As PA faces splits, Palestinian Islamists look to unify

Ma'an has an essay in the wake of this week's protests and violence in Ramallah:

Something deep and painful was broken in Ramallah this week: along with the bones broken by violent Palestinian plainclothes and official security officials dealing with a protest, Palestinian trust was permanently wounded.

...The fact that the latest protests came from young people that do not belong to either PLO factions or Hamas seems to have made the security apparatus feel that it can act with impunity against them. This has proved to be a mistake and if it continues, it will bring long-term damage to the Fatah leadership.

It is unlikely that the current protests will produce anything close to the two intifadas that shook the earth of the occupiers. If anything, the current protests and the dynamism created by the security’s crackdown will produce large protests against the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian resentment at the unending West Bank-Gaza split and the disgust with the negotiation process will most likely lead to a strengthening of this popular anti-PA movement. And if the demands and aspirations of these protesters are not taken seriously, the very foundation and legitimacy of the current Palestinian leadership will be seriously put to test.

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad is trying to get closer to Hamas:

Palestinian factions will meet Thursday for reconciliation talks in Gaza City, an Islamic Jihad leader told Ma'an.

Khalid al-Batsch told Ma'an that Islamic Jihad invited parties to meet at its offices since the scheduled talks in Cairo were delayed and because of Hamas' decision to suspend voter registration in Gaza.

If things keep going as they are, the Palestinian Spring will look a lot like the Egyptian.

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Fourth of July open thread

I'm doing typical Independence Day stuff, but it is all keeping me away from the computer. So here's an open thread for the evening.

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Fourth of July Links

From Ian:

Guitar solo ‘Hatikva’ a highlight as Guns N’ Roses returns to TA - VIDEO

"19 years after last visit, hair metal band plays songs from its long catalog for 10,000 fans"

Leaked UK Foreign Office documents reveal attitudes towards Netanyahu and Palestinian incitement

“Documents seen by The Commentator have revealed disturbing attitudes towards the Israeli Prime Minister and the British Government’s analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”
“Philip Hollobone MP, the Member of Parliament for Kettering told The Commentator, “There is a growing body of well documented evidence that official Palestinian organisations – some funded by the UK, the EU and the UN – are promoting terrorism and martyrdom in an attempt to aid the Palestinian cause, and yet the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and DfID appear surprisingly slow to explore this evidence and condemn its perpetrators. Now we know why.”

Benny Morris: The Arab Mentality is the main obstacle to Peace, Not the Settlements - VIDEO

"In this interview with David Frost, Israeli historian Benny Morris cites "the Arab mindset" that "Israel is illegitimate and shouldn't exist" as the major obstacle to peace. He thinks peace will not be forthcoming in his lifetime."

Honest Reporting
Faked Photo? What Faked Photo? - VIDEO



Illuminating the Situation of Palestinians in Syria

“The article describes a recent spate of assassinations of Palestinian officials in Syria. One victim was a Hamas official. Another was an officer in the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA).”

Beirut banks funneling illicit funds for Hezbollah

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Also, Final Battle by Richard Landes

CAMERA: Fake Mandela Quote Gets Past Eight PC(USA) Forums

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Three Israeli business wins

These happen literally every day:

With the help of Israeli technology, the Louvre Museum in Paris will stay secure. Synel, an Israeli subsidiary company based in France has just been awarded a large contract at the Louvre Museum.

As part of the major project, Synel France was contracted to install a comprehensive system for security access control combined with electronic attendance. The deal is estimated to reach millions of shekels within several years.

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International communications giant British Telecom has chosen Israel's Cyber-Ark Software to monitor and secure its privileged accounts, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The deal is estimated at several million shekels.

As a large communications services company, providing a range of products to a vast number of business and consumer customers, BT’s infrastructure is complex and broad – covering numerous business units and many geographical regions. BT required a single solution, standardized across the global organization that could easily scale, as required.

This solution needed to complement BT’s existing security services, providing its rapidly expanding customer base with proven privileged access management.

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Fattal Hotel Management Ltd. is expanding its European operations, with the signing of a contract to manage two hotels in Austria and Switzerland.

"It is with great pride that we see the Israeli flag flying over two more hotels in Europe. We have succeeded in creating a strong brand in Europe within just a few years, and we expect to have 60 hotels in Europe within three years, and 100 hotels in the Fattal chain altogether," Fattal Hotel Management CEO David Fattal said.

