Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

EU lies in defending "human rights defender" Bassam Tamimi

Statement by the Spokesperson of High Representative Catherine Ashton on the case of Bassem Tamimi
The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:

"The High Representative is very concerned by the conviction of Bassem Tamimi in an Israeli military court on 20 May 2012 on charges of taking part in illegal demonstrations and of soliciting protesters to throw stones.

The EU considers Bassem Tamimi to be a 'human rights defender' committed to non-violent protest against the expansion of an Israeli settlement on lands belonging to his West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. The EU attended all court hearings in his case and is concerned at the use of evidence based on the testimony of a minor who was interrogated in violation of his rights.

The EU believes that everyone should be able to exercise their legitimate right to protest in a nonviolent manner."

The EU is not saying that Tamimi was not inciting stone-throwing. They do not deny that the protest that he organized included stone throwing. So it may appear that the EU regards throwing stones as "non-violent protest."

The EU statement strongly implies that the evidence that he was behind the stone throwing came from a minor under interrogation, and therefore there is no real evidence that he directed the attacks. Since the evidence came under questionable circumstances, Ashton says, it should not have been used to convict Tamimi.

The EU is lying.

From WaPo:

The military judge in al-Tamimi’s case said Sunday she dropped more serious charges of incitement and support for a hostile organization that were based from the confessions of a 14-year-old, saying it was riddled with inconsistencies. She also did not use the confession of a young adult, saying interrogators misrepresented what he actually said.

The judge effectively threw out the testimonies from the minor as well as a young adult, dismissed charges based on their testimony - and still convicted Tamimi of inciting stone throwers. In other words, there was other, independent evidence that Tamimi is guilty of inciting violence - but the EU (and Amnesty International) is purposefully ignoring that other evidence, which it must have heard since it says it attended all the hearings!

Either the judge arbitrarily chose to convict Tamimi based on zero evidence (after showing her integrity by chiding the prosecution for pushing a confession and testimony that she said was not credible), or the EU is going out of its way to demonize Israel's military justice system by picking and choosing facts to imply that Bassam Tamimi is a "human rights activist."

There is one other possibility. Perhaps the EU doesn't consider the intended victims of the stones to be "human."

Interestingly, the minor whose testimony was thrown out was Muatassim al-Tamimi, a relative of Bassam Tamimi's. He was caught throwing stones. If Tamimi is such a human rights defender and against violence, he apparently cannot even influence his own family.

By the way, Amnesty International also calls Tamimi a "prisoner of conscience" and wholeheartedly believes everything he and his family says. This includes something that is almost certainly a baldfaced lie, as well as obvious evidence that Amnesty is anything but objective:

I first met Bassem when I went to interview Nariman and two of her sisters who had been arrested and detained on the same day in 2010.

Sitting in the family’s home, amidst shattered windows, the curtains burned from tear gas shot by the Israeli army into the house, I’d finished my interview when Bassem came in.

I find it very hard to believe that the IDF would shoot tear gas into a house. Almost certainly that is directly against IDF directives, so I will venture to say that the Tamimi family is lying and that Amnesty will believe anything they are told as long as it fits with their already-preconceived notions.

Egypt launching "veiled-women only" TV channel

From Al Arabiya:

An Egyptian satellite television channel currently on test transmission and managed by a staff of women in niqaab (fully veiled) has stirred controversy in the country and revived the debate over the limits of individual freedom.

Marya channel’s general manager Sheikha Safaa was quoted by various Egyptian media sources as saying that the television will be “exclusively female” and that men would not be allowed to interfere in its editorial policies or program content.

Sheikha Safaa noted that the channel’s owner, ultraconservative Salafi Sheikh Abu Islam Ahmad Abd Allah, will have a “consultative” role to play because of his “media and scholastic expertise.”

“The work in operations of the channel will be handled by the sisters in charge of management, especially as women are the best one to talk about their needs,” she said, adding that the channel “aims at lifting injustice” on veiled women who suffer from marginalization.

