Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, January 30, 2011

No new "Palestine Papers" since Wednesday

Why have The Guardian and Al Jazeera stopped releasing any new memos since Wednesday?

Sunday linkfest

Iran is very happy at the events in Egypt, claiming that it is a natural extension of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran and installed one of the most repressive regimes in the world.

The prisons in Egypt are emptying as prisoners are rioting and killing guards. Some reports say that thousands of prisoners are now roaming the country. The Muslim Brotherhood is celebrating the escape of its members. There are reports of "dozens of bodies" on the roads near one prison.

Thousands of Jordanians rallied on Friday after prayers demanding a new Prime Minister, and there were additional Islamist rallies on Saturday to support the anti-Mubarak riots in Egypt, warning all Arab leaders who are allied with the US that they will be toppled as well.

Leading Tunisian Islamists are streaming back to Tunisia from their exile in Europe.

Analysis about the events in Egypt from The Muqata, Barry Rubin, TNR.

Khaled Abu Toameh asks "Who are the real peace partners?"

Right after my proof that Amnesty International is inherently biased against Israel, a "human rights activist" that Amnesty praised as a "key human rights defender" been sentenced to nine years in prison for spying for Hezbollah.

Also some delicious irony from Yaacov Lozowick concerning another "peace activist."

Southern Sudan vote results in: 98.83% chose to secede

From Al Arabiya:

Close to 99 percent of south Sudanese chose to secede from the north in a January 9-15 referendum, according to the first complete preliminary results published Sunday.

Updated figures published on the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission's website and accounting for 100 percent of ballots cast in both the north and the south gave secession an overwhelming 98.83 percent of the vote.

Early counting had put the outcome of the ballot beyond doubt only days after voting ended, with partial figures showing southern Sudan had comfortably secured a mandate to secede and become the world's newest nation.

According to the commission website, 3,851,994 votes were cast during an emotional week-long ballot that saw huge lines of dancing and praying voters form outside polling stations long before dawn on the first day of voting.

Five of the 10 states in Sudan's oil-producing south showed a 99.9 percent vote for separation and the lowest vote was 95.5 percent in favor in the western state of Bahr al-Ghazal which borders north Sudan.

Arab League "Conference to Support Jerusalem" postponed indefinitely

Late last year, Qatar undertook to host a "Conference to Support Jerusalem" in February 2011, which was advised at the end of the Arab League conference in Sirte last March.

Some 74 countries were invited to what was planned to be an anti-Israel hatefest.

The conference was meant to show that Jerusalem is not only a Palestinian Arab issue but a pan-Arab issue. Seminars scheduled included how the "Arab" Jebusites built the city and the ancient Israelites intruded, as well as how Israel is violating international law by buying buildings and having Jews live there.

Only last Sunday, plans for the conference were said to be "in full swing" in Qatar.

Today, it was announced that the conference was being postponed "indefinitely."

This appears to be Qatar's retaliation against the insults that the Palestinian Authority hurled at the Emir in wake of the "Palestine Papers" imbroglio.

What Hamas is doing in Egypt

Palestine Press Agency, which is rabidly anti-Hamas but whose reporting has generally panned out as true, is reporting exactly what Hamas is doing to take advantage of the chaos in Egypt:

Special units of the Qassam Brigades of Hamas infiltrated through the tunnels deployed on the border two days ago to the city of Rafah in Egypt and then to the towns of Sheikh Zuwaid and El-Arish to support the Sinai Bedouin attacking the centers of the Egyptian security; [the Bedouin represent] the strategic depth of the Hamas movement in the Sinai.

A number of cars in the Sinai are filled by Hamas with weapons smuggled [from Gaza to Egypt] through the tunnels: mortars, RPGs, and packages of homemade explosives, such as those used in the bombing of Alexandria, in addition to a number of hand grenades, and these are used against the security forces and supporting the Egyptian Sinai Bedouin in the eradication of the ruling system in Egypt.

A large amount of Hamas members in civilian clothes have already passed through the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through to Cairo, with the help of bribed state security officers, where they seek cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to attack the Egyptian prisons, where there are Hamas prisoners. Hamas is a natural extension of the Muslim Brotherhood.

There is talk about an escape of prisoners, including Ayman Nofal [jailed by Egypt in 2008] and others, and Hamas expects to return its prisoners to the Gaza Strip by Monday.

Aa state of overwhelming joy prevails in the ranks of Hamas from the influx of news from Egypt along with cheers and fireworks about the success of its own power to break points of the Egyptian security and access to the heart of Cairo. Hamas considers events in Cairo to end the rule of President Mubarak of Egypt, which they describe as a traitor and they wish the fall of the corrupt system in order for the Brotherhood to ascend to power.

