Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, March 26, 2012

Memorial vigil held for Toulouse murderer; "F**k the Kippa" graffiti

The initiative is as astounding as it is wretched. Thirty young people, mostly girls, gathered Saturday in the district of Toulouse, where Mohamed Merah came from, to honor the memory of the killer of seven people shot dead by police Thursday, comparing their suffering to the families of the victims. One hundred members of security forces surrounded this event during which a woman wearing a full veil exhorted the group.

"What we ask today is that we stop demonizing Mohamed, that's it, he died," she said. "We share the pain and suffering of the families because it is the same pain for us here," said the girl, who declined to give her name. "I think what influenced him is what he has seen in his many travels. He could not manage all that. It was still a teenager in his head, despite his 23 years. "

The police had detected other calls to demonstrate in Toulouse Saturday morning and prevented the group from joining another. The demonstration was dispersed in the late afternoon without incident. This is not the first tribute to the author of the murders of three soldiers and four of the Jewish faith, including three children. Just hours after the death of Mohammed Merah, several Facebook pages have been created in his honor. Graffiti saying "Viva Merah", "Vengeance" and "Fuck the kippa" were also identified and cleaned up.

This article was distributed by Reuters, but can only be found in one English-language news source, from Italy. The idea that Muslims are supporting Merah is political dynamite that news editors prefer not to touch.

And earlier from Europe1:

Just hours the after the death of Mohammed Merah, several Facebook pages created to honor Him. It one of them, the creator had written this message on the wall of the page: "400 Police officers for one person ... long live France. "

Within hours, a little less than 500 people had time to "Like" the page. While some users lamented the establishment of the page, others clearly showed their support for Mohamed Merah and radical Islam.

Quickly, the Central Office of the Fight Against Crime connected with information technology and communication asked Facebook Europe to close the page, titled "Homage to Mohamed Merah (Toulouse)." It took the involvement of the Ministry of Interior for the page to be permanently removed.

Some 36 Jewish graves were also desecrated in a cemetery in Nice.

(h/t Samson)

Tens of thousands protest Israeli stepping foot in Morocco

I noted on Friday that many Arabs were upset at the presence of an Israeli at the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in Rabat, Morocco this past weekend.

That is an understatement.

From YNet:

Several days prior to the Global March to Jerusalem, thousands of Moroccans took part in a mass rally in Rabat "in support of Jerusalem." Israeli diplomat David Saranga, who was in the city for a conference, was taken out of the building through a side door as demonstrators protested his presence there, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday. Palestinian flags were flown and Israeli flags were burned during the march.

A Moroccan Islamic organization that organized the march claimed that 100,000 participated in the rally. "The people want to free al-Aqsa," the protesters chanted. "A million martyrs are going to Jerusalem."

Arab media reported Sunday that Saranga's participation in a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) meeting at Morocco's parliament stirred uproar among citizens and legislators. The country's ruling party [PJD] boycotted the meeting.

At the end of the session, thousands of Moroccans stormed the building and it was feared Saranga would be attacked, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. He was therefore taken out through a side door and taken to the airport under heavy security.

At the session itself:

Israel is a member of the UFM, so the Knesset was therefore represented in Rabat by one of its members, a presence that sparked the ire of the PJD parliamentarians, headed by Abdelaziz Amari, chairman of the parliamentary group of the PJD in the room representatives:

"Our position is clear and unwavering vis-à-vis any normalization of relations with the Zionist entity ... I will ask the government to clarify the exact circumstances of the arrival on the national territory of that individual Israeli."

