Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Blame everyone for PalArab misery except Arabs

Ma'an publishes an op-ed filled with rubbish by Osama Kashoo:

On June 21, 27 and 29, three asylum seeker vessels heading from the port of Pelabuhan Ratu on the south-eastern coast of Java, a popular embarkation point for Australia's coast, disappeared. The boats were overladen with men, women and children desperately seeking a new life when they sank.

Such tragedies are all too common in the world of people smuggling. But this horror has an extra dimension to it, as the majority of the missing passengers were Palestinian refugees. This has led to a cruel fiasco of disinterest from all the regional authorities, who, even 30 days after the disappearance have failed to send out any search party for the missing. The trail of disinterest spreads from the Australian government right the way to the Palestinian Authority itself.

Whilst other families of the missing have received some contact and support from the authorities, the Palestinian families, in Iraqi refugee camps, are still left without news of their relatives. 28 Palestinians were in the boats believed to have sunk between Indonesia and Australia.

First of all, only two boats sank; the third was rescued by Australian authorities in dangerous waters.

Secondly, I can find no source saying that any Palestinian Arabs were on the boats at all, let alone that they are the majority of those missing. Some 90-100 are thought dead in the sinkings, 28 is not the majority of 90, and that is a mighty specific number when no one knows their identities or even if they were on those specific boats.

Thirdly, it is Australian authorities who rescued the survivors; to say that there was no search party (or, as the article implies, that somehow Palestinian Arabs who are lost at sea were treated with more indifference than any of the other asylum-seekers) is absurd.

But the author needs to show how the world is indifferent to Palestinian Arabs, and he will twist whatever facts he can to do so:

For an entire month now, families of the Palestinian refugees from Iraq have been waiting for news of their family members still missing at sea. Their story is the tragedy of the ongoing Palestinian refuge issue itself. The grandparents of those missing were forced to flee their homes in the cities of Acre and Haifa in 1948 after the creation of Israel. After years of hardships, roaming from refugee camp to refugee camp in the Middle East, these families arrived, penniless and stateless, in Iraq.

In Iraq, poverty and war stayed with the refugee families until in utter despondency, their children and grandchildren once again set off escaping sectarian violence after the war on Iraq and got stuck in the middle of the sand for years on the Jordan-Iraq border. Some of them were dispatched to Brazil where they are now living in the jungle and the rest set out yet again for an unknown future towards Europe.

Israel didn't force Arabs out of Haifa, they left on their own or at the urging of their own leaders.

In Iraq, Palestinian Arabs were treated better than in most Arab countries, to the extent that they were favored under Saddam Hussein's regime. His fall led to their resentful Arab neighbors attacking and murdering them, forcing them to flee towards Syria.

But they were not allowed in, and they were stuck in squalid refugee camps administered by UNHRC which desperately tried to resettle them elsewhere. And every single Arab country refused to take them in.

Brazil was one country that did take in about 100 of them. They aren't in "the jungles of Brazil," they were settled in major cities with generous benefits and free housing.

This op-ed tries to make it sound like the Western indifference is responsible for Palestinian Arab refugee suffering, but only a little research shows that it is the Arab nations and Palestinian leadership who have actively opposed the Palestinian Arabs from becoming normal, happy citizens anywhere - including the West! The Palestinian Arabs who lived in Iraq are only the most obvious example, and yet this op-ed has nothing bad to say about the Arab nations who refused to accept even the relatively small number of PalArab refugees from Iraq.

Not only that, but the author is trying to make it sound like somehow Palestinian Arabs are being ignored, when in fact there is no refugee population - real or fake - who get even a fraction of the attention that Palestinian Arabs get in the media, in the UN or even in the parliaments of Western democracies.

Op-eds must be fact-checked just like news stories are. In this case, Ma'an failed miserably.

"Guests" must remain polite when they are being slaughtered

From Ma'an, a story that unintentionally highlights the everyday discrimination of Arabs towards their Palestinian "brethren" - and how Palestinian Arabs are willing to accept it silently:

Palestinians in Syria will remain neutral in the conflict, a Palestinian Authority official said Saturday, as refugees become increasingly caught up in the violence.