The channel’s owner was quoted as saying he chose the name Marya for his television in reference to Mariyah al-Qibtiyyah, a woman who was gifted to the Prophet Mohammed and gave birth to his son Ibrahim.

(Marya was a Copt; Mohammed is said to have freed her.)

Journomania adds:

No men or non-veiled women will be employed says Sheikha Safaa , the manager of the channel.

Even though these employment plans might be considered sexist, Sheikha Safaa seems to think otherwise. She has made it quite clear that the objectives of launching this channel is to offer veiled women the chance to appear on the screens and to empower other veiled women by activating their roles. She claims veiled women suffer marginalization.

Sheikha Safaa explained that the staff of the satellite channel will be all women, and men are not going to interfere in its general policies or programs quality. Even the owner of the channel will have only a consultative role based on his experience and skills in the field of media, she said.

“The affairs of the channel will be handled by the sisters who will be running the television channel, since women are more qualified to address and talk about their own needs”, she added.

Sheikh Abu Islam Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah, the owner of the "Al Ummah" channel and the new “Maria” Channel, said in a statement that "God willing, the channel will employ Muslim women graduates of various departments of media collages and institutions. This project aims at protecting women from temptations by finding them suitable work opportunities ."

Sheikh Abdullah explained: “We plan on hiring all our staff of veiled women and finish that within three months. We have already hired women, filming professionals from other television channels to train our all women team on production, filming, and other skills. But for the technical skills we have to rely on men because we were not able to find skilled women in this field yet”.

Here's an apparent screen shot from a test broadcast:

Feminism, Salafi-style!

Earliest evidence of Bethlehem found in archaeological dig

From the Israel Antiquities Authority:

The first ancient artifact constituting tangible evidence of the existence of the city of Bethlehem, which is mentioned in the Bible, was recently discovered in Jerusalem.

A bulla measuring c. 1.5 cm was found during the sifting of soil removed from archaeological excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is carrying out in the City of David. The sifting is underwritten by the 'Ir David Foundation' in a project being conducted in the Emek Tzurim National Park.

A bulla is a piece of clay that was used for sealing a document or object. The bulla was impressed with the seal of the person who sent the document or object, and its integrity was evidence the document or object was not opened by anyone unauthorized to do so.

Three lines of ancient Hebrew script appear on the bulla:

בשבעת Bishv'at

בת לחם Bat Lechem

[למל]ך [Lemel]ekh

According to Eli Shukron, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “it seems that in the seventh year of the reign of a king (it is unclear if the king referred to here is Hezekiah, Manasseh or Josiah), a shipment was dispatched from Bethlehem to the king in Jerusalem. The bulla we found belongs to the group of “fiscal” bullae – administrative bullae used to seal tax shipments remitted to the taxation system of the Kingdom of Judah in the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE. The tax could have been paid in the form of silver or agricultural produce such as wine or wheat”. Shukron emphasizes,” this is the first time the name Bethlehem appears outside the Bible, in an inscription from the First Temple period, which proves that Bethlehem was indeed a city in the Kingdom of Judah, and possibly also in earlier periods”.

In the Bible Bethlehem is first mentioned in the verse “in Ephrath, which is Bethlehem”, and it was on the way there that Rachel died and it is where she was buried (Genesis 35:19; 48:7). The descendants of Judah settled there, among them the family of Boaz (Book of Ruth).

I wonder what the former PA Mufti would make of this? He was quite emphatic that there is no archaeological evidence that Jews were in Jerusalem in ancient times.

(h/t Dan)

Turkey seeks life imprisonment for 4 Israelis in Mavi Marmara incident

From Bloomberg:

A Turkish prosecutor will seek life imprisonment for four Israeli commanders in connection with the 2010 interception of a Gaza-bound ship during which nine Turks were killed, Sabah said.