It is worth mentioning the escape of the Palestinian King of Tunnels, nicknamed The Mouse, from the prison of Al-Arish, and his escape to Gaza after bloody battles fought by the Special Unit of the Qassam Brigades in collaboration with the Bedouins of the Sinai against the security forces of Egypt. In addition the al-Qassam Brigades kidnapped 3 Egyptian soldiers who seem to have been freed at the border of the city of Rafah.

Related, from Ma'an:

Palestinian sources say 12 people including Bedouins and Egyptian police officers were killed Saturday in clashes in the Sinai Peninsula, in what appeared to be an attempt by tribes in the region to take control of the swath of land south of the Egypt-Gaza border.

Gunshots were heard in the Egyptian city of Rafah as Bedouins attempted to occupy the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip. Rocket-propelled Grenades were fired at Egyptian soldiers, witnesses said, causing the near-total destruction of one home near the border area, and damage to a sector of the Gaza-Egypt border fence.

Gaza government police were said to have fixed the breach immediately, while eyewitnesses said police forces deployed across the border area on the Gaza side, in an apparent attempt to prevent Gaza residents from entering Egypt.

Armed groups attacked Egyptian police in the cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zweid, set fire to one police station and were behind the slaying of one officer identified as 36-year-old Jum’a Hamid after he was abducted along with two others, security sources said.

Security officials also said Bedouins were behind an earlier attack on an Egyptian security checkpoint, where four officers were killed and four others injured. All were transported to hospital in Al-Arish. Four banks and several state buildings were also reportedly set ablaze and looted.

The two stories are not inconsistent.

PalArabs trying to prove Al Jazeera in cahoots with Israel

The pro-Fatah Palestine Press Agency has a story claiming that Al Jazeera apologized to Israel last Thursday for saying good things about arch-terrorist and baby-killer Samir Kuntar.

While Al-Jazeera did once apologize about its coverage of Kuntar's birthday party, it wasn't last Thursday - it was in 2008.

PalPress published this lie in order to add fuel to the conspiracy theory that al-Jazeera published the "Palestine Papers" at Israel's behest.

No Jews with kippahs allowed at Rutgers anti-Zionist event (updated)

From WND:

Rutgers University campus police tonight barred some 400 Jewish students and their supporters, including some Holocaust survivors, from attending what was billed as an anti-Zionist gathering at the state school tonight.

The student-sponsored event was announced with an open invitation campus-wide, and Rutgers policy is for all student activities to be open to the public.

However, when the sponsoring organizations of "Never Again for Anyone" saw they were outnumbered by Jewish students and their supporters by about 4-to-1, they asked campus policy to bar students wearing kippas – and eventually limited attendance to known supporters of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Americans for Muslims in Palestine and the Middle East Children's Alliance.

Pleas to university officials from the Jewish students and their supporters for access to the event went unheeded.

Rutgers campus police said they could not provide a statement as to why the public event would turn away 400 members of the public. One officer said they were called in late and weren't really sure what was going on.

When the Jewish students, led by Aaron Marcus, were denied entry, they gathered in the lobby and sang religious songs in Hebrew.

"We wanted to protest this event because as the children and grandchildren of victims of the Holocaust we believed it to be absolutely absurd to compare Israeli act of self defense to the viscous, systematic murder of millions of Jews, Catholics, Gays, Gypsies, Russians and others," Marcus said.

Members of the New Jersey branch of Young Americans for Freedom were in attendance to protest the discrimination against Jewish students.

UPDATE: Lots of videos at Challah Hu Akbar.

Wikileaks: US had contact with Egyptian democratic activists

An interesting and somewhat timely Wikileaks cable released today, written in December 2008:

On December 23, April 6 activist XXXXXXXXXXXX expressed satisfaction with his participation in the December 3-5 "Alliance of Youth Movements Summit," and with his subsequent meetings with USG officials, on Capitol Hill, and with think tanks. He described how State Security (SSIS) detained him at the Cairo airport upon his return and confiscated his notes for his summit presentation calling for democratic change in Egypt, and his schedule for his Congressional meetings. XXXXXXXXXXXX contended that the GOE will never undertake significant reform, and therefore, Egyptians need to replace the current regime with a parliamentary democracy. He alleged that several opposition parties and movements have accepted an unwritten plan for democratic transition by 2011; we are doubtful of this claim. XXXXXXXXXXXX said that although SSIS recently released two April 6 activists, it also arrested three additional group members. We have pressed the MFA for the release of these April 6 activists. April 6's stated goal of replacing the current regime with a parliamentary democracy prior to the 2011 presidential elections is highly unrealistic, and is not supported by the mainstream opposition.