Tariq Ramadan sees no anti-semitism in Mohammed Merah

If one was to try to parody the most bizarre rantings of the Left, one would not be able to come up with this. By Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University; Research Fellow of St Antony's College:

Twenty-three year-old Mohamed Merah was a familiar face in and beyond his neighborhood. People describe him as quiet, easy-going, nothing at all like an “extremist jihadi Salafist” ready to kill for a religious or political cause. His lawyer, who had previously defended him in offenses ranging from petty theft to armed robbery, had never detected even a hint of religious leanings, let alone of the Salafi stripe. He had just been tried and sentenced for theft and driving without a permit. Two weeks before the shooting, witnesses said he spent an evening in a nightclub in a very festive mood. In 2010 and 2011 he traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and earlier attempted to join the French army, which was unsuccessful , because of his criminal record. Mohamed Merah stands before us like an overgrown adolescent, unemployed, at loose ends, soft-hearted but at the same time disturbed and incoherent, as illustrated by his long hours of conversation with the police as they surrounded his apartment. An unbalanced, provocative, conscious, non-suicidal killer, are we told, who wanted, as he put it, to “teach France a lesson.”

Religion was not Mohamed Merah’s problem ; nor is politics. A French citizen frustrated at being unable to find his place, to give his life dignity and meaning in his own country, he would find two political causes through which he could articulate his distress : Afghanistan and Palestine. He attacks symbols : the army, and kills Jews, Christians and Muslims without distinction. His political thought is that of a young man adrift, imbued neither with the values of Islam, or driven by racism and anti-Semitism. Young, disoriented, he shoots at targets whose prominence and meaning seem to have been chosen based on little more than their visibility. A pathetic young man, guilty and condemnable beyond the shadow of a doubt, even though he himself was the victim of a social order that had already doomed him, and millions of others like him, to a marginal existence, and to the non-recognition of his status as a citizen equal in rights and opportunities.

Mohamed—how typical the name is !—was a French citizen of immigrant background before becoming a terrorist of immigrant origin. Early on his destiny became tied to the surrounding perceptions of that origin. Now, in a final act of provocation, he has come full circle, has vanished into this constructed and distorted image to become the definitive “other.” For the French of France, there is no longer anything French about Mohamed the Muslim Arab.

That cannot, of course, excuse his actions. But let us at least hope that France can learn the lesson that Mohamed Merah had neither the intention nor the means to teach : he was French, as are all his victims (in the name of what strange logic are they differentiated and categorized by religion ?), but he felt himself constantly reduced to both his origin by his skin color, and his religion by his name. The overwhelming majority of the Mohameds, the Fatimas or the Ahmeds of the suburbs and the banlieues are French ; what they seek is equality, dignity, security, a decent job and a place to live. They are culturally and religiously integrated ; their problem is overwhelmingly a socio-economic one. The story of Mohamed Merah today holds up to France a mirror in which it sees its face : he ends up a Jihadi without real conviction, after having been a citizen deprived of true dignity.

See? Merah was a victim! His second-class upbringing forced him to go to Afghanistan to be trained by the Taliban! He could have chosen any school in France, and it is sheer coincidence he chose a Jewish school! Videotaping his murder of a little girl? Any one of millions of Ahmeds or Fatimas could have done the same!

Allah forbid that he is responsible for his crimes, or that he was the least bit anti-semitic or hateful. Of course not. He smiled! Let's hope that France learns its lesson that this is entirely the fault of the French!

Maybe Ramadan should start a fan club for Merah on Facebook.

(h/t Harry's Place via Michael)

UNRWA still taking credit for 200,000 phantom Lebanon refugees

From the UNRWA Lebanon webpage:

Around 455,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with many living in the country’s 12 refugee camps.

Palestine refugees make up an estimated ten per cent of Lebanon, a small country which is now densely populated.