Gabi Ashkenazi, Israel’s military chief of staff during the May 31, 2010, raid on the Mavi Marmara ship from Turkey that sought to breach the Gaza Strip blockade, and three others will be tried as fugitive defendants, the newspaper reported, citing Istanbul prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci’s indictment.

The 144-page document charges that Israeli officials deliberately killed, wounded and tortured the pro-Palestinian activists who sought to end the embargo, according to Sabah. The prosecution will file the indictment after final approval from a chief attorney, the newspaper reported.

The Sabah article is here. The others named in the indictment are "naval forces commander Eliezer Alfred Maron [sic], (former) air forces intelligence officer Avishay Levi and (former) Israeli intelligence chief Amos Yadlin" who would be arrested if they ever go to Turkey.

The paper adds that such an indictment may cause controversy as it has no precedent, at least vis a vis Israel and Turkey.

The indictment is to be handed down days before the second anniversary of the incident.

(h/t Simone)

Turkish columnist exposes many Mossad conspiracies!

From Burak Bekdil at Hurriyet:

It’s Mossad!

In 2008, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s official news agency, Wafa, reported that Israel (read: Mossad) had released poison-resistant rats to drive Arab residents of Jerusalem out of their homes. Training rats so as to distinguish between Muslim, Christian and Jewish residents of a city must be a remarkable scientific achievement, but apparently “Project Mickey Mouse” must have failed, as evinced by Jerusalem’s demography today.

In 2011, Saudi Arabia announced that it had “detained” a vulture carrying an Israeli band. The griffon vulture was carrying a GPS transmitter bearing the name of the Tel Aviv University and was condemned for being a part of a “Zionist espionage plot.” Mossad’s “Operation Angry Birds” had failed and I do not know if Saudi courts ruled to behead the Zionist spy vulture, sentence it to life in prison, or force it to reveal the names of his collaborators in return for a pardon; but there were rumors that hundreds of camels may have been implanted on the Arabian Peninsula to spy for Israel.

That same year, one of two Turkish celebrities who had been accused of raping call girls defended himself by saying that the whole incident was “an Israeli plot against him.” Once again, Mossad had been caught red-handed. The Israeli spy network had successfully infiltrated into the Turkish red-light district, but “Operation Amorous Crescent and Star” failed to deceive the Turkish star and his fans.

And most recently, a migratory bird, a common bee-eater, caused alarm in a Turkish village in the southeast after villagers thought it was an Israeli spy. According to reports, villagers’ suspicions were aroused when the bird was found dead in a field with a metal ring around its leg stamped “Israel.” They called the police after deciding its nostrils were unusually large and may have carried a microchip fitted by Israeli intelligence for spying.

But this time “Operation Eliyahu Hanavi” went surprisingly well, as the gullible Turkish authorities took the bait that it is common practice to fit a ring to migratory birds in order to track their movements. Fortunately, the Zionist bee-eater was dead and could no longer spy for Israel. All the same, the Turkish intelligence machinery should adopt a pre-emptive strike policy and randomly question migratory birds passing through the Turkish airspace.

Being accused too often by readers for being a Zionist columnist (and an undercover Israeli agent), I feel obliged to warn Mossad that it should put a halt to the practice of stamping fellow spies with names like Israel and Tel Aviv University.

For instance, I successfully spent several years of my journalistic career as an Israeli agent in perfect disguise because I had cleverly refused Mossad’s proposal to have on my right arm a tattoo reading “Mossad agent no. 2119129.” My spying career would no doubt have progressed if the readers of this column had not been smart enough to uncover me.

Acting as silly as the country’s intelligence agency, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly decided to deploy 20,000 commandos on Greek Cyprus. There must be something wrong about the figure in the Turkish state Anatolia news agency’s reporting. I feel obliged to correct: In fact, the IDF plans to deploy 200,000, not 20,000, commandos on Cyprus, although it has only a few tens of thousands of commandos in Israel. This new special operation unit will mostly consist of vultures, bee-eaters and poison-resistant rats.

