Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, November 30, 2009

Future martyr?

In the continuing series of reader-submitted photos of adorable Palestinian Arab children published daily at Firas Press comes this photo of Sidra Essam al-Harazin:

The burning Fatah logo and the use of the smaller, reverse image, along with the obligatory keffiyeh, is very evocative of Palestinian Arab martyr posters and martyr graphics published on terrorist websites.

Looks a little like Arafat, come to think of it.

Another "mysterious explosion" kills one near Haniyeh's home

Palestine Press Agency reports that a member of Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades was blown up, and three others injured, when a minibus exploded in Gaza City near the home of Ismail Haniyeh.

A doctor is speculating that it might have been an Israeli airstrike, but so far it appears to be another of those infamous "work accidents."

Islamic Jihad's Saraya.ps website does not yet have the story. I'll wait for the smoke to clear before adding it to the self-death count.

UPDATE: Smoke cleared enough for me. The explosion occurred in a Volkswagen, and the IDF denied any activity.

Dershowitz on Goldstone (video)

Here is Alan Dershowitz's critique of the Goldstone Report, delivered at Fordham University:

From Israelactivism.com

(I copied it and placed it on NMA-TV, hopefully that is OK.)

Benny Morris on Avi Shlaim

Benny Morris' book reviews are always fascinating, and his review of British historian Avi Shlaim's latest book of essays is no exception.

And he is merciless:

According to Shlaim, quoting Segev, David Lloyd George, Britain’s prime minister in 1917, pushed the declaration out of “ignorance and prejudice.” Lloyd George “despised the Jews, but he also feared them,” believing in their world-embracing “power and influence.” The people who sired the document “believed the Jews controlled the world,” says Shlaim, quoting Segev. Which is to say, the Balfour Declaration was primarily a product of anti-Semitism. Historians love paradoxes, even fictitious ones.
Shlaim fails completely to mention the relevance of philo-Semitism and philo-Zionism as a decisive factor in the issuance of the declaration. Indeed, it was probably the single most potent factor in the support of the key Cabinet ministers: Lloyd George, Arthur James Balfour himself, Lord Milner, Robert Cecil, and Jan Smuts. Brought up on the Bible and on a belief in the Jews’ contribution to Judeo-Christian civilization, these potentates believed that Christendom owed the Jews a debt--and that it must atone for two thousand years of persecution by restoring them to their land. As Balfour told the House of Lords in 1922:

It is in order that we may send a message to every land where the Jewish race has been scattered, a message that will tell them that Christendom is not oblivious of their faith, is not unmindful of the service they have rendered to the great religions of the world, and most of all to the religion that the majority of Your Lordships’ house profess, and that we desire to the best of our ability to give them that opportunity of developing ... those great gifts which hitherto they have been compelled to bring to fruition in countries that know not their language and belong not to their race? This is the ideal which I desire to see accomplished, that is the aim that lay at the root of the policy I am trying to defend; and though it be defensible indeed on every ground [he means imperial interests, and so on], that is the ground which chiefly moves me.
Shlaim would have it that Balfour, George, Milner, Smuts, and Cecil were all liars or dissemblers. I prefer to believe them.

Palestinian political aspirations, then and now, were “just,” according to Shlaim. He never applies the word to Zionist aspirations, before 1948 or after. Was Israel’s establishment “just,” and is its continued existence “just,” in light of the monumental “injustice” that it caused the Palestinians? Should the Jews never have established their state in Palestine? Shlaim implicitly leaves on the table the standard Palestinian argument that the Palestinians have had to pay for an injustice committed against the Jews by others. Nowhere in this book does Shlaim say a word about the Jewish people’s three-thousand-year-old connection to the Land of Israel--that this land was the Jewish people’s cradle; that they subsequently ruled it, on and off, for over a thousand years; and that for the next two millennia, after going into exile, they aspired and longed for repatriation. Nor does he mention that the Arabs, who had no connection to Palestine, in the seventh century conquered the land “unjustly” from the Byzantine Empire and “illegally” settled in it, forcibly converting it into an “Arab” land. If conquest does not grant rightful claim, then surely this should be true universally?
Nowhere does Shlaim tell us of the persecution, oppression, and occasional mass murder of Jews by Muslim Arabs over the centuries, starting with Muhammad’s destruction of the Jewish communities in Hijaz and ending with the pogroms in Aden and Morocco in 1947–1948. And nowhere does Shlaim point out that the Palestinian Arabs had an indirect hand in causing the death of European Jewry during the Holocaust, by driving the British, through anti-British and anti-Zionist violence, to shut the gates of Palestine, which was the only possible safe haven, after the United States and the Anglo-Saxon world had shut their gates to escaping European Jews. And, more directly, Palestinian (and other Arab) leaders contributed to the Holocaust by politically supporting Hitler and, in the case of Haj Amin al Husseini, actually working in Berlin for the Third Reich, peddling Nazi propaganda to the Arab world and raising troops for the Wehrmacht.