XXXXXXXXXXXX expressed satisfaction with the December 3-5 "Alliance of Youth Movements Summit" in New York, noting that he was able to meet activists from other countries and outline his movement's goals for democratic change in Egypt. He told us that the other activists at the summit were very supportive, and that some even offered to hold public demonstrations in support of Egyptian democracy in their countries, with XXXXXXXXXXXX as an invited guest. XXXXXXXXXXXX said he discussed with the other activists how April 6 members could more effectively evade harassment and surveillance from SSIS with technical upgrades, such as consistently alternating computer "simcards." However, XXXXXXXXXXXX lamented to us that because most April 6 members do not own computers, this tactic would be impossible to implement. XXXXXXXXXXXX was appreciative of the successful efforts by the Department and the summit organizers to protect his identity at the summit, and told us that his name was never mentioned publicly.

XXXXXXXXXXXX told us that SSIS detained and searched him at the Cairo Airport on December 18 upon his return from the U.S. According to XXXXXXXXXXXX, SSIS found and confiscated two documents in his luggage: notes for his presentation at the summit that described April 6's demands for democratic transition in Egypt, and a schedule of his Capitol Hill meetings. XXXXXXXXXXXX described how the SSIS officer told him that State Security is compiling a file on him, and that the officer's superiors instructed him to file a report on XXXXXXXXXXXX's most recent activities.

XXXXXXXXXXXX described his Washington appointments as positive, saying that on the Hill he met with Rep. Edward Royce, a variety of House staff members, including from the offices of Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Wolf (R-VA), and with two Senate staffers. XXXXXXXXXXXX also noted that he met with several think tank members. XXXXXXXXXXXX said that Rep. Wolf's office invited him to speak at a late January Congressional hearing on House Resolution 1303 regarding religious and political freedom in Egypt. XXXXXXXXXXXX told us he is interested in attending, but conceded he is unsure whether he will have the funds to make the trip. He indicated to us that he has not been focusing on his work as a "fixer" for journalists, due to his preoccupation with his U.S. trip.

(C) XXXXXXXXXXXX described how he tried to convince his Washington interlocutors that the USG should pressure the GOE to implement significant reforms by threatening to reveal
information about GOE officials' alleged "illegal" off-shore bank accounts. He hoped that the U.S. and the international community would freeze these bank accounts, like the accounts of Zimbabwean President Mugabe's confidantes. XXXXXXXXXXXX said he wants to convince the USG that Mubarak is worse than Mugabe and that the GOE will never accept democratic reform. XXXXXXXXXXXX asserted that Mubarak derives his legitimacy from U.S. support, and therefore charged the U.S. with "being responsible" for Mubarak's "crimes." He accused NGOs working on political and economic reform of living in a "fantasy world," and not recognizing that Mubarak -- "the head of the snake" -- must step aside to enable democracy to take root.

Hamas criminals escape Egyptian prison, make way to Gaza

Hamas members who have been arrested by Egypt have escaped from the El Arish prison in the riots, and some have made their way back to Gaza.

One particular prisoner, Mohammed Ramadan, known as "the Mouse", is reported to have made it to Gaza. He was known as being the "king of all tunnelers." He was arrested for running smuggling rings. It is unclear if he was smuggling weapons.

Hamas hooking up with Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt? (UPDATE)

From Stratfor, a report that they admit is unconfirmed:

The Egyptian police are no longer patrolling the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Hamas armed men are entering into Egypt and are closely collaborating with the MB. The MB has fully engaged itself in the demonstrations, and they are unsatisfied with the dismissal of the Cabinet. They are insisting on a new Cabinet that does not include members of the ruling National Democratic Party.

Security forces in plainclothes are engaged in destroying public property in order to give the impression that many protesters represent a public menace. The MB is meanwhile forming people’s committees to protect public property and also to coordinate demonstrators’ activities, including supplying them with food, beverages and first aid.

OlehGirl adds, based on tweets she's been monitoring:

The border between Gaza and Egypt has pretty much ceased to exist, at least as far as armed Hamas militants are concerned. Towns in the Sinai close to the Gaza border have been taken over by Muslim Brotherhood protesters, with Hamas militants from Gaza joining their ranks. The border, according to twitter updates and now more ‘official’ confirmation, is pretty much open season.

