Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Israelis eating hummus is now a war crime, according to Electronic Intifada

Ha'aretz has a food column called Modern Manna. This week it scored an interview withe the White House chef, asking him if he makes any foods that could be considered Jewish or Israeli, presumably because that critical information would help President Obama get more Jewish votes.

The entire column is written from Ha'aretz' viewpoint, even saying in a tongue-in-cheek fashion:

So, if Obama loves hummus it must mean he loves us Israelis too! Israelis, self-acclaimed hummus connoisseurs, prefer their hummus with fresh pita bread, but even they have learned to accept the American usage of hummus as a dip for veggies.

Enter Ali Abumineh, famous Israel-hater and blogger at Electronic Intifada. Apparently, the very mention of Obama together with hummus in an utterly vacuous Haaretz article is enough to make him foam at the mouth:

Notice how Israelis are positioned as the “connoisseurs” and arbiters of how hummus should and should not be correctly consumed.

There is absolutely no mention of the Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian or other indigenous Arab origins of these foods in the interview, where hummus, its key ingredient tahini, and the flat bread Palestinians typically eat with them are easily subsumed into “Jewish foods” used to celebrate Zionist occasions...

Is this 2000 year old olive press "Palestinian"?

He then rails against how he thinks Israelis have stolen "Palestinian" foods and culture, and how the Obama White House is complicit in that awful activity of Israelis stealing foods that are all generically Middle Eastern.

Keep in mind that the chef didn't say a word about how these foods were Israeli. Only the Ha'aretz writer did.

Abuminah links back to this equally ridiculous posting where he claims that these foods are "Palestinian" - they aren't - and that Israelis are stealing olive oil cultivation from Palestinian Arabs as well, even though Jews were cultivating olive oil in that exact spot way thousands of years before any "Palestinians" existed.

To wrap it all up, Abuninah tweeted his magnum opus about a stupid Haaretz columnist saying that White House hummus is somehow Israeli this way:

Yes - Israeli pride in their Middle Eastern food is a war crime!

The mystery isn't that Israel-haters are this stupendously idiotic. The mystery is why so many people in the real world seem to regard them as anything less than stupendously idiotic.

Jordan increasingly nervous about jihadists

From UPI:

Jihadists are becoming increasingly active in Jordan, already gripped by political crisis and buffeted by a growing spillover from the 19-month-old civil war in neighboring Syria that could threaten the Hashemite throne.

On Oct. 20, the kingdom's General Intelligence Directorate reportedly arrested 11 men, all Jordanians, it said were part of a plot by a cell linked to al-Qaida to bomb shopping malls in Amman and assassinate Western diplomats.

At least two major malls were targeted, Information Minister Samih al-Maaytah said. Another target was the upscale Abdoun quarter in the city where many foreign embassies and diplomats' homes are located.

Officials said the group called itself "11-9 the Second," after the last major jihadist attack in Amman on Nov. 9, 2005, in which suicide bombers hit three top Amman hotels, killing 63 people.

The new plot included suicide bombers, whom the group was seeking to recruit, and car bombings against hotels, nightclubs and other public places, security sources reported.

Had the attacks taken place, hundreds of people would have killed, officials said.
...

Although there's skepticism about the latest jihadist plot, there's little doubt the kingdom faces a threat from Islamic militants, one magnified by the bloodletting in Syria.

"This kind of threat could have happened with or without Syria," a Western diplomat in Amman observed.

"But if you've got a worsening situation in Syria, structures continuing to breakdown and extremists going around with more and more weapons, of course it's a worry."

Some 300 Jordanians are reported to have gone to Syria to jihadists fighting the Assad regime.

Two of Zarqawi's cousins were arrested this month when they returned to Jordan from five months of combat in Syria.

"If the regime falls in Syria and radical Islamist groups become influential there, it'll be easier for these extremist groups to work in Jordan to destabilize the country," warned former lawmaker Hazem al-Awran.