Figures as of 31 December 2010

A comprehensive UNRWA/American University of Beirut report released on that same date, December 31, 2010, shows this number to be a lie:

At present there are in excess of 425,640 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon [as of January 2010 - EoZ]. However, according to our survey figures, it is estimated that only between 260,000 and 280,000 are residents in the country, with a margin of error of ±5%. 62% of refugees live in the 12 camps across Lebanon, and the remaining 38% live in gatherings mostly in the vicinity of these camps. Resident refugees are mostly concentrated in the South (55% in Saida and Tyre), then in the Central Lebanon Area (22%), followed by the North (19%) and the Bekaa (4%). Some refugees were “naturalized” and have been granted Lebanese citizenship. Some 200,000 Palestinian refugees have left Lebanon, many to Europe, particularly the Scandinavian countries and Germany (Dorai 2003), especially after the 1982 Israeli invasion and the “War of the Camps,” fleeing the conflict but also rampant social exclusion in more recent years.

Yet as of January 1, 2012, UNRWA is still publicly claiming over 465,798 "Registered Persons in Lebanon" eligible to receive UNRWA services, when in fact about 200,000 of them are simply not there. The research report's results have not impacted the fabricated UNRWA claims in the least, even after a full year.

Why is UNRWA still telling the world that there are 200,000 more Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon than there really are? Even if they have no way to know how many of the "refugees" are illusory, and if there are "officially" 465,000 people receiving services, shouldn't UNRWA at least acknowledge the discrepancy so that donors have a clearer idea of what they are funding?

One possible reason is that exact reason: if UNRWA would be more forthcoming about the discrepancy then it may lose funding which is based on the number of people under UNRWA care.

But there is another political dimension to the issue. Right now, the biggest obstacle to having Lebanese Palestinians become citizens is the fear of a huge influx of Sunni Muslims upsetting the (mostly mythical nowadays) balance between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians in Lebanon.

Lebanon's population is estimated at about 4.2 million. The idea of 465,000 additional Sunnis - which would represent 11% of Lebanon's current population - is anathema to the Christians and Shiites. But if there are in reality as few as 260,000 Palestinian Lebanese who become naturalized, that would mean that only about 6% of the resultant Lebanese would be Palestinian - a far more manageable number that it is more possible that Lebanese could imagine absorbing without much trouble.

In other words, it is in the interests of Palestinian Arab leaders to inflate the numbers to increase their apparent power. It is in UNRWA's interest to inflate the numbers in order to receive more funding and keep the refugee situation alive. It is in the Lebanese Christian and Shiite leadership's interest to inflate the numbers in order to create fear among their ranks against "tawteen", or Palestinian Arab naturalization. As the BAU report notes:

Tawteen is the scarecrow that has been used within sections of Lebanese society to generate public phobia against according civil rights to Palestinians. Indeed through editorials in key Lebanese newspapers (al-Nahar, al-Akhbar, al-Safir, and L’Orient-Le Jour), Lebanese political groups accuse each other of promoting Tawteen, an act tantamount to treason. For instance, the front-page headline of the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, read on 2 July 2007 “The program of al-Barid Camp reconstruction is the beginning of Tawteen”. Others (including religious authorities) consider the mere talk of the Palestinians’ right to work as being the first step towards Tawteen. Any debate about civil and economic rights starts by affirming that the objective should not be Tawteen...

So because of this confluence of factors, the truth is being buried.

And the people being hurt are, as always, the real Lebanese Palestinians, who would love to become full citizens of the state that they were born in but which stlll considers them "foreigners" - for their own good, of course. Yet no one ever asked them what they would prefer.

It is unconscionable that they should continue to be used as pawns by their own leadership, by the Lebanese leaders and seemingly by UNRWA itself - the agency created to help them - in order to keep them stateless and helpless.

In the early 1960s, it was discovered that over 100,000 Jordanian refugees receiving aid were also non-existent. The United States insisted that UNRWA take them off of their rolls, but UNRWA was not successful because the corruption that caused the problem was so widespread.

If there are 200,000 nonexistent "refugees" on UNRWA rolls in Lebanon alone, today, who knows how many more there are in Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza?

Hamas lies about baby's death

I mentioned yesterday that Hamas TV had reported that a baby died because of the fuel shortage, noting that it appeared that Hamas was trying to make Gazans angry at Egypt.