Rising numbers of Palestinians are leaving their homes because of the fighting and in the latest attack on Yarmouk refugee camp 20 people were killed and 65 injured.

However, the Palestinian Authority has reiterated that the Palestinians in Syria should remain neutral as they are "guests" and not Syrian citizens.

Is there any PalArab group who is demanding that Arabs in Syria who have lived there for generations be given the option of becoming citizens if they want?

Of course not! Because their entire existence is meant to pressure Israel, not to enjoy equal rights in the only country most of them have ever lived in!

So we have a bizarre situation where Palestinian Arabs are the "dhimmis" of Syria, second-class citizens that everyone pretends are happy with their situation. They are afraid to speak up because they might be targeted (and murdered) by their supposedly benevolent hosts if they do. They can't flee to Jordan because Jordan will send them - and only them - right back. So they shut up when they are murdered and try to become invisible in the country where they are celebrated as "guests."

They are "dhimmis" not only because the Arab world insists on treating them that way, but because their supposed "leaders" work to keep them that way.

Yes! An Iranian won a bronze Zionist medal!

Last year I wrote:

Remember in February and March when Iran complained that the London 2012 Olympics logo really spelled "Zion"? Here's how they broke that insidious Zionist code, in case you forgot:

Well, they now have a quandary.

Because the medals were revealed today, and they have that same super-evil-Illiminati-Freemason-Zionist symbol!

Iran has won medals in the last five summer Olympic games (weightlifting, wrestling and Taekwondo) so chances are one or more Iranians will be handed the hated symbol.

Will Iran ban its athletes from winning medals? Will they confiscate winning medals and melt them down, donating the proceeds to Hamas? Will they pretend that they didn't spend an entire month whining about the symbolism and grit their teeth if they win?

I'm now rooting for Iran to win third place in some obscure sport, just to see how they deal with this. No matter how they handle it, it will be funny.

Well, I got my wish.

Here is Iranian Kianoush Rostami with his bronze medal - complete with the hated Zionist symbol - in weightlifting in the 86kg category:

But AP has an even better photo of him juxtaposed with the Olympics logo, apparently after he lost in his attempt for the gold:

After Iran spent all that time last year saying the Olympics symbol is an evil Zionist plot, it is funny to see them now pretending that it is a wonderful honor to have a medal with that same symbol.

Saturday night links

From Ian:

Into the Fray: Fatuous, feckless Friedman

‘Robbed Cossack’: Hebrew idiom for a villain who complains about the wrongs (imaginary or not) done to him that he has done to others.
"Friedman’s bile and bias are evident in his attempt to belittle Israel’s technological achievements and entrepreneurial culture; and his chiding Romney for comparing it favorably with the Palestinian culture. Although he does acknowledge that “Israel today is an amazing beehive of innovation [and] something Jews should be proud of,” he attributes this – in the best “you didn’t get there on your own” tradition – in large measure to “an influx of Russian brainpower [and] massive US aid.”

Now Playing on PBS: Why America Should Support a Nuclear Iran

"Leave it to the taxpayer-supported Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to provide a forum for such a fatuous viewpoint. On July 9, the PBS “Newshour” program’s Judy Woodruff moderated a discussion with Mearsheimer and former Defense Department official Dov Zakheim over Waltz’s proposition.
Mearsheimer posited, “I think there’s no question that a nuclear-armed Iran would bring stability to the region, because nuclear weapons are weapons of peace.” He assured viewers, “They have hardly any offensive capability at all.” In that regard, Mearsheimer and Waltz point to the Soviet-American nuclear standoff. However, their superficial theorizing makes no distinction between Soviet ideology and the aggressively messianic beliefs of the Iranian regime."

Media Coverage of Israel is Simply Insane

"This media coverage that Israel is faced with cannot be perceived rationally, it is simply insane. Perhaps the Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky had the answer when he wrote “Instead of Excessive Apology” in 1911: “We constantly and very loudly apologize…. Instead of turning our backs to the accusers, as there is nothing to apologize for, and nobody to apologize to, we swear again and again that it is not our fault… Isn’t it long overdue to respond to all these and all future accusations, reproaches, suspicions, slanders and denunciations by simply folding our arms and loudly, clearly and calmly answer with the only argument that is understandable and accessible to this public: ‘Go to Hell’?”