As of last evening I’ve been getting twitter reports that the Muslim Brotherhood, backed by local Beduins, have pretty much ousted Egyptian forces from villages such as El Arish along the Gaza/Egyptian border. For the last 8 hours, I’ve gotten twitter updates suggesting that Hamas men from Gaza have been freely crossing the border, now virtually open, to provide reinforcements to the Muslim Brotherhood.

So the US was pouring $1.5 billion into Egypt annually partially to stop stuff like this from happening.

As I wrote in the run-up to Egypt's elections last October:

Any way you look at it, Egyptians have no freedom and no democracy. But before free elections can be held, a few years of true freedom needs to come first, so the people can make truly informed decisions. This means freedom of the press and freedom of assembly, not to mention freedom of religion.

The government might be better than some of the alternatives but it is sacrificing freedom altogether, and the result is that all Egyptians are losing.

And now, the Muslim Brotherhood - which may be the only opposition party that is well organized enough to take full advantage of the chaos - is poised to use the banner of "freedom" to turn Egypt into an Islamist, theocratic nightmare - an even worse situation than it has been under.

UPDATE: A Firas Press article reminds us that the Egyptian army is restricted from some areas of the Sinai, including Rafah, under the Camp David accords - so Hamas can easily help along the anarchy.

Just in case you thought Al Jazeera had any credibility...(corrected)

From Al Jazeera:

According to sources in the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel is making preparations to welcome Hosni Mubarak into exile after Saudi Arabia rejected overtures.

(h/t Zach)

UPDATE: I hadn't noticed that this was from the crazy AlJazeera.com website, which is not associated with the satellite channel/network (aljazeera.net.) Thanks to the commenters who pointed that out.

Amnesty officially calls Turkel report a "whitewash" - with no proof

As a follow-up to this story I broke this morning, proving Amnesty's bias by condemning the Turkel Commission report before even reading it, Amnesty has written a more comprehensive critique of the Turkel report, this time explicitly calling it a "whitewash."

Of course, since Amnesty had already come to that conclusion before actually examining the report, we can rest assured that their objectivity in their analysis is equally flawed. Can it even enter one's mind that Amnesty would have issued a press release saying, "Sorry, we were wrong"?

And, of course, Amnesty's response falls short of proving anything close to what they are claiming:

Amnesty International has condemned the findings of an Israeli inquiry into last year’s raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla as a “whitewash” which failed to account for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals.

The published Turkel report indeed did not go into details on every death, and it explained why:

The detailed testimonies of the soldiers as well as their analysis can be found in an annex to the report. The Commission decided, while giving due consideration to article 539 A of the Military Justice Law 5715-1955, to privilege this annex pursuant to its authority under Article 11 to the Government’s decision of June 14, 2010, unless the government decides to lift this privilege. The Commission recommends that the Government will examine the possibility of making this annex public pursuant to its authority under law.

Amnesty seizes on this:

[The report] states that a detailed analysis of each incident, as well as the Israeli soldiers’ written testimonies on which this analysis was based, are contained in an unpublished annex to the report, which it recommends that the Israeli government “examine the possibility of making… public”. Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities to do so without delay, so that it can be read by independent parties.

If the Turkel commission itself is recommending that the annex be made public, how can Amnesty accuse it of a whitewash? Clearly the investigators wanted to make their methods and result be as transparent as possible, and the observers did get a chance to see their methods - and approved them.

The fundamental problem that Amnesty has is not with the report itself, though, but the framework:

Significantly, [the commission] chose to base its analysis of the lawfulness of the actions taken against those who resisted the boarding of the ship on international humanitarian law, which governs armed conflict and allows much greater latitude for the use of lethal force. Amnesty International categorically rejects the application of this legal framework to the events concerned.

But Turkel goes into great detail on why they chose to base the report on international humanitarian law rather than human rights law as Amnesty demands:

Although there are schools of thought that largely favor extensive applicability of human rights law, this approach is not universally accepted. For example, neither Israel nor the United States agrees with a broad extra-territorial application of human rights law.796 The issue of
whether, or the degree to which, there is extra-territorial application of human rights law is particularly relevant to the enforcement of the Gaza naval blockade on May 31, 2010, since it took place on the high seas, outside the territory of the Israeli State.

Recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the Case of Medvedyev and Others v. France 797 that the interception of a vessel on the high seas by a French warship in a counter-drug law enforcement operation did engage human rights jurisdiction after "full and exclusive control" over the ship had been established. However, the judgment does not clarify exactly when the French armed forces were considered to have obtained "full and exclusive control" of the ship, especially since the litigation did not center on the boarding and overtaking of the ship,
but rather on the arrest and confinement of the crew to their cabins for a period of 13 days during the transit to France.