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Learn about Islam, Jihad, martyrdom - at UNRWA schools (updated)

UNRWA's official educational vision is:

“An UNRWA education system which develops the full potential of Palestine Refugees to enable them to be confident, innovative, questioning, thoughtful, tolerant and open minded, upholding human values and religious tolerance, proud of their Palestine identity and contributing positively to the development of their society and the global community”.

But UNRWA does not only teach secular subjects, as it implies. In Gaza at least, UNRWA teaches Islam.

And some of that education is far from tolerant.

On the UNRWA jobs website, it notes that there are interviews this coming week for teachers in Gaza. Only two specific subjects of expertise are listed: English and "religious education."

Indeed, the Palestinian Arab UNRWA site has curricula, sample exams and more for religious education. 

Here is a photo essay for one school that had a Quran Day, where they were encouraged to memorize the Quran. A similar ceremony from this past May can be seen here.

Quran lessons can be found in UNRWA school sites.

UNRWA social studies sites talk about the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims and Christians, but not for Jews.

The Maghazi Prep School for Girls makes everyone know it has an explicitly Quranic agenda. It also mentions that its vision is to help the girls raise a generation of people who will "defend their country."

And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

At the Nusseirat Primary School website, we see a lesson on honoring one's parents:

It was narrated that Abu Abdul Rahman Abdullah bin Masood may Allah be pleased with him said: I asked the Prophet peace be upon him: which work does God prefer He answered: Saying prayers on time. I said: Then what? He said: honoring one's parents. I said: Then what? He said: Jihad in the way of Allah. Agreed.

...You who sees what is happening to the Muslim Ummah everywhere .. I see the daily violations of the Muslims .. O of rending his heart when you hear the news of Muslims in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries of the Jihad .. you who wish to join the ranks of the Mujahideen and Jihad with them against the Jews and the Crusaders .. you who want to jihad hard but you can not ..

Here is a poem about how Zionists raped Palestine and how the author will return to Jaffa.

There are essays about the beauty of becoming a martyr.

There are stories of young men who asked their parents for permission to wage jihad and who died heroically.

All of these can be found in official UNRWA school websites. Many of the school logos include the wreath symbolizing the UN. Some girls' school sites, like this Bureij girls' junior high school seem to have not a single student without a hijab.

And all of them directly contradict what UNRWA's stated educational standards are.

Are Palestinian Christians forced to attend mandatory Quran classes run by UNRWA?  Should the UN be in the Islamic education business? How much of UNRWA's budget goes towards "religious education?" Are Western donors to UNRWA even aware that they are funding these lessons?

Shouldn't someone ask UNRWA about this?

UPDATE: Here's a document that talks about the "cruelty, cunning and vileness of Jews" on a UNRWA school website.

And here's a photo of a Quran celebration at another UNRWA school - with the UN logo clearly visible.

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Israelis saving the world, again

From Israel21C:

For the past year, a novel Israeli medical device has been changing the way American doctors remove fibro-adenoma tumors – benign breast lumps. Now an internationally renowned Japanese surgeon is testing IceSense3, made in Israel by IceCure Medical, to destroy small malignant tumors as well.

“This is the future,” CEO Hezi Himelfarb tells ISRAEL21c.

During an ultrasound-guided procedure, the IceSense3 probe penetrates the tumor and destroys it by engulfing it with ice. Needing only local anesthetic, the cryoablation process takes five or 10 minutes in a doctor’s office, clinic or breast center, and the patient can get up and leave afterward. No recovery period or post-care is necessary.

Dr. Eisuke Fukuma, chairman of the Breast Center at Kameda Medical Center in Kamogawa City, Japan, was so intrigued by IceSense3’s potential in this area that he flew all the way to IceCure’s Caesarea headquarters just for a four-hour meeting to lay the groundwork for clinical trials at his center.

On June 1, the first four patients in the trial had small tumors successfully destroyed with the device, and another 26 patients are scheduled.

“This procedure is an exciting step towards moving treatment of small, early-stage breast cancer tumors from open surgery to a minimally invasive cryoablation procedure,” Fukuma stated. “Cryoablation offers a much more comfortable and cosmetically appealing treatment option for small breast cancers.”

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Another anti-peace rally in Ramallah

From Ma'an:

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Ramallah on Tuesday calling on the Palestinian Authority not to negotiate with Israel.