Hamas freeing of al-Qaeda-linked terrorist may explain Sinai travel warning

"Al-Maqdisi, an Egyptian previously residing in Gaza whose real name is Hisham al-Saidni, is the head of Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, an Islamic extremist group that also is believed to have kidnapped, and killed, Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza in April 2011. The release of al-Maqdisi had been one of the conditions set forth by the terror group when it seized Arrigoni."

U.S. Extradition Request Denied for Daqduq

“Hezbollah terrorist mastermind and killer of American troops Ali Mussa Daqduq was in U.S. custody in Iraq and could have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay years ago.
Instead, the Obama administration decided to let an Iraqi court try him. In a development that should come as a shock to no one, Daqduq has been cleared of charges, and the latest U.S. extradition request has been denied. The Associated Press reports the unrepentant terror leader might be back out on the streets before the end of Ramadan”

Criticism In Iran Over Children Attending Public Executions

"Jafar Mohammadi, editor of the moderate conservative website Asr-e Iran, wrote in an article that the public's appetite for this activity was a sign of social sickness. He also warned that allowing children to watch executions could cause them irreparable damage, and urged the authorities to intervene to keep them away."

Prosor: 'Trio of terror' must be held accountable

Israel's ambassador to United Nations tells General Assembly that Syria, Iran and Hezbollah pose most immediate threat to international peace and security
"Prosor referred to Syrian President Bashar Assad's inclination to blame others for his own wrongdoing, saying "behind every rock and building in Syria, Assad sees not only Israelis, Brits, and Frenchmen – but also Saudis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, and Turks. He says that the slaughter in Syria is a Western and Arab Conspiracy — and has nothing to do with him personally."

The Popular Front Against Iran

“Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi Arabia’s rulers bury their differences to fight the Shiite enemy”
“In this alliance lies partial deliverance for Egypt from its heavy burdens. There is of course that older way—that volatile mix of anti-Americanism, authoritarianism, and escape from reason that wrecked the country and its place among the nations. The Egyptian state thus has a choice to make. It can take up anti-Zionism and jeopardize the peace with Israel secured for it by Anwar al-Sadat and maintained by Hosni Mubarak. Or it can awaken to the threat of Iran. An Egyptian alliance with Saudi Arabia is the beginning of wisdom—a necessary, though hardly sufficient, condition for Egypt finding a way out of
its crippling past.”

DCCC Apologizes to Adelson for “Untrue” Attacks
“A few weeks ago, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accused top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson of personally approving and profiting off of prostitution at his Macau casinos. It wasn’t the smartest move, since their charge was based on unsubstantiated allegations from a disgruntled employer who’s been suing Adelson for years.”

Netanyahu Gave Romney Letter Calling for Pollard Release

Angola and Israel Advocate to Strengthen Cooperation

“On his part, the Angolan chancellor expressed the goal of his three-day visit to Jerusalem is to continue with the bilateral cooperation in health, agriculture, science and technology and the formation of Angolan experts.”

Why Raoul Wallenberg’s centennial matters

"The Swedish rescuer, born 100 years ago Saturday, was the ideal the Western world would like to have lived up to during those dreadful war years. More than an icon of the Holocaust, he exemplifies the standard of humane behavior to which the Western world aspires"

Clown-washing

From the US Embassy in Israel:

The Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem was smiling and laughing as a colorful group of clowns, led by "Nurse Nice" (aka Hilary Chaplain), a medical clown from New York, walked through the corridors of the Pediatric Ward and entertained sick children in the dialysis room. With her visit supported by the U.S. Embassy, Tel Aviv, Hilary gave several workshops to Israeli medical clowns and worked with the "Dream Doctor," the largest medical clowns' organization in the country, to apply new methods taught at the workshop. Ambassador Daniel Shapiro was the guest of honor at this special event and took an active role by talking to the children and dancing with the clowns. As one mother put it after seeing a real smile on her sick daughter's face: "It's about time she started laughing after such a long period of tears ..."

