Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Arabs that the flotilla ignores: The tent city of Medinat al-Salam

Naglaa Mahdy sleeps in a tent with ten other women and their children. She wakes up and dusts herself off, then she tries to figure out how to feed herself and her family on her tiny budget.

Mahdy is one of over 1000 people who, after being evicted from their rented apartments in February, have been living in tents in Medinat al-Salam.

After cooking on a stove she borrowed from another tent (all of her home appliances have been stolen), Mahdy spends the rest of the day waiting for representatives from the governorate, who visit periodically to assess the families and determine who deserves an apartment.

This is life in the Medinat al-Salam tent city [in Egypt.] Some residents have brought their protests to central Cairo and attracted attention to their cause, but many more continue their threadbare existence under canvas.

Mahdy is still mourning the loss of her baby, who was born prematurely a week ago. The baby died three days later because Mahdy couldn’t afford the necessary medical treatment. Despite her physical and emotional pain, Mahdy still congregates with the other residents of the tent city whenever a governorate representative arrives. She is desperately trying to secure an apartment for herself, her husband and her remaining two children.

During the security vacuum that began on 28 January, landlords in Medinat al-Salam worried that tenants would take over their apartments and refuse to leave when their contracts expired. In a preemptive move against having their apartments stolen, landlords terminated renters’ contracts and evicted them from their homes.

In February, the evicted families were promised apartments within a month and housed in tents in the Sbiko area in Medinat al-Salam under orders from Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

Early this month, the governor of Cairo announced the allocation of 126 apartments for the evicted residents, and a renewed investigation into the cases of another 293 families. The rest of the tent city’s residents were deemed undeserving by the governor, who claimed that they had already received apartments.

They deny the governor’s claims and complain that the majority of the apartments were allocated to people from other areas. The tent dwellers assert that they have no other assets, despite the governorate officials’ claims that they do. The tent dwellers say this is simply a ruse on behalf of the authorities to justifiy denying compensation. The residents say that although there is a minority of “powerful people” among them who have assets, most families have next to nothing.

“If I had any assets, would I have exposed myself and my kids to this unbearable life?” said Marwa Zawam, one of the residents.

Residents say that those among them with connections and money are making trouble for the rest of them. They say that these people bribe governorate workers to allocate apartments for them, and keep other families from making contact with officials.

Every tent, the size of a small room, houses ten families. Women and children sleep in the tents at night while the men keep watch. Come daybreak, the women and children step outside and the men file in for their turn at sleeping.

Sleeping on a thin cover, the residents spend the night on the sandy floor, an arrangement that many say has given them breathing problems.

Warda Zeid has been in and out of hospitals for the past six months with two of her three children who have allergies.

“This child starts getting convulsions in the middle of the night; I take him and run to the hospital. I don’t know what to do,” says Zeid, holding her three-year-old child.

There is only one bathroom for the entire tent camp. It is made of cubicles with a hole in the floor and a light sheet for a cover. The women complain of the lack of privacy and say they’re scared to go to the bathroom at night.

With nothing but a rope to secure the entrance to each tent, residents say they are subjected to frequent attacks by criminals. Some local thieves use the camp as a hiding place after committing crimes in the neighborhood, while others have taken to stealing appliances belonging to the homeless families.

After repeated attacks on the tents and the rape of an 8-year-old boy, the men, whose work was already severely affected by the slumping economy, stop working completely. Instead, they stay with their families for protection, relying for financial support on friends and relatives.

Meanwhile Gazans living in the worst camps get free housing, free medical care and free education.

There are no flotillas for residents of the tent city of Medinat al-Salam, since their misery cannot be blamed on Jews.

Moonbat Dutch reporter can't stomach Flotidiots

An eye-opening report from a Radio Netherlands reporter who really, really wanted to cover the Dutch contingent of the flotilla, but was turned off by their refusal to share any information.

I had been planning for the past three months to sail with the activists and report on their journey. But over the past week that I spent in Greece, I lost all faith in the Dutch Gaza Foundation which is responsible for the Dutch boat.

Things started going wrong from the very beginning. During our first meeting on the Greek island of Corfu, we received the usual latest updates, and then one of the organisers informed us that one of the Dutch journalists had leaked secret information to the most popular Dutch daily about the mission. She was furious: No one is as open as the Free Gaza Foundation, she proclaimed indignantly.

But I have worked as a journalist for the past 25 years, and never have I experienced such a closed organisation.