About Israel’s restrictions on the flow of goods into the Gaza Strip since the Hamas takeover, Shlaim observes that “the aim was to starve the people of Gaza into submission” and resulted in “a humanitarian catastrophe.” This is simply wild. Darfur is a humanitarian catastrophe. Somalia at times has been a humanitarian catastrophe. But Gaza? As far as I know, no Gazan has died of thirst or starvation. There are no African-style bloated bellies there. It is true that Israel has barred the importation of iron and steel and other materials needed for reconstructing houses destroyed or damaged in the December 2008–January 2009 campaign (and, in my view mistakenly, also barred the entry into Gaza of various other goods). But Israel argues, with solid logic, that Hamas would immediately use these materials to rebuild bunkers, munitions storage facilities, trenchworks, and the other institutions and instruments of its aggression.

Read the whole thing.

Thanks, Arab boycott!

From Ha'aretz:

Thanks to the Arab boycott of Israel, which partially included Dubai, few Israelis have been exposed to the country's financial crisis. Few Israelis export to Dubai, and it seems very few have business connections with the government's Dubai World development arm, which has asked for a six-month moratorium on interest payments on its $59 billion in debt.

"Anyone involved in the business world has known for six months that Dubai is tottering," said an Israeli businessman with interests around the globe. "It is no wonder that the world crisis has reached them. They have no oil and they live on international trade and debt. There are insane real estate projects there, including artificial islands and extremely exhibitionistic buildings. Luckily, Israelis did not succeed in creating significant business dealings with Dubai, so the relationship between a few tycoons and the Dubai investment fund will not impact the Israeli economy," he said.

"There were several attempts by Israeli construction companies to participate in their large real estate projects, but it is not clear what came of those contacts," said an Israeli businessman knowledgeable about Israeli activities in Dubai.

Israel exported to Dubai only indirectly via other countries, said Dan Catarivas, the director of the Division of Foreign Trade and International Relations of the Manufacturers Association. He said Israeli companies built small, portable desalinization plants there in cooperation with American firms. In addition, software companies tried to build Internet infrastructure through American and European firms, but had little success, said Catarivas. Israeli farmers also cooperate with Jordanian farmers to export fruits and vegetables to Dubai, he said.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange indices are up today.

(h/t Meryl Yourish)

Arab strategy, illustrated

This is a screenshot taken from a Flash ad in Palestine Today. Unfortunately, it didn't link anywhere so I cannot tell what organization sponsored it, but it shows very well that the strategy of destroying Israel in "stages," first decribed by the PLO in 1974, is alive and well.

That Jewish Lobby is really all-encompassing

From the Sunday Times (h/t Backspin):

FIGHTING out of New York, with an unbeaten professional record and the Star of David on his trunks, the opponent facing Amir Khan in the first defence of the Briton’s light-welterweight world title has a background and life story that the most shameless promoter or publicist might blush to concoct.
Dmitriy Salita is a throwback to the days when young Jews tried to fight their way out of poverty in the East End of London or the big-city slums of North America.

...Now he has arrived in Newcastle, ready for the opportunity of his life, buoyed by the good wishes of the New York fight crowd, the Jewish lobby and all those touched by his struggle and his quiet, serious demeanour.

So that's how Yuri Foreman managed to win his fight a couple of weeks ago!

Notable articles from you guys

A few articles that people recommended for me:

Alan Johnston returns to the Middle East for the first time after being kidnapped by Palestinian Arabs, and shows his impartiality by writing the BBC's umpteenth typical "evil settler" story. Plus, notice how BBC puts "'Biblical' land" in scare quotes, and captions a picture "Settlers say the land is part of ancient Israel." As if either fact is in dispute. (h/t TC)

Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths notices that 13% of Palestinian Arab men are employed working in "settlements", most in construction, and notes that a settlement freeze would devastate the West Bank economy. (My guess is that the percentages are higher today, and the 13% included Gaza so the impact on the West Bank would be even more severe than is being noted.) (via email)

Azure, which is a fantastic magazine, emailed me with a recent article about how Switzerland's vaunted neutrality is hardly neutral (welcoming Hamas and Ahmadinejad, shunning the Dalai Lama) and in fact borders on the immoral.

The Adelson Institute also emailed me with an article on Mubarak's Virtual Enemies, about how Egypt is trying to shut down many pro-democracy bloggers and other Internet activists.