EoZ gets results! FIAP giving ultimatum to UAE photo contest

After a number of EoZ readers complained to the president of the FIAP, Mr. Emile Wanderscheid, about the fact that Israelis cannot register for the Emirates Photo Competition, as reported here this morning, he responded:

Dear Photographer Friends,

After having received your E-mails re the Emirates Photography Competition I want to get this problem straight, to make you understand that it is inappropriate to blame FIAP in this context.

In fact when receiving the application for FIAP Patronage we could not realise that any problem could occur in the context you mention, as it was written in the regulation that "the salon will be open to all photographers from around the world".

Only when receiving your complaints we realised that some countries like Israel are missing in the listing of the countries.

As this is a clear discrimination and an infringement with the FIAP rules, the FIAP Patronage Service wrote two hours ago an E-mail to the organiser telling him that he is formally requested within 24 hours to add all the countries including Israel to the drop down country list or to delete this list completely from the online entry form.
In case of refusal, the FIAP Patronage will immediately withdrawn.

In hope that in this way the problem will be settled and I hope to receive no more complaint from other persons you are motivating to do so.

Kind regards; yours truly,

Emile WANDERSCHEID
President of FIAP

Thanks to all my readers who complained. (I like how Mr. Wanderscheid is begging for the emails to stop.)

We will see if the EPC does the right thing, and if not, whether FIAP will follow through...stay tuned.

(h/t Ronald, Jack)

Friday links

From Ian:

LATMA returns with full episodes: Jamil and Awad's summertime blues and Israel's unfair tax burden

Stand with Us The El Al Ambassadors Program

J’lem 'angry' at PA failure to reciprocate goodwill

"The Palestinian failure to respond positively to a series of recent Israeli goodwill gestures shows that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is “unable to enter into negotiations that will require concessions,” according to an internal government memo made known to The Jerusalem Post."

Capital, seat of government or a town in limbo: World still divided over an ‘undivided’ Jerusalem

“A statistics book by the UN, of all bodies, grants Israel the right to assert its capital claim, while leaving the Palestinians with Ramallah. It’s an anomaly that highlights an unrelenting dispute”

Caroline Glick Israel -- Obama's wedge issue

"It is hard to think of a milder criticism of Palestinian society than Romney's comparison of the Palestinian economy to the economies of Mexico and Ecuador. Romney could easily have gone much further without ever leaving the confines of received wisdom. For instance, he could have mentioned - as Obama did in his speech in Cairo in June 2009 - that Muslim societies under-invest in education relative to non-Muslim societies."

The French Railroad and the Holocaust Is a Public Company Private? by Michael Curtis

“In all these legal encounters, the SNCF has used contradictory, but successful, arguments. In the French case, it argues that the court has no jurisdiction over it because it was a private company. In the U.S., it argues that courts have no jurisdiction over it because it was not a private company but an arm of the French government.”

BDS enthusiast David Martin, MEP, and a Hamas-linked trip to Gaza

Muslim sprays tear gas into face of two women wearing the Star of David (German)

"On Monday evening two women who came to a waterpark in Stein were assaulted. A 23-year-old insulted them, sprayed them with tear gas and gave them the "Hitler salute" -- apparently because of a Star of David on a necklace of one woman...."

Al Qaeda trio' arrested in Spain with enough explosives to blow up a bus

The trio - two of whom had practiced flying light aircraft - may have been plotting attacks in Spain or elsewhere in Europe according to Spain's interior minister.
The three - a Russian, a Russian of Chechen descent, and a Turk, were arrested after being watched by Spanish authorities for 'some time'.

Photos from today’s Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade

Israel Daily Picture: The Hardships of Aliya (Immigration) to the Land of Israel in the 1930s

Fascinating account of Israel's strike against Syria's nuclear facilities

Ha'aretz (Hebrew) is excerpting a piece from the new book by Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv, whose English title is "Spies Against Armageddon." It sounds fascinating.

Here is an excerpt from the Haaretz article, auto-translated back to English:

Information about the Syrian nuclear program came to the Mossad by accident. A few years before, on Christmas Eve 2003, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi announced that he agreed to give up his plans to produce weapons of mass destruction. Israeli intelligence - the IDF Intelligence and the Mossad espionage agency - were stunned. They did not have a clue about the Libyan leader's intention , and they learned it from the media.