Protesters gathered in Manara square, chanting "The people want to bring down Oslo," referring to the 1993 agreement that established the PA as a 5-year interim administration to govern until a final treaty was reached.

Demonstrators headed to President Mahmoud Abbas' headquarters, the Muqata, carrying Palestinian flags and denouncing talks with Israeli vice premier Shaul Mofaz.

Abbas had been scheduled to meet Mofaz in Ramallah, sparking protests on Saturday, but the meeting was canceled.

Where are the pro-peace rallies in Ramallah?

Just something to keep in mind the next time a clueless diplomat or reporter tries to say that most Palestinians support a two-state solution.

And remember that these aren't Islamist fanatics protesting against the PA. But the Islamic fanatics are very happy about these rallies, and will reap what these protesters sow.

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PLOnium

Yesterday there was a kerfuffle as Al Jazeera released a report suggesting that Yasir Arafat was killed by Polonium-210, a highly radioactive substance:

Eight years after his death, it remains a mystery exactly what killed the longtime Palestinian leader. Tests conducted in Paris found no obvious traces of poison in Arafat’s system. Rumors abound about what might have killed him – cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, even allegations that he was infected with HIV.

A nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera has revealed that none of those rumors were true: Arafat was in good health until he suddenly fell ill on October 12, 2004.

More importantly, tests reveal that Arafat’s final personal belongings – his clothes, his toothbrush, even his iconic kaffiyeh – contained abnormal levels of polonium, a rare, highly radioactive element. Those personal effects, which were analyzed at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, were variously stained with Arafat’s blood, sweat, saliva and urine. The tests carried out on those samples suggested that there was a high level of polonium inside his body when he died.

“I can confirm to you that we measured an unexplained, elevated amount of unsupported polonium-210 in the belongings of Mr. Arafat that contained stains of biological fluids,” said Dr. Francois Bochud, the director of the institute.

The anti-Israel crowd is loving this, saying it "proves" that Israel assassinated Arafat.

Reuters throws some cold water on the claim:

Darcy Christen, spokesman for the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, told Reuters on Tuesday it had found "surprisingly" high levels of polonium-210 in Arafat's belongings.

But he stressed that clinical symptoms described in Arafat's medical reports were not consistent with polonium-210 and that conclusions could not be drawn as to whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned or not.

Also not mentioned is that Al Jazeera itself once aired accusations that Mahmoud Abbas was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Arafat - and Abbas responded by shutting down the Al Jazeera offices in the West Bank!

Anyway, I had some fun on Twitter about this, because of all the hue and cry over polonium, people seem to have forgotten about a much deadlier element. My tweets:

A rare and dangerous element, that has killed thousands of people, mostly in the Middle East #PLOnium

Outbreaks of #PLOnium almost destroyed both Jordan and Lebanon a while back, but no one seems to remember that

A very unstable element, #PLOnium has been known to blow up airplanes and buses

#PLOnium has been known to even attack athletes, but only those from a single country exactly 40 years ago. Not worth remembering, though.

Despite similarities, #PLOnium does not mix well with its sister element, #Hamasium.

Even with its known dangers, some people like to be close with #PLOnium, thinking that it won't hurt them.

PLOnium is much, much deadlier than polonium, but for some reason people think that it is inert - or even beneficial. And those who note how dangerous it is are outshouted by PLOnium's many supporters, who know it is deadly but think that it only has one target that they want to see killed as well.

PLOnium is especially popular at the UN.

See also Challah Hu Akbar.

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Bibi's Fourth of July message

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PCUSA may boycott HP. Excellent.

The Presbyterian Church-USA seems to be on the verge of approving divestment from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard:

The country’s largest Presbyterian church has agreed to vote by week’s end on divesting its portfolio from three companies that it is says has resisted the request to stop providing services that aid Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly’s Middle East Committee voted 36 to 11 with one abstention in favoring of divesting its portfolio from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The Committee said the company’s [sic] helped “Israel’s use of their products in violations of Palestinian human rights.”