Surprise, surprise: The baby died weeks ago, and the entire story was manipulated by Hamas for sympathy and to try to pressure Egypt.

From AP:

The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about a 5-month-old baby who was said to have died Friday after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, the first known death linked to the territory's energy crisis. The timing and reason for the death were confirmed to the AP by a man identified as the baby's father and a Gaza health official, but the report has been called into question after it was learned that a local newspaper carried news of the baby's death on March 4.
A substitute story will be filed shortly reflecting the new information.

The follow-up story:

A Gaza man said Sunday his 5-month-old baby died two days ago after the generator powering his respirator ran out of fuel, but the report was called into question after it emerged that the timing of the baby's death was misrepresented.

The baby's death -- which was confirmed to The Associated Press by a man identified as the father and a Gaza hospital official -- would have been the first linked to the territory's energy crisis, and the report appeared to be an attempt by Gaza's Hamas rulers to use it to gain sympathy.

However, the AP later learned that news of Mohammed Helou's death first appeared March 4 in the local Arabic-language newspaper Al-Quds, in an article written by a relative of the bereaved family.

The baby's father, Abdul-Halim Helou, said Mohammed was born with a lymphatic disorder and had only a few months to live. He said they miscalculated how much fuel a new generator needed to remove fluids that accumulated in his respiratory system.

"If we were living in a normal country with electricity, I think his chances of living (longer) would have been better," Helou said.

The Al-Quds article contained the same details as the one recounted by the Helou family on Sunday, saying Mohammed died from choking on his own phlegm. The story quoted that father as saying their generator ran out of fuel, causing their son's respirator to stop working and ultimately causing the baby to choke to death.

The fuel crisis was relevant in early March as well, but Hamas apparently missed the report in Al-Quds -- a publication considered loyal to its rival, Fatah -- and Hamas was now trying to recycle the story to capitalize on the family's tragedy.

Confronted by the AP with the newspaper story, the family and Hamas Gaza health official Bassem al-Qadri continued to insist the baby arrived dead at a Gaza City hospital on Friday night.

I cannot count the number of times we have seen Gaza officials, Palestinian Arab "human rights" organizations, and even "eyewitnesses" lying to the media. The most recent was less than two weeks ago. And here, even when faced with evidence, they continue to lie to the reporter's face!

Yet the mainstream media still continue to report the statements of Gaza officials and "eyewitnesses" without the least bit of skepticism, until someone proves that they are lying.

(h/t Tamand CAMERA)

Interpol issues "red notices" for 4 Iranian suspects in embassy bombing

From Interpol:

INTERPOL, acting on a request from India's Central Bureau of Investigation, has issued Red Notices for four suspects wanted in connection with the 13 February bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat’s car in New Delhi.

Details of the suspects Mohammadreza Abolghashemi, Houshang Afshar Irani, Seyed Ali Mahdiansadr and Masoud Sedaghatzadeh who are all wanted for terrorism related offences including criminal conspiracy and attempted murder, have been transmitted to INTERPOL’s 190 member countries.

The attack left a 42-year-old female diplomat with serious injuries and also wounded her driver and two bystanders.

INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said India’s request for the Red Notices would make it extremely difficult for the suspects to travel internationally in an attempt to evade capture.

“Through requesting INTERPOL Red Notices, India has ensured that law enforcement officials around the globe are alerted to the wanted status of these fugitives, and therefore reduces their options for international travel,” said Mr Noble.

"Honor killing" in Gaza

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 21:00 on Thursday, 22 March 2012, K. K., 22, from Khan Yunis refugee camp, was admitted into Nasser Hospital in a very critical condition because of having had a poisonous material, allegedly when she attempted suicide. She was placed in the intensive care unit and her condition relatively improved. At approximately 01:30 on Friday, 23 March 2012, a relative of her arrived at the intensive care unit. The doctor on duty informed him that her condition improved. The relative pointed a pistol attempting to kill her. When the doctor and a nurse attempted to stop him, he threatened to shoot them. Soon after, he shot the woman in the head, and she immediately died. The murderer turned himself in to the police.

