Hypocrisy from UC-Davis student newspaper

I mentioned that the UC-Davis student newspaper, the California Aggie, had placed two conditions on publishing a pro-Israel ad I designed:

1) We put the words "Paid Advertisement" at the top of the ad.
2) The Aggie will run a box next to the ad giving readers their response options (Where to buy an ad of their own, where to send a guest opinion, etc...)

In a later email to the ad's sponsor, written on Saturday, the editor of the paper wrote:

In the future, as long as I'm Editor in Chief of The Aggie, any advertisement regarding such an important issue will need to be fair, as yours is, and must meet these two conditions. Whether it's a politician running for office or a direct response to your ad, these conditions will be enforced consistently from this point forward.

Yesterday, the Aggie published this ad:

Needless to say, this ad did not adhere to either of the two conditions that the editor promised - even though Amnesty International is hardly an uncontroversial organization.

Again, for comparison, here is the "controversial" ad that is being subjected to restrictions by the newspaper:

As I mentioned previously, I have no problem with the first condition. The second condition, however, is insulting. It is insulting both to the pro-Israel community and to the Aggie community. I would hope that college students would be smart enough to know the difference between an ad and an editorial, and also smart enough to know that ads can be responded to. The very idea that a pro-Israel ad needs to be specifically highlighted so that people who want to bash Israel are given every possible opportunity to do so is in itself evidence of bias. What other newspaper makes such a demand for a paid ad?

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Ken Roth keeps on slandering Israel based on pure ignorance

Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch is predictably perturbed at Goldstone's Washington Post op-ed. Almost as predictably, he writes a letter about it - not to the Washington Post, but to the New York Times.

Here's one part that shows how disingenuous Roth is:

Mr. Goldstone has not repudiated his panel’s findings that Israel committed numerous serious violations of the laws of war. Israeli forces, according to the Goldstone report, indiscriminately used heavy artillery and white phosphorous in densely populated areas and deliberately destroyed civilian buildings and infrastructure without a lawful military reason. That conduct was so widespread and systematic that it must have reflected policy.

Israel has yet to investigate the policies behind the indiscriminate attacks that caused so much civilian harm.

HRW's central thesis is that Israeli policy is to attack civilians. And their evidence is that based on their deeply flawed investigations, "it must" be so.

Yet HRW did not have a single real military expert doing its investigations. It came up with these conclusions based not on knowledge, but on ignorance. Their one "expert" they loved to trot out as a fig leaf for their pseudo-investigations has left HRW in disgrace, he had no real-world experience in how urban warfare is waged, and even so his concerns about how HRW was "sexing up" military claims against Israel were reportedly disregarded by his supervisors.

A comparison between how Goldstone (and HRW) investigated specific incidents of the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the IDF's report on the same incidents, shows conclusively that Goldstone and HRW both know next to nothing about military matters - yet they both made false conclusions about how Israel must have had a policy violating Geneva conventions because they couldn't imagine otherwise.

Israel has been spending the past two years painstakingly investigating not only HRW and Goldstone's claims, but hundreds of other complaints about Cast Lead. Yet somehow we have not heard about any deliberate Israeli policy to target civilians. So is HRW saying that the investigations are a huge cover-up for an immoral and illegal Israeli policy that they are sure exists but that no one has been able to produce?

At least Goldstone belatedly realized, to a small degree, his own limitations. HRW has too much hubris to ever issue a correction.

So-called "human rights organizations" cannot fairly judge how a war is waged without basic knowledge of how wars are fought. Ken Roth runs an organization that makes conclusions based on pure ignorance.

When will HRW become as transparent in its methodologies as it demands from those it loves to condemn? When will HRW ever admit that they perhaps didn't have all the information needed to draw their flawed conclusions?

We know the answer. HRW doesn't care about the truth as much as it cares about its own reputation and its own self-image as an arbiter of morality for (selected) nations of the world. So any legitimate criticisms of HRW will be denied, ignored, and downplayed rather than investigated and fixed. It's happened before and it will continue to happen, and we can expect Ken Roth to continue to dissemble rather than do what he demands of others.

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How do we know Jews were stoned and injured Monday night?

Because a Hamas website tells us so!

Hamas' Palestine Times quotes Israel radio as saying that Jews were injured by stones thrown by Palestinian Arabs on Monday night near Qaryut, which appears to be near Shiloh. I can find nothing about this on any other website.

I guess that there aren't armies of international observers with cameras around to document Arab violence when Jews are the targets. And if they had witnessed it, they sure wouldn't admit it.

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I made it to the semi-finals of the Pro-Israel Blog-Off

My entry in the quarter-finals of the Pro-Israel Blog-Off has won over the very good entry from 7 Agorot, so I will next compete in the semi-finals. Thanks for those who voted for me, and the judges who liked my entry.