The reasons are the usual idiocy. As described in an email I received:

Hewlett-Packard is rated one of the top socially responsible investment companies, but that was never mentioned. Motorola Solutions is a new corporation, having been spun off from its parent company in 2011 - but its unresponsiveness to MRTI entreaties was explained only as indifference to the suffering of Palestinians. The main focus, though, was Caterpillar. No attention was given to the fact that the equipment in question was sold to the U.S. government in the same form as any other bulldozer. Or that the modifications to the equipment that occur after market do not bring the company any profit. Or that the MRTI engagement was done alongside groups that interrupt Caterpillar annual meetings - not groups that a company would recognize as interested in dialogue or engagement.

But facts and logic are not on the radar of the divestment crowd, and this time it looks like they have enough followers who are swayed by emotional one-sided stories of Jewish brutality to win.

However, since BDS likes to claim that anything that happens on the planet is a victory for them, even when it has nothing to do with anything they did,  I'm going to do the same.

You see, Hewlett Packard is one of the few major US companies that routinely refer to the Palestinian territories as "occupied," meaning that they have swallowed the Palestinian Arab narrative that Palestinian Arabs live under "occupation."

(Briefly, for those late to the game, the legal definition of "occupation" comes from the Hague convention of 1907, and under that definition the people who are in Areas A and probably B - over 97% of Palestinian Arabs - are not living in "occupied territory" since Israel does not have the ability to replace the local PA government. Area C is disputed, not occupied, but under humanitarian law the people should be treated with the same rules as those under belligerent occupation, and they are.)

On HP's website they have dozens of drop-down boxes that look like this:


So if PCUSA divests from HP, that means that they are listening to my call to boycott Hewlett Packard for following a false narrative. As well as being anti-alphabetization, which may also be a crime against humanity according to some expert I can find if I need to.

I feel a victory coming!

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Israel haters posing as Jews

Because the phrase "As a Gentile...." just doesn't have that same emotional punch.

From Heeb:

We all have dreams. Uncle Junior wanted to screw Angie Dickinson, my mother wants to work in a funeral home and Irena Wachendorff just wants to be Jewish and the daughter of Shoah-survivors so she can criticize Israel. Is that so wrong?

Up until now, Wachendorff has made a decent career of being an Alibijude, an alibi Jew. The job is easy: If someone is accused of anti-Semitism, alibi Jews are brought in as defending witnesses. It’s the old “some of my best friends are pantomimes” routine, with an added speaking part for friends. In a country like Germany, where the Jewish community is only sporadically visible, being an Alibijude can be a worthwhile endeavor.


If all anyone ever talks about is how Israel is the root of all global evil, people might start to ask questions. This is when the accused is able to point to the the supportive alibi Jew, who in turn is able to point to his or her family history or just basic Jewishness and say something like: “What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians is what the Nazis did to my parents.”
 Even better, you’re one yourself: Geert Wilders, famous for his vehement xenophobia and his stupid haircut, always likes to speculate about some Jewish heritage on his father’s side. Because then, you’re not a Nazi or a racist but a defender of Western values.


As an alibi Jew, Irena Wachendorff is the whole package (except for one simple fact.) Her mother was in Auschwitz—“I grew up with the number on her arm”—her father a tzadik who escaped to England. Irena herself was in the IDF during the Lebanon War. Today she’s a “German-Jewish poet” who lives in Israel six months every year to support an Arab-Jewish kindergarten. The rest of the year, she’s in Germany to act as the hazzan of her congregation and to send violins to Gaza.


Newspapers have written about her work as an activist and she’s been interviewed on local TV. She frequently talks to schoolchildren about her parents’ fate. Wachendorff is also quite active in discussions on the Facebook page of leading politician Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the foreign council of the German parliament, who has come under attack for perceived “anti-Israel” feelings. Polenz often points to Wachendorff when he needs support, which she will gladly supply:


“I think I should only take seriously someone who 1) was in the IDF, 2) has lived in Israel for at least two years and 3) is even Jewish. Hello…anybody here???”


Anybody here indeed. Because Irena Wachendorff is none of those things. Via some genuine journalism, writer Jennifer Nathalie Pyka found out the true story
.

JPost:

The Post and Jennifer Pyka, a dogged investigative journalist in Munich, obtained evidence that contradicted Wachendorff’s alleged Jewish identity.

According to Pyka’s investigative essay, Wachendorff’s father, Raymund, served in the German Army during the Third Reich and her mother, Barbara, denies being incarcerated in Auschwitz.

Wachendorff admitted to the Post on Friday that her father was an officer in the Wehrmacht.

But Wachendorff is not alone. It turns out there are plenty of gentile Israel-haters who love to pretend to be Jewish to make their arguments more emotionally compelling.