Qaradawi hospitalized

Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, one of the most prominent Islamic leaders who supports suicide bombings but it considered a "moderate," is in a hospital in Jeddah for undisclosed reasons.

His aide asked that his followers pray for him.

Qaradawi, 86, is the president of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars and his Friday speeches are televised to tens of millions of Muslims. He has called to "cleanse Palestine" from Jews.

One of his most famous fatwas was this one:

Question: I would like to ask about the ruling of Palestinian women carrying out martyr operations. Fulfilling this mission may demand that they travel alone, without a mahram,[5] and they may need to take off their hijab, the matter which may expose part of their 'awrah.[6] Would you please comment on this? I'd prefer Dr. Qaradawi to answer this urgent question, if you please.

Dr. Qaradawi answers: The martyr operation is the greatest of all sorts of jihad in the cause of Allah. A martyr operation is carried out by a person who sacrifices himself, deeming his life [of] less value than striving in the cause of Allah, in the cause of restoring the land and preserving the dignity. To such a valorous attitude applies the following Qur'anic verse: "And of mankind is he who would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah hath compassion on (His) bondmen." (Qur'an, 2: 207)

...Martyrdom is a heroic act of choosing to suffer death in the cause of Allah, and that's why it's considered by most Muslim scholars as one of the greatest forms of jihad.

When jihad becomes an individual duty, as when the enemy seizes the Muslim territory, a woman becomes entitled to take part in it alongside men. ...A woman should go out even without the consent of her husband, a son can go too without the permission of his parent, a slave without the approval of his master, and the employee without the leave of his employer....I believe a woman can participate in this form of jihad according to her own means and condition. Also, the organizers of these martyr operations can benefit from some, believing women as they may do, in some cases, what is impossible for men to do.

As for the point that carrying out this operation may involve woman's travel from [one] place to another without a mahram, we say that a woman can travel to perform Hajj [pilgrimage to Mecca] in the company of other trustworthy women and without the presence of any mahram as long as the road is safe and secured.

Concerning the point on hijab, a woman can put on a hat or anything else to cover her hair. Even when necessary, she may take off her hijab in order to carry out the operation, for she is going to die in the cause of Allah and not to show off her beauty or uncover her hair. I don't see any problem in her taking off hijab in this case.

To conclude, I think the committed Muslim women in Palestine have the right to participate and have their own role in jihad and to attain martyrdom.

Hamas sent out women suicide bombers after this fatwa.

So prayers might indeed be in order - to finally rid the world of this evil man.

Power has returned to the Elder Manor, but not phone/internet/cable. As a result, I am surfing and blogging with a very, very slow connection through a cell phone, so blogging will remain lighter than usual - especially since I need to do my regular day job through that same slow connection.

Here's one tree that fell nearby. There seem to be at least one or two trees toppled on every block.

Meanwhile, here are today's links from Ian:

Israeli strike on Iran would be a relief to the Middle East, Netanyahu tells French paper

Prime minister in France to discuss Iranian nuclear threat, attend memorial ceremony for Toulouse shooting victims
“Iran is not popular in the Arab world, far from it, and some governments in the region, as well as their citizens, have understood that a nuclear-armed Iran would be dangerous for them, not just for Israel,” he said.

The storm that united a nation by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

We are capable of being positive and unified, even while we contest some of the great political issues of our day. We can be one people while we entertain vastly different opinions. And we can have one heart even when we are of a different mind.
May G-d watch over America always, and may those who have suffered in Hurricane Sandy find solace and a blessing.

Meanwhile: Hurricane Sandy a ‘divine slap on the face of U.S. arrogance,’ Toronto Islamist website declares
'Heroic' Iran, 'resistive' Syria behind Sandy, pro-Assad group claims

Washington’s Failure to Rein in UNRWA

General Assembly resolution 194 of December 11, 1948, offers two options, repatriation and resettlement, to achieve the reintegration of the Palestinian Arab refugees “into the economic life of the Near East.” Yet, U.S. Department of State documents from 1949 through the early 1950s reveal that despite the lip service paid to repatriation, Washington and its allies effectively equated reintegration with the resettlement of the refugees in the neighboring Arab states.