After this welcoming message, she explained the ground rules to us. There were many, many non-negotiables. "If you don't accept this, you can't come along." I wanted to make a video report, filming the two days of obligatory training sessions to convey a sense of how the activists were preparing for the mission. But the organisation declared numerous sessions off-limits. I and the other Dutch journalists present explained that we needed this footage to do our work. But she wouldn't have it. "I have worked with CNN, Al Jazeera, BBC, and no one has been as demanding as you Dutch reporters."

Eventually there was a hand count and the activists voted us out of those sessions. We journalists all felt that a schism had been created for no reason. We also began to lose faith and trust in the organisation, both essential ingredients when undertaking such a risky trip.

I expressed an interest in joining the mission earlier this year when I heard that the Dutch were going to send their own vessel to Gaza for the first time. There would be over 30 participants, including prominent members of Dutch society. An Italian delegation with 20 people would also take part.

I then attended meeting after meeting in various cities in Holland. I had to be screened because - I was told - there were so many people wanting to travel to Gaza. When the organisers called to say I had passed the screening and been chosen as one of the select group of people who would set sail, I felt obliged to express my joy.

Now, back in the Netherlands, over three months later, I feel deceived. There never was a "select group". There were no prominent Dutch figures interested in joining Freedom Flotilla 2. Instead of 32 people from the Netherlands, the organisation managed to assemble just eight activists and four journalists. Yesterday [Monday], two more journalists decided to jump ship before the boat even left the port of Corfu.

Since day one, journalists, including myself, asked questions about the Dutch organisation and the boat, for example about the funding. Even simple questions about the ship's power supply for me to hook up my satellite transmitter. The answer was consistently: "I'll get back to you about that" or "we don't know". I'm still waiting for answers.

Yesterday morning I had a final meeting with the participants. I told the activists that given everything that had happened, they shouldn’t trust the organisation leading this mission. But all of them insisted the cause is too important to abandon. "We are going to break the siege and help the people of Gaza."

Good luck and bon voyage.

From the entire article it can be seen that the reporter was very sympathetic to Gazans and really wanted to help give his anti-Israel spin. But the Free Gaza members in the Netherlands were simply too hard to deal with.

The question is - did CNN, the BBC and other news organizations cave to flotidiot demands?

(h/t T34)

The tallest building in Lower Manhattan is now the Freedom Tower

I had the opportunity to be across the river from lower Manhattan today, and from there one can see the progress of the Freedom Tower now visible from behind the World Financial Center.

It is about 70 stories tall so far.

Arab researcher: "Israel trumps the Arab world"

From The Peninsula (Qatar): (via Daily Alert)

DOHA: There is no doubt that Israel is superior to all Arab countries in the sphere of Information Technology, a comparative study between Arab nations and Israel on ‘Scientific Research and Patent Rights Compared’ conducted by Dr Khalid Said Rubaia, a Palestinian researcher at American Arab University in Palestine, says.

Israel spends 4.7 percent of its total GDP on scientific research, which is the highest in the world. However, Arab states are spending 0.2 percent of their total incomes and Asian Arab countries around 0.5 percent of their incomes on research, said the report.

Regarding patent rights, Israel has registered 16,805 patents. However, Arab countries have only 836 patents which is 5 percent of what Israel has.

Israel spends 0.8-1 percent of the total expenditure of the world on research work and Arab states spend 0.4 percent. It means Israel spends more than double that spent by Arab countries in this field.

Israel spends 4.7 percent of its income on research. However, Arab countries spend 0.2 percent of their total income on the same. United States spends about 2.7 percent of its income, UK 1.8 and Germany 2.6 percent on research work.

Asian Arab countries spend less than 0.1 percent of their total income on research work which is five times less than African countries which are spending 0.5 percent of their total income, according to a Unesco report. Arab countries spend about half of Israel though their GDP soared 11 times that of Israel and the area is more than 649 times.

Regarding per capita expenditure on scientific research, Israel stands at the number one position by spending $1272.8 per capita. United States ranks second with $1205.9 and Japan third by spending $1153.3. However, the Arab countries ranked hundred times less than Israel by spending an average of $14.7 annually per capita.

And the oil rich Asian Arab countries spend $11.9 per capita which is equal to African poor countries whose per capita expenditure reached $9.4.

That's the entire article. Nothing about what should be done to improve Arab science programs, or education, or anything.