Last year's famous case was Gabriel Matthew Schivone, who described himself as "a Chicano-Jewish American from Tucson, and coordinator of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona."

Pro-Israel Bay Bloggers also notes Edith Lutz, a German flotidiot who pretended to be a member of the tribe in order to go on a "Jewish" boat to Gaza.

And Hassan Fouda, pictured here, who is Egyptian and not at all Jewish.

They also mention Andrew Paul Gutierrez, a professor at UC Berkeley who has told people on campus his mother was Jewish as he demonstrated against people protesting anti-semitic hate crimes.

No doubt, these people's fake embrace of Judaism is only done out of love - love of publicity.

(h/t Leo dam Hofshi)

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Obama's failure at UN, fatwa against puppies and more links

From Ian:

Obama Turns His Back on Israel at the U.N. By Anne Bayefsky

“Today, at the United Nations, the Obama administration is turning its back on Israel. For the very first time, the U.N. Security Council has invited the U.N. high commissioner for human rights to “brief” the Council specifically on the subject of Israel and the commissioner’s list of trumped-up sins. Though the U.S. is a veto-holding power, the extraordinary move has full American approval, despite the fact that the global soapbox will be handed to Navi Pillay, a notorious anti-Israel partisan.
Moreover, the American-backed action exposes President Obama’s profound weakness on the international stage. It turns out that the deal to sponsor an Israel-bashing session at the highest levels was a trade-off for having the high commissioner brief the Council on the subject of Syria.”

Winston Churchill’s Granddaughter on Art, Women, and Israel

"In an exclusive interview with Tazpit News Agency at Jerusalem’s Inbal Hotel, Sandys explains that Israel is one of the most suitable places in the world for such a sculpture. “Israel is at the forefront of women being treated equally, relative to other areas of the world.”
“There are shining examples of women advancing here, if you look at the army, politics—Prime Minister Golda Meir. The responsibilities that women have here are impressive. I look at Israel as a forward, progressive country which has done much in the advancement of women’s rights in all stations of life,” notes Sandys."

The acquiescence of the Israel boycott movement and its damning implications

“Is it really going overboard to suggest this “activism” is simply a malicious expression of hatred packaged under the guise of Human Rights concerns rather than born out of a deep, genuine concern for the Palestinians? A convenient platform from which to launch a constant avalanche of de-legitimisation activities aimed at demonising Israel whilst accusing the more objective observers of every conceivable evil?”

Syria The Background

“Journalist Yossi Klein Halevi (...)"Last year, I was part of a group of Israelis who met in Jerusalem with Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Mr. Kerry had just come from Damascus with excellent news: Bashar al-Assad was ready for peace with Israel. When one of the participants mentioned that demonstrations had begun to challenge Mr. Assad’s legitimacy, Mr. Kerry’s response was: All the more reason to negotiate while he’s still in power. In other words: Israel had the golden opportunity to give up the strategic Golan Heights to a dictator who might be deposed by a popular revolution, which might or might not recognize whatever peace agreement he signed. That kind of wishful thinking has resulted in Western policy toward the Middle East that is strategically incoherent."

Where’s Reuters On Its Own Photographer’s Brutal Beating?

“A Ramallah protest got ugly yesterday when PA police started cracking skulls — including reporters. Maan News reports that several reporters were beaten up, had their cameras confiscated or destroyed, and that two journalists were even taken into custody.”

PMW "Brave" Palestinian prisoner responsible for suicide attacks sentenced by Israel to 54 life sentences

"Song dedicated to Palestinian prisoners honors arch-terrorists, on PA TV"

A Meme is born: CiF reader comment of the day On “Zionist Keyboard Brigades” From: CIF Watch

Assad says he would have preferred if downed jet were Israeli

“Syrian president tells newspaper he regrets his forces blasted Turkish plane out of the sky last month”

The unfolding destruction of Timbuktu

“Timbuktu's cultural heritage is at risk of being lost forever at the hands of Islamist fighters”

Romney to visit Israel this summer, aide confirms

Iran says Death to Infidel Puppies!
Iran cleric issues fatwa against dogs

Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani said some people who are tricked by or are partial to foreigners are trying to change society's religious appearance into one like that of "Western deceivers."

But frogs are protected?
Egyptian Fatwa: Hunting and eating frogs is forbidden

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