Ha'aretz Poll roundup:
The Haaretz Poll Travesty, NIF Funding, and the Durban Strategy
Journalistic Sham: Haaretz Acknowledges Misleading ‘Apartheid’ Survey Report
Haaretz changes tack on major story that alleged widespread ‘apartheid’ attitudes in Israel

The case for President Obama’s reelection By Alan Dershowitz
The Obama administration has strongly supported Israel’s security by helping to construct the Iron Dome, by backing Israel’s responses to rocket attacks from Gaza and by coordinating closely with its military.

[I think I made my thinking clear! - EoZ]

Lévy: Jews of Diaspora and Israel are under attack
Prominent French-Jewish intellectual says the Jewish people are facing a twin threat of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

UK Jews complain to Church of England over ‘anti-Semitic’ vicar

"Reverend Stephen Sizer is “an avid reader and publicizer of websites that are openly and virulently anti-Semitic, and Rev. Sizer has himself descended into making anti-Semitic statements,” according to the complaint, lodged by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the community’s main representative organization."

CIF Watch: Glenn Greenwald admits that “anti-Semitism plays a role in some hostility toward Israel”.

PMW: PA TV visits family of terrorist prisoner Ibrahim Hamed, responsible for murder of 46

'PLO leader backs Jordan annexation of W. Bank'
New proposal suggests establishment of a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, Kaddoumi tells 'Al-Quds Al-Arabi.'
A repeat of 1985? The Hussein-Arafat Accord, 11 February 1985

Gaza Rocket Attacks Close Beersheba Schools for a Day

Economist reporter: GAZA economy fastest growing in the world
For example in 2011 the Gazan economy grew by a whopping 27 % , that makes it the fastest growing economy in the world.

Senior Bahrain official to visit Gaza, open new schools
Royal Charity Organization head Mustafa al-Sayed to lead delegation to Strip this week; visit follows Qatari emirate’s visit last week

End of the Line for HLF
The United States Supreme Court has decided not to accept appeals from the five Holy Land Foundation officials convicted of illegally funneling more than $12 million to Hamas, essentially concluding the case.

Syria Rebels 'Clash with Army, Palestinian Fighters'
Fierce clashes broke out before dawn Tuesday in a major Palestinian refugee camp south of Syria's capital, pitting rebels against troops backed by pro-regime Palestinian fighters, activists and a watchdog said.

Egyptian court dismisses suit against president to amend peace accord with Israel
Complainants had claimed Egypt’s revolution obligates leaders to review all previously signed agreements
Three members of Egypt’s revolutionary youth movement filed a lawsuit Monday against President Mohammed Morsi, Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, and foreign minister Muhammad Kamel Amr, demanding the leaders amend the Camp David Peace accords with Israel. But the case was swiftly dismissed in an Egyptian court on Tuesday.

Women's council demands authorities find girl 'kidnapped' in Matrouh
Egypt's National Council for Women calls on Interior Ministry and security forces to locate missing 13-year-old who was allegedly married off; denounces child marriages

Somali comedian shot dead after poking fun at al Shabaab
Gunmen assassinated a well-known comedian and musician who poked fun at al Qaeda-linked Shabaab insurgents in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and colleagues said Tuesday.