Textbook examples of "Asajews"

The term "Asajew" has been around for a couple of years. It refers to people who use their Judaism to slam Israel, often in letters to the Guardian, that start with "As a Jew, I condemn/deplore/abhor Israel's latest war crimes.."

As you could guess, the flotilla is filled with Asajews, and the self-penned biographies of the "Audacity of Hope" passengers are great examples.

Here's one:

Henry Norr, 65, is a retired journalist and human rights advocate. As a child going to Hebrew school at a Conservative Jewish temple in northern Massachusetts, Henry collected nickels and dimes for the Jewish National Fund – money he now realizes was used largely to cover up the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

This one is even better:

Richard Levy had his bar mitzvah in 1955 at the Genesis Hebrew Center in Yonkers, New York. Richard is the former president of the North East District of the B’nai Brith Youth Organization. A graduate of Cornell U. and the NYU School of Law, he has practiced labor and civil rights law for more than 40 years. Richard was one of the attorneys challenging the destruction–by the Weisenthal Center and the Israeli government–of the ancient landmark Mamilla (Muslim) Cemetery in West Jerusalem.

Who starts their biography with the date of their bar mitzvah?

Even better, in this video, Levy - a lawyer - admits that the flotilla is acting illegally!

1:22 "Although as a lawyer I'd prefer perhaps to do this by legal means, there really is no avenue, so I've chosen a more activist approach and I will be on the boat."

What do Greta Berlin's ex and Mahmoud Abbas have in common?

I just saw that Greta Berlin's first husband was born in Tzfat (Safed), just like Mahmoud Abbas.

And just like Abbas' family, his family fled way before any Jewish troops entered the town. Just like Abbas' family, they left because they were afraid Jews would act like Arabs and take revenge on the Arabs for their massacres of Jews in 1929.

Here's is the Palestine Post article about Arabs fleeing Safed while the Jewish army was still five kilometers away:

This Arab flight mentality was noted the day after, and it was in no small part due to the fact that Arab leaders would flee first, abandoning their people:

The Haganah did end up entering Tzfat a few days later where they encountered heavy resistance from Syrian and Iraqi troops before taking over the town on May 11th.

The Tailor (video)

It is not too often that a joke gets turned into a six minute video. But this one is done very, very well.

From the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival:

(h/t jzaik)

Iran unveils underground missile silos

From NYT:

Iran unveiled underground silos on Monday that would make its missiles less vulnerable to attack, marking the country’s latest show of force in the long standoff with the West over its nuclear program.

State television broadcast images of an unspecified number of silos deep underground, saying they held medium- and long-range missiles ready to hit distant targets. Subterranean silos are considered harder to destroy than surface installations, and Iran hailed them as a defensive asset meant to thwart attackers.

Col. Asghar Qelichkhani said the silos “function as a swift-reaction unit.” State TV quoted him as saying that the missiles were permanently in the vertical position and “ready to hit the predetermined targets.”

The silos were presented as Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards began 10 days of military exercises.

Western powers have long cited evidence that Iran was investigating the design of nuclear warheads for its missiles, a charge Tehran denies. It insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The state TV report showed footage of an underground launching pad for what it called the Shahab-3 missile, which has a range of about 1,250 miles. The report also showed a large metal roof opening atop the silo to allow the firing of the missile.

Here's the video of the silos as well as test firings of missiles:

Iran explicitly announced that the missiles can reach Israel, as well as American interests in the region.

(h/t David G)

PA mulls switching from shekels to dollars

From Ma'an:

A leading Fatah figure has revealed some of the means that might be used in the event the UN declines to take a positive decision on Palestinian statehood and its membership in the Security Council.

"The Palestinian leadership will be pushed to take decisions with strategic dimension in dealing with this matter, including the use of the US dollar as the main currency in the Palestinian markets instead of the Israeli shekel," said Muhammad Shtayyeh on Monday, speaking at the Justice Ministry in Ramallah.

Hey, Hamas has a lot of experience using American currency.

UNESCO shows its anti-Israel bias

From YNet:

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee decided to accept a petition by Jordan and issued an official censure of Israel over the archeological excavations near the Mughrabi Gate in the Jerusalem's Old City.

UNESCO's censure calls for the immediate cessation of all renovation work done on the Mughrabi Gate bridge, which leads from the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem to the to the al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount.

Israel and Jordan had previously agreed that the existing bridge must be razed for safety reasons. Israel plans to build a new bridge on the site.