And a thanks to Israellycool for this very cool contest.

Although I haven't seen the brackets, I imagine that I will next be competing against the winner of the current battle between CiFWatch and Ultimate Culture Clash. Go to Israellycool and vote!

I have a couple of weeks to plan my strategy for the next round. So far I have submitted a cartoon and a serious article. Next up.....?

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How a state becomes a member of the UN

From the UN website:

The recognition of a new State or Government is an act that only other States and Governments may grant or withhold. It generally implies readiness to assume diplomatic relations. The United Nations is neither a State nor a Government, and therefore does not possess any authority to recognize either a State or a Government. As an organization of independent States, it may admit a new State to its membership or accept the credentials of the representatives of a new Government.

Membership in the Organization, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, “is open to all peace-loving States which accept the obligations contained in the [United Nations Charter] and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able to carry out these obligations”. States are admitted to membership in the United Nations by decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. The procedure is briefly as follows:

1. The State submits an application to the Secretary-General and a letter formally stating that it accepts the obligations under the Charter.
2. The Security Council considers the application. Any recommendation for admission must receive the affirmative votes of 9 of the 15 members of the Council, provided that none of its five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America — have voted against the application.
3. If the Council recommends admission, the recommendation is presented to the General Assembly for consideration. A two-thirds majority vote is necessary in the Assembly for admission of a new State.
4. Membership becomes effective the date the resolution for admission is adopted.

If I am reading this right, then the kerfuffle over the General Assembly recognizing "Palestine" in September is not as big an issue as it is being presented. (The NYT's article today that claimed otherwiset has issued a correction.)

Obviously, a GA vote that symbolically recognizes "Palestine" would increase pressure on Israel, but unless the US chooses to support a unilateral Palestinian Arab state, it will not exist based on the GA's say-so.

And the US doesn't even have to veto the application - it only has to vote "no," which even the UK might consider doing as well, especially since Hamas will almost certainly still be ruling Gaza in September which means that "Palestine" cannot be said by any definition to be a "peace-loving state" which is a pre-requisite for membership.

UPDATE: Apparently, a "no" vote by any permanent member is a veto all the time in the Security Council. (h/t deegee)

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Iran loves all these Arab revolutions - except Syria's

During the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, Iran has been on the front row, cheering these potential Islamic uprisings against Arab dictators.

But that support only goes so far, as the unrest has now morphed into a Zionist plot:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the West on Monday of fomenting unrest in Syria and across the Arab Middle East to secure Israel's position, state television reported.

Ahmadinejad accused his arch foe the United States and other Western nations of hatching a plot, singling out Tehran's ally Syria which is being rocked by anti-government protests.

"They want to save the Zionist regime (Israel) by interfering in the region aimed at creating discord among the regional nations and governments," he told a news conference.

"America and the Zionist regime want to weaken Syria's resistance by creating discord between the Syrian government and the Syrian nation," said Ahmadinejad

Consistency? Who needs consistency?

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Far left freaking over Goldstone's change of heart

Mondoweiss has, by my count, no fewer than 13 posts about Goldstone in just the past two days. It is almost as if the anti-Israel crowd is going the first three of the five stages of the Kübler-Ross model of grief:

Denial: Goldstone didn't really retract, and Israel still targets civilians in what must be the most ineffective  attempt at ethnic cleansing in history.

Anger: Goldstone's U-turn is hurting the progressive, hate Israel movement

Bargaining: “The judge only comments on one small part of the report, which I take as an implication that the rest of the report stays intact and he is still in support of that.”

All we have left is depression and acceptance. Depression will come, but it won't be blogged, as anger is their driving emotion. Acceptance cannot come, because as long as Israel exists in any form, these hateful lunatics - who happily publish the most ridiculous rumors of Israel arming Gaddafi - will never accept any possible defense for its existence.

Instead, Goldstone will be recast as a turncoat, as Ilan Pappe does in this hilarious article at Electronic Intifada, where he compares Goldstone to his nemesis Benny Morris:

Goldstone has not entered as yet the lunatic fringe of ultra-Zionism as Morris did. But if he is not careful the future promises to be a pleasant journey with the likes of Morris, Alan Dershowitz (who already said that Goldstone is a "repentant Jew") between annual meetings of the AIPAC rottweilers and the wacky conventions of the Christian Zionists. He would soon find out that once you cower in the face of Zionism -- you are expected to go all the way or be at the very same spot you thought you had successfully left behind you.

Of course, Pappe is a principled hater of Israel, and nothing ticks him off more than to see someone he thought was on his side turn out not to be a similarly rabid, drooling pile of malevolence.