According to police sources, the suspect and one of the victim’s brothers, have been detained, and investigations are ongoing.

There is a backstory here, but chances are no one will ever find out what it is.

US Jews' donations to Israel double in 12 years

From Ha'aretz:

Donations by U.S. Jews to Israeli nonprofits have doubled during the past 12 years, according to a first-of-its-kind study conducted by professors at Brandeis University.

The study, scheduled to be completed in late April, disproves the widely held view by many Israelis that philanthropic donations from the United States have dropped over time due to economic and political reasons. In fact, the study - previewed last week during a hearing by the Knesset Subcommittee for the Relations of Israel with World Jewish Communities - suggests quite the opposite.

In 2007, various Israeli organizations received $2.1 billion from U.S. donors through the Jewish Agency and various "friendship" associations, according to findings by professors Theodore Sasson and Eric Fleisch, of the Cohen Center of Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. This is double what U.S. donors contributed 12 years earlier, when only $1.08 billion was raised in the United States for Israeli organizations.

"Most of the income of the leading organizations in Israel increased also when adjusted for inflation," Professor Sasson said in an interview with Haaretz. There has also been an increase in the number of U.S. organizations supporting Israel, he said, with the emergence of some 150 new pro-Israel groups in the United States in the 1990s, and some 280 emerging during the past decade.

While the research indicates that there was a 10-25 percent drop in donations during 2008 and 2009 - during the period of severe economic crisis in the United States - it suggests there was a substantial rise in donations in 2010, when the crisis began to subside.

Because of a drop in contributions to the Jewish Agency in recent years, "It was thought that Jews care less about Israel, but the situation suggests that U.S. Jewry is deeply committed to Israel," he said.

One of Peter Beinart's major points is that US Jews are not as engaged with Israel as they used to be, especially young people. The proliferation of pro-Israel groups in America suggests the opposite.

Incongruously, Ha'aretz writes:

Sasson says the main reason for the increase in contributions is not necessarily linked with a rise in Zionism, but to the increase in the number of donor collectors and their improved professionalism over the years.

You can almost imagine how the Ha'aretz reporter asked that question in order to elicit that answer. While it is possible that professionalism increased the amount of donations, all charities in the US have become more professional at the same time. Unless one can prove that the amount given in donations doubled across the board, it is hard to interpret this in any way besides saying that American Jews are more engaged with, and emotionally connected with, Israel than they were in the past - the exact opposite of the conventional wisdom.

Egyptian Salafist presidential candidate "to use Israel as an example"

From Al Arabiya:

Salafist candidate for Egypt’s presidential election, Sheikh Hazim Salah Abu Ismail, has spoken against the practice of taking taxes from casinos and night clubs and shown his support for art and cinema at a time when fears loom of Islamists suppressing the arts if they come to power.

“Israel has banned taxing gambling because it is against Judaism, while Egypt makes money from belly dancers entertaining drunk men,” Abu Ismail told Al Arabiya.

Ismail said if he wins the presidency, he will make economic leaps without resorting to such tactics, adding that he will use Israel as an example.

“I have seen cities in the United States where its people try to raise money to buy casinos which they convert to other businesses in a bid to keep their cities gambling-free and to make Las Vegas as the only American city for such activities to occur,” he said, adding “conservative Americans do not accept such activities in their cities.”

“If we want to just go after money, then we should allow prostitution, right?” he said. “We should honor Egyptians’ dignity… no Egyptian should be humiliated, and this won’t make the country poor but it will increase its income, and God is above all.”

Tourism in Egypt in considered to be one of the most important sectors to the country’s economy. The sector also employs about 12 percent of Egypt’s workforce.