Jordan's petition was also signed by Egypt, Iraq and Bahrain. The decision was carried with a unanimous vote by UNESCO 21-member nations. Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and Mexico voiced their reservations over the strong anti-Israel language used in the resolution, but did not oppose it in the vote.

The four, along with Sweden and Estonia asked the committee to defer its debate on Jordan's petition, but were denied.

Israel's ambassador to UNESCO Nimrod Barkan, which has an observer's status, attempted to address the committee, but Egypt objected and he was denied the floor.

Jerusalem sources told the newspaper Israel was "shocked" and "furious" over Jordan's scheme. "The Jordanians lied to us and to the Americans in an unbelievable way… The most astonishing thing is they don't even mention the agreement between Israel and Jordan," Barkan said.

As far as I can tell, UNESCO has never said a word in relation to the Waqf's wanton destruction of huge amounts of priceless archaeological relics on the Temple Mount.

Germany confirms that Hamas rejected Shalit deal

From AP:

Germany says Israel accepted a proposal by a German mediator to free a soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants in Gaza five years ago, but Hamas did not sign off on it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he had accepted the proposal, but Hamas rejected the deal. It is thought to include hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit.

Hamas said Netanyahu was lying about the mediation effort.

On Monday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert confirmed that Israel had accepted a German-mediated offer.

He said that “so far, Hamas regrettably has not yet accepted this proposal.” He gave no details of the proposed deal.

This fits in with yesterday's story about Hamas prisoners rejecting the deal after Hamas leaders accepted it.

Hamas/Fatah "unity" comatose

From YNet:

Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar said Tuesday that the reconciliation efforts between his organization and Fatah have come to a dead end.

According to al-Zahar, the bone of contention revolves around the structure of the PLO, government and legislative council.

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Al-Zahar also denied reports stating that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal traveled to Turkey last week in order to resolve their differences.

In an interview with Jordanian newspaper al-Dustur, al-Zahar blamed Fatah for "taking actions opposite to what was agreed upon."

Fatah, he added, is trying to unilaterally impose facts on the ground and "If this continues, we will unable to form a unity government."

Despite statements to the contrary, Fatah and Hamas have been unable to bridge any political gap which would see a unity government come to fruition.

Khaled Abu Toameh adds:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has officially decided to go to the United Nations in September to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines.

But how can Abbas go to the UN in New York when he cannot even go back to his home in the Gaza Strip, which has been seized by Hamas?

How can he go to the UN when he cannot visit the Gaza Strip, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians live?

How can Abbas go to the UN when he cannot even visit a refugee camp in the West Bank, Lebanon or Syria?

Even if the UN votes in favor of a Palestinian state in September, how does Abbas plan to implement the decision on the ground? Can he really convince Hamas and Palestinian refugees to accept the two-state solution and abandon the "right of return" to Israel proper?

Hamas, which represents many Palestinians, has made it clear that it would never recognize Israel's right to exist or accept the two-state solution. Hamas will, of course, reject any UN resolution calling for the establishment of a state "only" within the pre-1967 lines.

Hamas's goal is to replace Israel with an Islamic state that may allow some Jews to live under its jurisdiction as a minority. Hamas wants all the land, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. That is why any resolution adopted by the UN would not bring everlasting and comprehensive peace to the Middle East.

Most refugees, for their part, will also oppose any UN resolution that does not call for their return to their original homes and villages inside Israel. For them, recognition of a state along the pre-1967 lines would mean depriving them of their right to return to their original homes and villages. Already now, many refugees are expressing concern over the September statehood bid.

Abbas has failed to consult with all Palestinian factions and representatives of his people about his controversial statehood bid. It is highly likely that he doesn't want to do so because he is afraid that he would not enjoy the backing of a majority of his people for such a move.

True, Abbas has secured the support of Fatah and the PLO for his statehood initiative, but who said that these two bodies are representative and have a mandate to make such important decisions? The two groups are dominated by Abbas loyalists who receive funding from the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.

It is obvious by now that the September initiative would not advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. On the contrary, it would further complicate matters for both Israel and the Palestinians, plunging the region into another vicious cycle of bloodshed and violence.

Abbas has raised the expectations of many Palestinians to a dangerous level, as many are now expecting to wake up in September to see a new state where they live in peace and security. But when that does not happen, and the Palestinians realize they have been once again sold false promises, they could turn to violence not only against Israel, but also against their leaders in the West Bank.