In the case at hand, it is difficult to see how Israel could be considered to have had “full and exclusive control” prior to taking control of the bridge of the flotilla vessels and the subsequent cessation of resistance. Further, even if Israeli forces were considered to have had such control over the Mavi Marmara prior to taking control of the bridge, the actions of the Israeli forces would still be governed by the lex specialisof international humanitarian law since the enforcement of a blockade is not a law enforcement mission. Therefore, the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in the Medvedyev case is of limited assistance in resolving the issue of extra-territorial application of human rights law during the enforcement of the Gaza blockade.

With respect to the enforcement of the blockade, the use of force is to be interpreted under the international humanitarian law framework,798 which permits attacks against combatants and civilians taking a direct part in hostilities. International humanitarian law is guided by the principle of distinction, which is an obligation to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants. A civilian is any person who is not defined as a "combatant."799 Civilians enjoy a general protection against the dangers arising from military operations.800 Hence, when attacking a military objective, the attacking party must take all feasible precautions to avoid incidental (collateral) injury and death to civilians.801 Further, the expected incidental harm caused to civilians by an attack must not be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated (the "principle of proportionality").802 Civilians shall not be
the object of an attack unless, and for such time as they take a direct part in hostilities.
803

Regarding the use of force, international humanitarian law treats combatants and civilians who take a direct part in hostilities differently than uninvolved civilians. Under international humanitarian law, the right to life is protected by prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks,
804 targeting individual civilians and the civilian population unless they take a direct part in
hostilities,805 causing superfluous or unnecessary suffering to combatants,806and targeting those who are hors de combat.807

This is only a part of Turkel's justification for the legal framework - arguments that Amnesty dismisses without putting forth any of its own legal arguments, effectively declaring Turkel wrong because they say so. In fact, Amnesty even goes into hyperbole, saying:

Effectively, the Commission argued that these activists could be shot dead lawfully whether or not they were posing a direct threat to the lives of IDF soldiers.

Turkel makes no such claim and his analysis of every bullet and paintball pellet shows that Amnesty's charge is baseless - if Turkel's frame of reference was that every IHH member could be killed legally, why bother investigating?

Amnesty throws in some more tendentious charges, such as that there is no evidence that Turkel had access to ballistics tests [there is no evidence that he didn't, either - must the report mention every activity done over five months?] all of which are designed to divert attention from the fact that the Turkel Commission's methods were transparent and observed by two highly qualified internationals who gave their unqualified stamp of approval on their methods.

Amnesty had a pre-determined idea of what the conclusion should be - that Israel was guilty - and no amount of evidence could ever change its mind. And as we saw, its conclusion really was pre-determined. As such, Amnesty's criticisms ring hollow, as an after-the-fact papering over of their own ignorance of the circumstances. Amnesty has proved its willingness to believe every piece of evidence that damns Israel and to question everything that exonerates her.

Some links for the weekend

Reuters Middle East Watch notes in which paragraph Reuters decides to put some context into a story.

Jonathan Tobin on why the Kadima peace talks failed.

MEMRI brings us a lovely Egyptian government newspaper item on when, exactly, the Jews will be destroyed. (h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

Rick Richman on UNRWA in Gaza, echoing something I mentioned recently (h/t CHA)

A welcome development [pun intended] in Jerusalem on top of an old abandoned Arab village.

A joke from Conan O'Brien on Wednesday:

Egypt is in the second day of angry street protests. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for calm.

Because nothing calms an enraged Arab country like a powerful woman ordering it around.

There are protests in Turkey, too

Still against the government, but against Islamist influence:

Students demonstrating against Turkey's Islamist-rooted conservative government on Thursday clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara.

Police dispersed about 100 students in Ankara with tear gas and water cannon, with students responding by pelting police with stones.

There was a similar confrontation in Istanbul where police also used batons to clear the students, television footage showed.

The two demonstrations targeted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom the students accuse of refusing to engage in a dialogue with them.
Students in Turkey have been staging demonstrations since November when 18 were sentenced to 15-month suspended sentences for demonstrating against Erdogan in 2008.

Several of the protests have been put down violently by police.

Reports: Colombia will not recognize "Palestine"

Firas Press quotes Israeli radio as saying that Colombia will not follow other South American countries in recognizing "Palestine."

The report said that the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, assured a reporterat the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that his country would not recognize a Palestinian state.

The President of Colombia spoke about his strong ties with Israel in all areas.

The eight South American countries that have recognized "Palestine," either mentioning its borders or not, are Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Guyana, and Uruguay, and Peru.