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Abducted Gaza engineer indicted for developing rockets, helping Hamas

From JPost:

Dirar Abu Sisi was Hamas's leading missile developer according to an indictment filed Monday at the Beersheba District Court. Abu Sisi was reportedly abducted by Israel over a month ago as he was traveling on a train in Ukraine and brought to Israel for interrogation.

According to the indictment, Abu Sisi received his doctorate in engineering in Ukraine in the 1990s and studied with some of the leading Ukrainian military engineers. After returning to the Gaza Strip, he was recruited into Hamas by the military commander of the terrorist organization at the time, Salah Shehada, and began working as one of their leading engineers for short- and long-range missiles.

Abu Sisi not only developed missiles in Gaza but was also responsible for upgrading thousands of older rockets and increasing their range and penetration capabilities. According to the indictment that was filed Monday in the Beersheba District Court, Abu Sisi was charged with membership in a terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit a crime, and the production of illegal weaponry, assistance to an illegal organization and other various crimes.

Abu Sisi was the commander of the Izzadin Kassam military college and worked closely with Ahmed al-Jabari, the head of Hamas's military wing. He is the main developer of the Kassam rocket, as well as anti-tank missiles in the Gaza Strip.

Known as the "Rocket Godfather of Hamas," Abu Sisi provided valuable intelligence information during his hearing on Hamas's military wing, its different branches and the decision making process within Hamas.

In 2002, Abu Sisi was recruited into Hamas by Sheikh Nizar Rayan, a spiritual leader of Hamas's military wing who was later assassinated during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. Rayan introduced Abu Sisi to various senior Hamas operatives including Saleh Shehada. Due to his education as an engineer, Abu Sisi was asked by Shehada to assist him in developing weaponry for Hamas.

He later joined a committee that was responsible for the research and development for weaponry headed by Mohammed Def. In the committee Abu Sisi was responsible for electrical engineering and dealt mostly with developing boosters and fins that stabilized and enhanced rocket propulsion. These are two factors that are key for increasing a rocket's range and subsequent penetration of a target.

In 2005, Abu Sisi was asked by the committee to begin working on increasing the range of rockets that were manufactured domestically in the Gaza Strip. Due to his involvement Hamas, he was able to increase the range of the rockets from six to nine kilometers, and subsequently to 15 kilometers.

In 2007, Abu Sisi assisted Hamas in increasing range of rockets to 22 kilometers. He was then asked by Hamas to increase the range to between 37 and 45 kilometers, and participated in several experiments during which rockets were tested and fired into the Mediterranean.

In the end his attempts did not succeed.

One of the tank missiles that Abu Sisi helped develop is "Yassin," which has the ability to penetrate between 16 and 26 centimeters of reinforced steal. He attempted to increase the penetration capabilities to 37 centimeters.

Abu Sisi also developed an anti-tank mortar shell called "Abu Rassin" with a special range of 100 meters and can penetrate 87 centimeters of steel. He later made efforts to increase penetration to 100 cm, and worked on another anti-tank missile called "Al Batar," which has a 100-meter range.

The earlier reports that Abu Sisi was abducted because he knew the whereabouts of Gilad Shalit made no sense to me because by the time his disappearance was known, Shalit would have been moved to another location. This detailed indictment, where Abu Sisi is apparently Hamas' main rocket engineer, makes much more sense.

Hamas is denying any connection to him:

Hamas on Monday denied that Dirar Abu Sisi is connected to the organization following his indictment in Beersheba District Court in which he was accused of being the group's leading missile developer, Israel Radio reported.

Abu Sisi's wife Veronika also denied the charges against him, maintaining that the Palestinian engineer reportedly abducted in Ukraine by Israel was innocent.

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Jenin is no longer a massacre, but a historic defeat of the Zionist enemy

Remember Jenin? When Palestinian Arab officials, and reporters, claimed that Israel had massacred hundreds or even thousands of innocent Arab civilians and buried them in mass graves? Where a Palestinian Arab filmmaker corroborated the massacre stories in a movie?

And how it was all a huge lie?

Well, guess who has changed their narrative about Jenin: Islamic Jihad!

Now, Jenin is no longer the scene of a massive slaughter of innocent women and children, but a scene of an epic battle where Palestinian Arabs defeated the hated Zionist enemy.

On the ninth anniversary of event, the PIJ-oriented Palestine Today has no less than four articles about the heroism of the martyrs of Jenin. One describes the pride and joy of a mother of one of the fighters who is now in prison, one has an Islamic Jihad sheikh bragging about how Jenin was a "great victory for the Palestinian people," one shows photos of the heroic fighters during the battle, and a fourth interviews another PIJ leader about how wonderful the battle was.