Dagan and research officers of the Mossad intelligence wing sank into a sad reverie. They asked themselves: "If we did not know about Khan's activities in Libya (Pakistani nuclear scientist, Abdul-Qadir Khan, was that brain behind the Libyan nuclear program), what else don't we know?" Consequently, in early 2004, the head of Military Intelligence demanded to examine every piece of information collected and stored in the last decade in connection with his actions, his conversations and Khan's trips in the Middle East.

Intelligence communities tend to store hundreds, if not thousands of bits of information, not always with the time and tools for humans to read or listen to them carefully. Information that is important can disappear because no one noticed it or people didn't understand its meaning. They found that Khan visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria. The evaluation was that because Saudi Arabia and Egypt are countries friendly to the U.S., they will not rush to accept the offers of Dr. Khan's services to purchase nuclear know-how. In any case, the Mossad assessed, even if they keep in touch with him, then the U.S. will know about it.

Therefore the Mossad decided to concentrate on Syria, a country hostile to Israel, who runs anti-American policy and that cooperates with Iran and supports Hezbollah. Bashar al - Assad, who took power after his father died in 2000, was inexperienced and may have been tempted to do reckless or adventurous acts.

A few months after the start of the initial examination, the spring of 2004, researchers returned to the Mossad's research division to their division head and told him that indeed there is something behind it, because as the intelligence division investigators pursuing the Mossad's issue, they found more and more suspicious and worrisome signs.

It turned out that Syria has increased three years prior to testing the secret dealings with North Korea. The Mossad had known about the cooperation between the two countries in the development of Scud missiles, but now there was also cooperation between them in the nuclear field.

I just ordered the book.

(h/t Yoel)

UPDATE: Challah Hu Akbar notes another book that covered this topic, excerpted in JPost a short while ago. Each has details the others don't have.

LA Times: Don't worry, "experts" assure us Iran isn't going nuclear soon

I love how "experts" are willing to bet every single Israeli life that they are correct:

Nonproliferation experts and Middle East analysts are skeptical of Israeli claims that the Tehran regime is so close to building a nuclear weapon that time is running out for a peaceful resolution of the decades-long standoff.

OK, let's hear them:

"This is a window that has been closing for 15 years now, and it's always imminently about to close," said Jamal Abdi, policy director for the National Iranian American Council. He sees the sudden flurry of diplomacy between Jerusalem and Washington as an outgrowth of the U.S. presidential campaign and Israeli interest in ensuring that the United States continues to hold a hard line against Iran.

Hmmm... an advocate for Iran in America is the first "expert" the LA Times quotes. Sounds a little like an agenda, doesn't it?
Who's next?

Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations at New York University's Center for Global Affairs, said Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak used the American visits to send a message to Tehran that Israel won't hesitate to take unilateral action.

Ben-Meir cautions U.S. and other officials against seeing the Israeli threats as mere posturing, pointing out the profound national security concerns that shape Israeli defense policy and the country's unshakable faith that Washington will come to its rescue if a strike against Iran triggers retaliation by Tehran or its well-armed allies in the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia.

"I don’t think Israel is bluffing entirely. There is an element of exaggerating its readiness to act and likelihood of winning. But many advisors to Prime Minister Netanyahu are saying that if he waits six or eight months, they may end up unable to do anything significant in terms of damage" to nuclear facilities that Iran has been moving underground to protect them from airstrikes, Ben-Meir said.

This seems pretty accurate - of course Israeli public statements are meant to send a message, but at least he acknowledges that time is running short.

Next expert?

Threats of military action against Iran are spurred by Israel's frustration with the paltry progress being made at recently resumed negotiations between Iran and six major powers. The talks are aimed at ensuring that Iranian programs are limited to peaceful purposes like energy production and medical research, said Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, a nonproliferation scholar at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

"I don’t see any particular breakthroughs in the Iranian program. It's been on a pretty steady course," she said, adding that, as far as preemptive air strikes were concerned, "there is technically no urgency to do this."