Driving through Central Anatolia last month I smiled at a huge banner in the heart of a town, which read: “Inform the police when you see strangers and suspicious persons – on the police hotline 155.” An updated version of this clever neighborhood watch policy could read: “Inform the police when you spot Israeli spies disguised as pink elephants and dragons – with stamps that read ‘Israeli spy.’”

Hamas outraged over Mabhouh comedy

From Gulf News:

Relatives of a Hamas leader allegedly slain by a Mossad hit squad are looking to block the release of an Israeli-French spoof on the raid - not because it portrays him as a "terrorist" but because it shows him drinking in a hotel bar.

The film, which parodies the 2010 killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room in January 2010, stars Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli, French actor Tomer Sisley and Israel's Shlomo Bar-Abba, star of the Oscar-nominated Footnote.

"The film undermines the image of our brother, showing him drinking alcohol and meeting in a bar with an Israeli model who seduces him and sets the trap for his assassination," Fayaq Al Mabhouh told AFP in Gaza.

He said his family was planning to sue the producers in the Israeli courts on grounds the film "soils the image of the martyr Mahmoud Al Mabhouh." "We are a conservative, religious family and we respect the reputation of the dead, especially since our brother is an honourable symbol of resistance," he added.

A small reminder: Mabhouh was involved with the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers, and there is a video of him standing on their corpses. He smuggled weapons for Hamas in Gaza and was working on getting Iranian weapons into the hands of Hamas terrorists.

But making fun of him is immoral, according to his family - precisely because of his terrorist credentials.

Hamas has added its voice to those outraged by this film. Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said "it is essential for this farce to be stopped immediately, and all Palestinian human rights and all-loving Palestinian people must stop this," demanding that the Palestinian Bar Association, the Arab Lawyers Union and the World Federation for Lawyers to defend the case and file a lawsuit against the film company and stop the production of this "shameful act."

Yes, a murderous terror group is accusing people making a movie of being "shameful."

Naomi Campbell visits Bethlehem; PA threatens journalists

From AP:

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has visited the holy West Bank town of Bethlehem on her birthday.

Campbell, wearing a white shirt and black sunglasses, was accompanied by friends, Palestinian guards and her own private security detail, some wearing black-and-white checkered Palestinian scarves.

Palestinian security officials say she lit candles in the Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born.

A worker at an adjacent restaurant said Campbell celebrated her birthday with a traditional Palestinian meal of lamb and rice.

She requested anonymity because Palestinian officials threatened to punish people speaking to reporters.

Actually, it looks like the PA threatened any reporters who wanted to cover the story, and they gave exclusive rights to the official government-run PA TV station.

Palestinian Arab journalists protested this, saying that PA security forces threatened to break their cameras if they tried to take pictures.

What a nice state Palestine would be!

One of Yemen's few remaining Jews murdered

JPost reports:

A member of the Jewish community in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa was stabbed and critically injured by a Muslim man accusing him of witchcraft on Tuesday, AFP quoted the man's son as saying. Army Radio quoted a friend of the victim as saying Aharon Zindani had died as a result of the stab wounds.

The 50-year-old Zindani “was stabbed at Saawan market near the US embassy in northeast Sanaa,” his son Yehya was quoted as saying. “He received stab wounds to his neck and stomach.”

According to Yehya Zindani, his father was undergoing surgery for his wounds.

He described the attacker as a “well-known person who says my father has ruined and bewitched him.” According to Israeli media reports the attacker stabbed Zindani 12 times before being stopped by a group of men and detained.

Al-Arab Online confirms that Zindani died from his wounds.

It says that the murderer cried "You are Jewish and ruined my business with the magic that you use." It also says that the killer was a qat dealer.