Amazing how the poor victims have turned into the admired victors.

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Syrian protesters forced to prostrate themselves to Assad photos?

Don't know if this is real or not, but Arabic media is reporting that Syrian security forces are forcing protesters to kneel and prostrate themselves towards photos of Syrian president Bashir Assad. This photo has been going around Facebook:

Since many of the protesters are Islamic fundamentalists, this would be especially insulting, if true.

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Jordan claims historic metal plates stolen. Just one problem....

From Ma'an:

The director of Jordan's antiquities department said Sunday that "treasure of vital historic importance" has turned up in Israel after being smuggled out of his country.

"It's about 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of metal containing between five and 15 pages bound by lead rings, as well as copper manuscripts dating from the first century AD," Ziad al-Saad told reporters.

"These books and manuscripts would have been used by the first Christians to come to Jordan, fleeing persecution by the Romans," he said.

"These pieces are a treasure of vital historical importance as they offer new information about the origins of Christianity, and especially because manuscripts from this period are very rare."

Saad said the pieces had been discovered "in the north of Jordan several years ago during illegal excavations in caves, and were smuggled into Israel, where they found their way into the hands of an Israeli merchant who had them appraised in Britain."

"Experts at Cambridge University informed Jordan" of the items' reappearance, Saad said.

"They are of equal, if not greater importance than the Dead Sea Scrolls."

The director of Jordan's antiquities department said, just yesterday and without qualification, that these metal codices are as important as the Dead Sea Scrolls?

This is very interesting, because those same codices have almost certainly already been exposed as fakes.

Already a month ago experts had grave doubts about their authenticity:

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), however, has dismissed the idea that the books are of any value. Experts who examined some of them, it said, "absolutely doubted their authenticity". According to the IAA, the books are a "mixture of incompatible periods and styles…without any connection or logic. Such forged motifs can be found in their thousands in the antiquities markets of Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East."

Professor Andre Lemaire, an expert in ancient inscriptions from the Sorbonne, was also dubious, saying the writing on some of the codices he had seen made no sense and it was "a question apparently of sophisticated fakes".

 The Paleojudaica blog quotes one expert who looked at the text, replying to an inquiry about these tablets:

The text on your bronze tablet, therefore, makes no sense in its own right, but has been extracted unintelligently from another longer text (as if it were inscribed with the words: 't to be that is the question wheth'). The longer text from which it derives is a perfectly ordinary tombstone from Madaba in Jordan which happens to have been on display in the Amman museum for the past fifty years or so. The text on your bronze tablet is repeated, in part, in three different places, meaningless in each case.

The only possible explanation is that the text on the bronze tablet was copied directly from the inscription in the museum at Amman by someone who did not understand the meaning of the text of the inscription, but was simply looking for a plausible-looking sequence of Greek letters to copy. He copied that sequence three times, in each case mixing up the letters alpha and lambda.

This particular bronze tablet is, therefore, a modern forgery, produced in Jordan within the last fifty years. I would stake my career on it.

Wikipedia has much more, as the story develops.

So while I cannot say whether Jordan's charges that the pages were stolen are true or not, it is astounding that the head of Jordan's antiquities department is ignoring all the evidence that casts serious doubt on the authenticity of these plates.

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ZAKA-Israel works with Iranians in Japan. When will Tehran condemn it?

From YNet:

An unusual cooperation amidst Japanese catastrophe: An Israeli team of 12 ZAKA (Disaster Victim Identification) volunteers sent to Japan to help out with rescue efforts worked alongside an unlikely team on Sunday – the official Iranian delegation.

In Kamaishi, ZAKA volunteers were able to rescue seven bodies belonging to one family that was buried under the rubble. They also assisted in the identification of the dead. The Israeli team taught the locals to spot crows and explained that, from their experience, dead bodies can be found where crows hover.

The Teheran rescue team also arrived in the city. "We shook hands and became friends. At one point they set up a stand and wanted to hand out food and medicine to the locals. We joined in and there we stood, side by side, handing out food and medicine. They removed the Iranian flag and removed our Israeli flag and we just stood there together. It was very odd," he added.

However, when the Iranians offered the Israeli crew some hot tea, the ZAKA team declined politely due to kashrut reasons. Meshi-Zahav joked and said, "It could have been beautiful if the Iranians tried to poison us in Japan."

In order to avoid a scene the Israelis agreed to drink orange juice from a closed can and later the two delegations took their picture together.

The Iranians told the ZAKA volunteers: "You know we are cousins. The wars and conflicts are between the leaders, but between the people there should be peace. We can't forget we were close once."

Odds are very good that within 48 hours, probably sooner, an Iranian official will denounce this photo.

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