Except that Iran's nuclear weapons program is on a pretty steady course. Hmmm.

And finally....

Still, those pressures are mounting on Iran and raising the cost -- both financially and politically -- of the regime's nuclear pursuits, said Alireza Nader, senior policy analyst on Iran for Rand Corp. He pointed to reports of Iranian demonstrations against rising food prices and shortages, along with demands, even from Iranian elites, that the government give priority to social needs over nuclear investments.

"According to the U.S. intelligence community, the Iranian leadership hasn't even made the decision to weaponize their program," Nader said. "They've been creating the technical know-how and the infrastructure, but they haven't made that decision, and there is much more time than the Israelis portray there to be. I don't think an Iranian nuclear weapons capability is inevitable or imminent."

Here's a classic example of how some academics can't think.

Nader doesn't think that anything bad will happen, and while Iran is doing everything besides publicly announcing it is building nuclear bombs, they haven't officially decided to do it. Iran has merely decided just to get to the point where they can build a bomb within 15 minutes if they choose to.

That's OK, isn't it? I mean, there will still be 15 minutes to act, right?

Now, I wonder if these "experts" would be so lackadaisical and pushing their "probablies" and "I thinks" if the warheads were aimed squarely at them?

Morsi will not attend Tehran NAM conference - but Abbas will

From Egypt Independent:

The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper said Friday that President Mohamed Morsy will not attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran at the end of August, where Egypt is scheduled to hand over chairmanship of the movement to Iran.

A source close to the presidency said either Prime Minister Hesham Qandil or Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr would likely represent Egypt at the summit. The source added that Morsy decided not to attend after being advised that he should not visit Tehran. The source did not reveal from whom the president received this advice.

Morsy was told that he could face public criticism for visiting Iran because of Tehran’s support for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the source explained.

As I have previously noted, most members of NAM have wavered on sending their leaders to the conference in Iran, instead sending lower-level representatives.

But Mahmoud Abbas eagerly accepted the invitation.

So what does it say about the PA's "moderate" leadership when it is more accommodating to Iran than practically every other country?

UAE photo competition open to all - except, of course, Israel

From the website of the Emirates Photo Competition:

Under the patronage of International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) is organizing the Seventh Session of the Emirates Photography Competition (EPC) 2012.

...The EPC believes in the inclusive nature of art and its timeless ability to unite the interests and creativity of human beings everywhere, as well as the ability of photography to facilitate interaction and communication amongst people. Therefore the EPC’s Seventh Edition will be open to all photographers from around the world.

Sounds great! Let's register!

Uh-oh:

It's a bit difficult for Israelis to register for this competition that is "open to all photographers worldwide, amateur or professional" when their country and nationality is not listed in the registration form.

If this was only a typical daily example of Arab hypocrisy and hatred of Israel, perhaps it could be laughed off. But this competition is under the patronage of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) which states clearly on its website:

All considerations of political, ideological or racial order are absolutely banned from the activities of FIAP.

So why is it sponsoring a photo contest that violates its own rules?

I am told that FIAP has already been contacted and is aware of the issue, but has not yet decided to do the right thing.

The president of FIAP is Mr. Emile Wanderscheid and his email is e.wanderscheid@fiap.net. You might want to contact him and ask about why FIAP is ignoring its own stated standards and is acceding to blatant discrimination against a FIAP-member country.

UPDATE: See my follow-up post here.

BREAKING: 20 Palestinians killed by artillery

8 Palestinian Arab civilians were killed as a barrage of artillery shells were fired on the Yarmouk camp. (UPDATE: The death toll is now 20!)

Two children who were killed were apparently brothers, Anas Ahmad Tlozi and Ibrahim Ali Tlozi.

Several shells exploded on Ja'una Street in the camp, which also injured 25 civilians. Many of them are in serious condition at a nearby hospital.

Residents of the camp appealed to the UN to help protect them from the withering fire of the enemy.

This terrible event will no doubt generate endless op-eds and condemnations from Palestinian sympathizers.

Hold on....I just received an update: The Yarmouk camp is in Syria, not Gaza.

Oh, forget it then. No one cares about dead Palestinians when they are killed by Arabs!