A Yemeni human rights group condemned the killing, noting that there has been increasing anti-semitism in recent years in the country, saying there has been "an unjustified campaign of incitement against the Jewish community in Yemen, using racist slogans calling for killing them."

A two state solution has nothing to do with Jerusalem

This Reuters article pushes one of the biggest myths around:

Named for the crash site of an airforce plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth.

'Airplane Hill' lies on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits -- rock-strewn land dotted with shabby, prefabricated bungalows and the occasional pine tree.

Once a tranquil backwater, the area has become the focus of hectic activity in the last six months, with Israeli authorities releasing plans for 2,610 housing units and 1,110 hotel rooms.

With the approval process going more quickly than expected, building could start later this year, creating the first new Israeli settlement in 15 years among the sprawl of a modern Jerusalem that is spread out over many hills.

If that happens, it would effectively cut off the city's Palestinian neighborhoods from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, imperiling the Palestinians' prospects for establishing a coherent capital and with it their goal of an independent state.

"There is only so much territorial abuse this tortured land can take before we kill the political options of saving the two- state solution," said Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli attorney who monitors urban developments he thinks affect chances for peace.

In 1947, the Zionists accepted a two-state solution without Jerusalem, the eternal Jewish capital. The reason was because the desire to have a state - no matter what the boundaries - was far more important than anything else.

If statehood and independence is the most important goal for Palestinian Arabs, they would act the same way and would have their state today.

Why does Reuters say, as a fact, that only Jerusalem can be the Palestinian state's "coherent capital?"

Just because Palestinian Arabs insist that Jerusalem is essential to their having a state does not make it so. Indeed, it is provably false, as Ramallah is currently the effective capital of the PA.

They can add Jerusalem to any list of demands they want. They can also demand that Netanyahu do six consecutive somersaults on live television before any peace agreement. But arbitrary demands do not automatically become essential for a two state solution just because Arabs assert it.

Those who mix up Arab demands and a real two-state solution are not doing anything to advance the cause of peace.

Jerusalem Arabs are applying for Israeli citizenship. Must be an evil Israeli plot!

Here's hilarious example of how the anti-Israel Left engages in bizarre conspiracy theories to explain things they simply cannot understand.

From Riman Barakat in 972mag:

As an East Jerusalem resident, I am struck by a recent trend: many of my friends and acquaintances who hold Jerusalem identification cards – documents of permanent residency rather than Israeli citizenship – are quietly applying for and obtaining Israeli passports.

It’s not immediately clear why. Current residents of East Jerusalem – numbering over 350,000, or 38% of the city’s total population – already go about their daily lives, shop at Israeli malls, use Israeli services, frequent Israeli restaurants and bars, send their children to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and receive Israeli social and health benefits. What does “upgrading their status” from East Jerusalem residents to citizens of Israel add? Why did East Jerusalem residents refuse the Israeli offer of citizenship in 1967, and why are they actively seeking to obtain it now, especially given that citizenship requires them to pledge the controversial oath of allegiance to the Israeli state?

I believe the trend is the result of a well-planned and consistently applied Israeli strategy to pressure the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem.

Of course! If Palestinian Arabs voluntarily choose to become Israeli citizens, it has to be a nefarious Jewish plot!

It cannot possibly be that they see the Palestinian Authority is a corrupt dictatorship with ever-increasing totalitarian tendencies and they believe that their lives, and the lives of their families, would be infinitely better under Israeli sovereignty. No, that's crazy talk. It must be that Israel, by asking them to prove their residency status periodically, is really pressuring them to become Israeli citizens against their will.

Because, of course, as 972mag nutcases know all too well, those evil Jewish Zionists naturally want to pressure the hated Arabs of "East Jerusalem" to become Israeli citizens and increase the number of Arab citizens in the Jewish state. This must be another form of "ethnic cleansing."

(Here is also another way that Arab leaders infantilize their own people, not giving them credit for doing what they want to do and instead finding ways to blame Israel for Arabs acting in ways that don't adhere to their cherished - and often false - narrative.)