Abbas and Chavez, BFF

In recent weeks, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened war with Columbia, promised to personally fly on planes to "zap" clouds to make them rain, urged citizens to stop singing in the shower, said complimentary things about Idi Amin, Carlos the Jackal and Robert Mugabe, and had a warm reception with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad where he labeled Israel "a murderous arm of the Yankee empire."

In that context, his latest guest makes perfect sense:

President Mahmoud Abbas concluded his tour of Latin America in Venezuela on Friday, where he and President Hugo Chavez signed agreements to promote bilateral relations between Caracas and the Palestinians.

In a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people, Chavez offered Abbas an olive branch and a gold-plated reproduction of a sword belonging to Simon Bolivar, the 19th Century South American political leader who played a key role in the region’s independence from Spain.

Presenting Abbas with these gifts, the Venezuelan president proclaimed, "Venezuela is Palestine; Palestine is Venezuela, we have a common struggle."

"We [Venezuelans] should devote the entire force of our hearts and souls towards the creation of a Palestinian state," he said.

Both leaders have a lot in common - the willingness to sacrifice the well-being of their people for their own egos and misplaced priorities.

Today's lying PalArab "eyewitnesses"

From Ma'an:

Fifteen Israeli settlers from the Yitzhar settlement near Nablus attempted to set fire to a home in the village of Burin, Palestinian sources said Saturday.

Wearing white prayer shirts marking the Jewish Sabbath the group stormed the home of Ayman Attalla Safwan carrying flame excellents but were confronted by several villagers who tried to prevent their entry into the home, eyewitnesses described.

Not sure what "flame excellents" are but not only would religious Jews not carry implements to create a fire - they wouldn't carry anything at all on the Sabbath, outside of what is necessary for saving lives.

Just another example of the lies that Palestinian Arab "witnesses" routinely engage in.

"Peaceful" Nil'in protestors throw Molotov cocktails

From Ma'an:

Several people were injured after protesters launched an anti-wall rally in the West Bank village of Nil'in on Saturday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

In a statement, the Nil'in Youth Center said Israeli forces opened fire on locals and international activists with tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition.

The center also said Israeli soldiers were injured when youths threw stones and Molotov cocktails toward five military jeeps that crossed over the barrier and entered the village.

After that raid, two wounded children were evacuated to a hospital, demonstrators said. As many as three other Palestinians were hurt, but the nature of their injuries was not immediately clear.

Approached by Ma'an, an Israeli military spokeswoman denied that soldiers used live fire.

She confirmed that two soldiers were lightly injured, and that protesters used at least one Molotov. Protesters threw rocks and burned tires, as well, the official said.

Palestine Today calls this protest "peaceful."

These are the protests that Abbas hails as great examples of how the third Intifada should be waged.

PalArabs against boycotting Israel

From The JC:

The leader of Palestine’s equivalent of the TUC has told a delegation of British trade unionists that they are not interested in general boycotts of Israel.

Shaher Saeed, general secretary of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), told representatives of seven unions that the organisation had so little interest in the subject it had never discussed boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and therefore had no policy on the subject.

“The only area where the PGFTU did have a boycott policy was with regard to produce from West Bank settlements. Even then, there was concern about whether that boycott could do more harm than good for the 30,000 Palestinians employed there,” said Steve Scott, director of Trade Union Friends of Israel (Tufi), who was with the delegation that met Mr Saeed.

The delegates were Sheila Bearcroft, GMB central executive council member and TUC president 2009; Gerry Moloney, head of communications, Advance Union; Mike Dixon, national executive member, Usdaw; Robert Mooney, national executive member, Community Union; Duncan Harrod, public relations and communications officer, Community Union; and Terry McCorron, chair, Unison branch, attending in a personal capacity.

The delegates maintained a daily blog during the trip and in it, Mr Moloney wrote: “Listening to people from both communities on the subject of the proposed international trade union boycott, it is evident that all parties oppose this action. In a meeting with the Jerusalem municipality workers, one view from the Palestinian contingent was that a boycott would be more detrimental to the Arab workforce than any other.

“The reason was that in the event of economic sanctions, it would cause a detrimental impact on the employment levels of their community.”

On another day, Mike Dixon wrote: “There was a discussion about the boycott and it is clear that Palestinians don’t want it — all they want is equal pay and a living.”

The group met high-ranking Israeli officials as well as Palestinians during the four-day trip, one of two groups that Tufi takes every year to meet trades unionists on both sides.

Mr Scott said: “Both Histadrut (the Israeli union federation) and the PGFTU are working hard to improve relations. It is very important that UK unionists see and hear for themselves the views of people on the ground, rather than the one-sided rhetoric of some of the organisations in Britain.”

One day, it might dawn on people that those who push hard for boycotting Israel have no interest in the well being of Palestinian Arabs.
(h/t Callie)