Today's nutty Al Aqsa rumor: Jews dissolving foundation with chemicals

Palestine Today reports that Jamal Amr, who is responsible for architecture affairs for the Al Aqsa Mosque, charges that he found traces of chemicals that the Israelis are using to dissolve the foundations of the mosque.

Who knows, maybe they are dissolving the entire Temple Mount.

Amr said in a speech that Israeli experts are deploying the solvents during the night and removing them during the day to hide their nefarious plans. This is the biggest attack against Al Aqsa in three years, he said.

Yes, the Israelis can use this wonder chemical to dig tunnels, or safely take down buildings, but they choose to use it to weaken the Al Aqsa Mosque. Because that's how they roll, apparently.

By the way, this story was also reported back in February. And Mondoweiss swallowed it, naturally. Because republishing absurd anti-Jewish conspiracy theories is how they roll, in reality.

And more links

Diana Muir Appelbaum uncovers a 1958 Turkish blood libel against Jews that still has echoes today in Turkish society.

Lebanese authorities arrest 36 men at gay cinema

According to a report on the Gay Star News website on Monday, “an unknown number” of the 36 had been released after an unnamed doctor administered the anal exam – a procedure meant to detect sperm.

PalWatch: The Muslim Brotherhood's Patient Jihad

The Economist has a large special report on Jews and Judaism today

JUDAISM IS FLOURISHING, both in Israel, where 43% of the world’s Jews now live, and throughout the Jewish diaspora. The Jews as a nation are flourishing too. Israelis, for all their problems, are the 14th-happiest people in the world, happier than the British or the French, according to a recent global happiness report commissioned by the UN. In the diaspora Jewish life has never been so free, so prosperous, so unthreatened.

Syria: the view from Israel in The Guardian

Israel's position with regard to the Syrian crisis has been misrepresented by two myths. One, propagated by the Assad regime itself, has argued from the outset that this is not a genuine domestic rebellion, but a conspiracy hatched by the US and Israel. The other holds that Israel favours the survival of Assad's regime ("the devil we know" theory) and has exerted its influence in Washington in order to dissuade the Obama administration from serious humanitarian intervention in Syria.

'If I were an Iranian, I would be fearful in coming weeks'

Good news! Iran's Parchin nuclear site seems to have been properly cleansed and is now (presumably) ready for inspection!

An anti-tank missile shot from Gaza gets intercepted

In Iran, anti-semitic outbursts are increasing under Ahmadinejad

Dr. Ruth visits haredim in Israel and sees that things are not as bleak as we are hearing

(h/t Yoel, Yerushalimey, Menachem)

Surprise! Henry Clifford fakes Zionist quotes as well

Henry Clifford, the man who paid to put copies of The Map The Lies on LIRR train stations and who refused to answer the many proofs that they were deceptive, is now adding more deception to his already tattered reputation.

He wrote an article in the LoHud.com paper where he takes alleged Zionist quotes that he claims shows that early Zionists were hell-bent on ethnically cleansing the land.

In a must-read article, CAMERA traces back the history of these quotes and shows how they are distorted, out of context or simply not credible.

I'll only add one point. Henry writes:

Richman and Grossman tell us that in 1967, “the Arab world threatened Israel with destruction.” Here’s what then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin said in 1982: “In June 1967, we had a choice. The Egyptian army concentration in the Sinai approaches did not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.”

The Arabs did not initiate the war, Israel did.

No one says that Nasser fired the first shot. But the threat to Israel was real, both in extreme Arab rhetoric and in fact (by his closing off he Straits of Tiran, for example.)

But Clifford pretends to be concerned primarily with the West Bank. And every historian would agree that Jordan fired the first shot there, after Israel warned them not to get involved.

If Jordan had decided not to join the war, the Palestinian Arabs would still be under Jordanian occupation. They certainlywouldn't have an independent state! Also, they would still be doing all they could to destroy Israel within the Green Line, as they did before 1967.

So Clifford is again being knowingly deceptive.

And his choice of quotes also shows very clearly that he has no ability to think for himself, and that his entire knowledge of the Middle East comes from anti-Israel websites that he simply copies and pastes from without doing even the slightest fact checking.