Early indications show that Ismail is a serious contender for the upcoming elections which has over 100 people vying for the presidency.

Israel has no casinos, although there are four casino cruise ships based in Eilat. I don't know their tax status.

And, of course, there are many places in America that one can legally gamble, not just Las Vegas.

Given that there are so many presidential candidates in Egypt, a Salafist candidate can easily win if the other parties split their votes across several candidates. And Ismail has appealed to Copts and others for being relatively moderate, for an Islamist.

Details on recent Gaza fighting show disregard for civilian lives

GANSO released its report for the first half of the month, which includes most of the rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes from earlier this month. Here are some highlights:

16 of the Qassams fell short or exploded prematurely.
4 rockets from Gaza fell on and damaged homes in Gaza. 2 were injured.
There was an increase in rockets being fired from urban, civilian areas compared to previous flare-ups.
The increased number of Grads means that they can be fired from areas of Gaza that had not seen rocket launches before.
They counted 105 Grads, 152 Qassam-type rockets, and 42 mortars being shot from Gaza. They also counted 50 Israeli airstrikes.
"A number of the Grads were fired from in and around Gaza City itself, including the Rimal and beachfront areas, where many NGOs have offices and residences."
"3 civilians were killed, including 1 child, as a result of bullets fired during funeral processions."

Are any "human rights" organizations commenting on how Gaza terror groups are putting the lives of civilians in danger?

Arabs freak over poster in Beirut university that mentions Tel Aviv

From Iran's ABNA:

"Tel Aviv in the Heart of Beirut Arab University (BAU)"; this is how a "saiddatv.tv report" commenced. The report added that the news is not a joke, but it "gives BAU students an opportunity to work in the Zionist entity's capital Tel Aviv."

On this level, the video report indicated that "by the university principal's office, and on all floors of all faculties, a colorful poster is hung, listing the names of many capitals including Prague, New York, Geneva, Singapore, Moscow, and Tel Aviv."

This poster calls on students to apply for jobs in the Zionist entity, which was established on the ruins of Palestine and the displacements of its people, the report added.

"The university's students resented the poster, saying that their university was established by former Egyptian Leader Jamal Abdel Nasser, who refused to negotiate, hold peace, or acknowledge [the existence of] "Israel"," the saidatv.tv report asserted.

Also, the report iterated that the BAU violated the law to boycott "Israel", although it was one of the victims of the "Israeli" invasion of Beirut in 1982.

"However, has the BAU become a center for normalization in light of the political tremors in Egypt?" the report further wondered.

Here's the video, from Lebanese Saida TV, complete with footage of Israeli jets attacking Lebanon during wartime:

You can see that this poster is for the Bloomberg Assessment Test, a standardized test meant to measure students' knowledge and aptitude in finance. Here's the full poster:

It is obviously not calling on students to work in Tel Aviv; it is recommending that they take the BAT and therefore have all their options open because employers presumably will value a high test score.

But mere facts won't stop idiotic anti-Israel bigotry.

So all we can do is laugh at it.

Gaza power plant shuts down, yet again

This morning the power plant in Gaza shut down after the Friday fuel shipment from Israel ran out. THere seem to be no plans to ask Israel to keep shipping the fuel, even though the IDF expedited the shipment on Friday, a day that Kerem Shalom is normally closed.

The PA sent a delegation to Egypt to help solve the crisis, but Hamas reportedly boycotted the meeting.

For its part, Hamas says that Egypt has plenty of fuel and is not suffering a shortage, and its media quotes an Egyptian official as claiming that someone is spilling fuel into the desert to create an artificial crisis to overthrow the state.

An agreement has apparently been made to have Egypt ship natural gas to Gaza to power the electric plant, a scheme that would take six months.

OCHA published a map of the electricity situation in Gaza. I didn't realize that Israel is supplying electricity to the area over 12 separate feeders distributed throughout the sector.