Barakat's agenda becomes a bit clearer later in this nonsensical piece:

As the PA turns a blind eye to the phenomenon of East Jerusalemites becoming Israelis, I wonder: does the PA still adhere to the vision of East Jerusalem as the future capital of Palestine? If not, the PA should start discussing the possibility of an Open City immediately, both internally and publicly.

Here we see the truth. To Barakat, Jerusalem being a Palestinian Arab capital is not the most important goal - the goal is to ensure that it is not Jewish!

You know how important it is for Jerusalem to be an Arab city, as we are constantly reminded? Well, it isn't really that important. Better it be under UN control than allowing Jews to have a say in how their capital is run.

This is entirely consistent with the Arab attitude towards Jerusalem in 1949, when all Arab countries (except for Jordan) pushed the UN to make Jerusalem an international city. Nothing then about the eternal importance of Jerusalem to Muslims, no cheer that the Old City was under Muslim control - no, to them, it was more important that all of Jerusalem - including the western side - be taken away from the Jews. And this is what Barakat is saying here.

Barakat, a Palestinian Arab who is now Co-Director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information - as liberal an organization as any Arab is likely to join - shows that even for her, the true goal is reducing the amount of land ruled by Jews, and not "Palestinian statehood." A Palestinian Arab state is just the means to that other goal, not the goal itself.

(h/t Arnold Roth)

Iran Photoshops an Israeli passport to prove "Mossad spy"

From Emanuele Ottolenghi at Commentary:

Last week, Iranian blogger Potkin Azarmehr questioned the authenticity of reports that Iran had executed Majid Jamali Fashi, the 24-year-old Iranian accused of carrying out the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Massoud-Ali Mohammadi.

This morning, Potkin circulated a snapshot of an Israeli passport, showcased on Iranian TV, which authorities claim is evidence that Fashi was an Israeli agent.

Harry's Place notices:

The passport Iranian television is claiming belonged to the alleged “Israeli spy” (see Gene’s story below) is a crude forgery copied directly from a facsimile of an Israeli passport on Wikipedia. Such was the ineptitude that the word “forgery” is in fact too generous – they made no effort to even change the details. The only difference is the new photo inexpertly pasted over the original (without even paying attention to the stamps). Details blacked out in the Wikipedia image are simply erased while visible details are left exactly as is.

It isn't even a good Photoshop job. And even Iranians noticed that the photograph does not show him looking at the camera, as every passport photo has.

Just something else to keep in mind when Iran claims to have caught "Zionist spies."

(h/t David T)

Iranian "news" agency replaces "Iran" with "Israel" in HRW press release

From HRW, in a press release about human rights abuses in Bahrain:

United Nations member states should scrutinize Bahrain’s deplorable human rights record during the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council on May 21, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today.

The voice of the international community has been subdued regarding Bahrain’s manifold violations, especially compared with the international response to abuses in Syria, Libya, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries, Human Rights Watch said.

Iran's FARS News reports on this statement, but it seemed to have a problem with HRW's list of countries performing human rights abuses:

The voice of the international community has been subdued regarding Bahrain's manifold violations, especially compared with the international response to abuses in Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, Human Rights Watch said.

The list of countries engaging in human rights abuses changed from "Iran and its allies" to "Iran's enemies."

That's Iranian "news" for you.

(HRW's Arabic version of the press release is identical to the English one.)

(h/t Gidon Shaviv, Israel Research Fellow at NGO Monitor)

Exposing more BDS hypocrisy: 400 PalArabs attend agriculture show in Tel Aviv

A few weeks ago, someone named Ben White tried to make fun of my assertion that Palestinian Arab farmers are not keen on boycotts of Israel, since it can hurt them too.

White's main piece of evidence that Palestinian Arab farmers really want to boycott Israeli goods and services came from a quote from a spokesman for the "Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees," saying that Palestinian Arab farmers do in fact support boycotting Israel.

