiles, which look like small boxes, contain a special explosive charge that detonates when hit by a missile or rocket with a shaped-charge warhead. The resulting explosion disrupts the incoming, armor-penetrating gas jet produced by a RPG, for example, so the Bradley remains unharmed.

"The armor has minimal effect on the vehicle, it's lightweight and easy to enter. Crews in the field can handle it easily," the Rafael source told ISRAEL21c. "The active armor is also easy to handle - it can operate in extreme conditions and temperatures."

"The idea is to apply chemical energy against chemical energy," an official within Rafael told Defense News.. "These tiles contain a very special, insensitive explosive that is detonated only when hit by a missile or a rocket. For safety reasons, our armor does not react to other heat sources such as small arms or other fragments. When it detonates, the action of the elements inside the tiles interact with the incoming jet of the warhead, and defeats it."

The US Army is thrilled with the results, according a release from the US Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems (PEO-GCS).

"Reactive armor has functioned very well. The soldiers in these (Bradley) units are excited about the product because it is providing a level of survivability that they previously didn't have," said Maj. John Conway, assistant product manager of Bradley systems for the PEO-GCS.

"All you have to do is read the news about the kinds of threats our soldiers are encountering and you immediately realize that these tiles are saving lives because they are defeating the threats they were designed to defeat," Conway said, adding "for the foreseeable future, reactive armor is one of the best ways to defeat these kinds of threats."

"The Bradley program manager told us he had no doubt that the Rafael reactive armor was saving lives in Iraq," Rafael Chairman Jacob Toren told Defense News. "This is a proven capability; it's not theoretical. It's in full production at GDATP and here at Rafael."