I easily showed that he's an idiot and a hypocrite, and that plenty of Palestinian Arab farmers willingly cooperate with the supposedly hated "occupiers". And I pointed out a number of specific cases where Palestinian Arab farmers eagerly attended seminars in Israel to increase their profits.

Here's more proof that the BDS haters like White are obviously acting in ways that are at odds with normal Palestinian Arab farmers and agriculturalists.

The Agritech exhibition (the international convention on agricultural technology), which took place [last] Tuesday-Thursday in the Exhibition Grounds in Tel-Aviv, was attended by agriculturalists and commercial representatives from all over the world, and included Israeli innovations in agriculture and various agricultural crops. Amongst those present and presenting in the exhibit were Palestinian agriculturalists from Judea and Samaria.

The Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria issued entry permits to approx. 400 Palestinian agriculturalists that came to view, learn, develop and even acquire some of the innovations presented in the convention, so that they may develop their own agricultural estates. In addition, the Civil Administration funded the farmers’ carpooling services, so that they may conveniently attend the exhibit. “Palestinian farmers are exposed here to many technological developments and innovations in agricultural technology”, explained Samir Mudai, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer. “We are attempting to create a connection between Israeli and Palestinian agriculture.”

In addition, in the area allotted by exhibition organizers, 4 stands were positioned upon which Palestinian farmers presented their wares: the “Cnaan” Company from Jenin, which produces olive oil, Tehina: “Hayona” from Nablus, a company which produces natural fruits and vegetables from Jericho region, and “Taibe” Beer, a company in Ramallah.

As presenters attended every day of the exhibit, the Civil Administration issued them with Israeli entry permits which include sleeping arrangements, so that they may sleep nearby and readily attend every day of the exhibit. “We are exposing them to Israelis and to the world”, Muadi remarked. “Here, they are exposed to potential customers and generate business relations from all over the world.”

Among the various stands, it was clear that a great deal of interest was shown in Palestinian products, particularly those of “Hayona” Tehina Company, who managed to sell tehina and halva to the audience with great success.

The Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Office works restlessly – throughout the year, we vigorously endeavor to integrate Palestinian agriculturalists within conventions of this kind, and arrange seminars so as to develop the Palestinian economy and its agriculture, and farmers are already bearing fruit. “Following the Agrotech exhibit, business relations commenced with “Rami Levi” Company, who intend on buying vegetables from Palestinian farms”, remarked Mr. Muadi. “Rami Levi already met with several farmers and we truly hope that he will distribute their agricultural produce.”

In addition, the Civil Administration Agriculture Headquarters Officer is exploring the option of introducing Palestinian products into Israeli markets. “We’re currently exploring the possibility of attempting to introduce Palestinian stations in the new Tel Avivi Wholesale Market”, Mr. Muadi summarized.

This also neatly proves that, contrary to what the haters claim, Israel wants to help these Palestinian farmers succeed - unlike people like White.

In case you are unaware, the Civil Administration is a branch of the IDF.

When boycotters say that they are following the desires of "Palestinian civil society," they want to make it sound like a large swath of Palestinian Arabs support an effort that directly hurts them economically. As we can see, this is absurd. The "civil society" is made up of self-appointed "spokesmen," tiny NGOs built to attract money from Western useful idiots and some unions which do nothing besides declare strikes every once in a while to feel important. They do not represent anyone who actually does productive work.

Given this evidence, the haters will have to fall back on their next moronic argument - that this is just "farmwashing."

Freedom of the press, Hezbollah-style

From Al Akhbar:

Restrictions have been imposed at Hezbollah’s Manar television to avoid the appearance of unveiled women on the station’s programs.

The decision by Manar TV not to host unveiled women on its programs is no secret, although the management seems to be dealing with it as such. The media PR manager, Ibrahim Farhat, politely declines to answer questions on the subject, promising “to talk about it later.”

He says that the “information is not accurate,” while refusing to explain where the inaccuracy lies. “When the (inaccurate) information is published, we will issue a response,” he adds.

However, what seems to be inaccurate to the manager, is very clear to the station’s employees, who were informed of the decision more than a year ago and have been implementing it.

Manar employees are often embarrassed when their contacts lead them to a guest who would be informative on a subject under discussion, but who does not fulfill the new condition: “She has to be wearing the hijab.”

How did the decision come about? One employee recalls that the management held a meeting with the employees about a year and a half ago and informed them of a series of decisions, one of which was to not host unveiled women.

The employees do not know at what level these decisions were made, but they suspect that they came directly from the general secretary of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

{T]he result was that management took the decision, without discussing it beforehand with the journalists. It was made clear at the time: “If it is difficult to implement in a certain program, then cancel the program.”

With time, however, some exceptions began to appear. In news bulletins and reports, unveiled women are allowed to appear. They are also allowed in reports where people on the street are asked for their opinion. So the standard is “what can be controlled.”

There is evidence that the management imposed restrictions on what headscarves can be worn by female presenters, insisting that the headcovering had to be a dark uniform color.

Even the “beauty” of the presenters was part of this approach. For example, the management got rid of a number of female presenters because they had had plastic surgery.

These measures sealed a series of (economically) “daring” decisions initiated in the advertising department, which operates under strict conditions. The station, for example, does not show advertisements for products on the Israeli boycott list.

Did Columbus put Hebrew "B'Ezrat Hashem" on his letters?

From CNN:

Today marks the 508th anniversary of the death of Christopher Columbus.

Everybody knows the story of Columbus, right? He was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail in 1492 to enrich the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices from the orient. Not quite.

For too long, scholars have ignored Columbus's grand passion: the quest to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims.

...Recently, a number of Spanish scholars, such as Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez, have concluded that Columbus was a Marrano, whose survival depended upon the suppression of all evidence of his Jewish background in face of the brutal, systematic ethnic cleansing.

Columbus, who was known in Spain as Cristóbal Colón and didn't speak Italian, signed his last will and testament on May 19, 1506, and made five curious -- and revealing -- provisions.

Two of his wishes -- tithe one-tenth of his income to the poor and provide an anonymous dowry for poor girls -- are part of Jewish customs. He also decreed to give money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter.

On those documents, Columbus used a triangular signature of dots and letters that resembled inscriptions found on gravestones of Jewish cemeteries in Spain. He ordered his heirs to use the signature in perpetuity.

According to British historian Cecil Roth's "The History of the Marranos," the anagram was a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, a prayer recited in the synagogue by mourners after the death of a close relative. Thus, Columbus's subterfuge allowed his sons to say Kaddish for their crypto-Jewish father when he died. Finally, Columbus left money to support the crusade he hoped his successors would take up to liberate the Holy Land.

Estelle Irizarry, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, has analyzed the language and syntax of hundreds of handwritten letters, diaries and documents of Columbus and concluded that the explorer's primary written and spoken language was Castilian Spanish. Irizarry explains that 15th-century Castilian Spanish was the "Yiddish" of Spanish Jewry, known as "Ladino." At the top left-hand corner of all but one of the 13 letters written by Columbus to his son Diego contained the handwritten Hebrew letters bet-hei, meaning b'ezrat Hashem (with God's help). Observant Jews have for centuries customarily added this blessing to their letters. No letters to outsiders bear this mark, and the one letter to Diego in which this was omitted was one meant for King Ferdinand.

I had heard some of these claims before, but the idea that Columbus put a Hebrew B"H in the corner of all the letters to his son was a new one on me.

So I found a book of all (or many) of Columbus' letters online.

Sure enough, there is....something...on the upper left of each letter to Diego, that looks like initials scrawled quickly, but not to be seen on any of his other letters.

However, I cannot see how they can be read as a Bet-Heh.