Rome provincial council calls to ban websites promoting Jew-hatred
Move, in cooperation with Jewish community, follows anti-Semitic attacks on neo-Nazi website

‘Forward’ Cartoon Mocks Zionism Through Anne Frank DNA Experiment

Dutch soccer fans to be punished for anti-Semitic songs
FC Utrecht director says racism will not be tolerated; ADO Den Haag banned eight fans banned in April for ‘Hamas, Jews to the gas’ chants

A would-be new leader of Israel’s Arabs urges full integration with Israel
Bedouin politician Aatef Karinaoui launches a Knesset bid, slamming Arab MKs and calling for an ‘Arab Spring’ to provide a fresh direction for his community
It is hard to envisage an Arab Knesset member declaring that “if something were to happen to Israel, this democracy that protects everyone, the whole Middle East would be doomed.”

Israel's Technion, iCreate to jointly incubate start-ups
Having signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), Israeli university Technion and the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) of India are now set to jointly incubate few start-ups from both the countries.

High-tech diplomacy puts Israel and UK on the same page
The UK is very keen to promote relationships between Israeli start-ups and British entrepreneurs, ignoring the politics that usually frame the relationship between the two countries

Guns don't kill people. Electric cables shot down by guns at Saudi weddings kill people.

From Reuters:

Celebratory gunfire at a wedding party in eastern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night brought down an electric cable, killing 23 people, a local civil defense official said.

"At the wedding, the cable fell on a metal door and the 23 people who died were all electrocuted," Eastern Province official Abdullah Khashman said by phone.

A photograph of the aftermath of the accident, published on local newspapers' websites showed a large courtyard strewn with fallen chairs and a pole in the middle supporting cables carrying lightbulbs.

All those killed were from the same tribe, Khashman said. Thirty others were injured in the incident near Abqaiq, a center of the Saudi energy industry.

Saudi Arabia banned the shooting of firearms at weddings, a popular tradition in tribal areas of the conservative Islamic kingdom, last month.

Guns only kill one or two people at a time at Arab weddings, so they are clearly not the problem. Non-bulletproof electric wiring is obviously the real danger to people at weddings.

(h/t Ian, Ronald)

Today's anti-semitism in Jordanian media

Addustour, a mainstream Jordanian newspaper, has an op-ed today that accepts the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as an established fact and states that Israel is following it to achieve world domination.

Rashid Hassan writes:

I spent the holiday [Eid al Adha] reading "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" edited by the Arab thinker Ajaj Noueihed, for the second time, to discover that without exaggeration, what is happening in occupied Palestine and in the world at the hands of the Zionists are pronounced by these Protocols. The Jews control the financial markets and banks and media, etc., and they seem to exert control over many of the decision-making centers in America and European countries and others.

The [Jews] "create a spirit of intrusion and revenge, and this means blood and sword, destruction and bodies of confidentiality etc., hence terrorism carried out by Zionist gangs during World War II and onwards, starting from the massacre of Deir Yassin through massacres Qibya and Dawayima and Kafr Kassem .. etc, following through on the doctrine of [Protocols author] Ginzberg" (pp. 56.) In this regard, we find a clear difference in the proposals of Herzl, founder of Zionism and Ginzberg, who created the idea of assembly and intrusion, which led to the crystallization proposed in the idea of "return to Palestine" as a place to gather and receive incoming Jews from all over the world, which means waging wars of genocide and a holocaust and the massacres against the Palestinian people, and for over a hundred years.

Still this Zionist ideology is dominant on the Zionist mind, which led to the massacres, and which is embodied today in the trinity of terrorism "Netanyahu, Barak, Lieberman" as an embodiment of theses protocols of Zionism by Ginzberg. The main idea of the protocols is based on the Jews controlling the world from behind the scenes, and this will only happen through sex and money, and hitting at the system of morals and values, and distorting Islam and Christianity. A review of the suffering of the Islamic religion today through smear campaigns confirms what we have referred to, and confirms that the Zionists are behind the constant campaigns of incitement and hatred that are against Islam and the Prophet of Islam Muhammad peace be upon him.

The book shows that the protocols were written at the end of the nineteenth century, and describe the evils of Zionism, as shown by the Talmud, and presented to the First Zionist Congress in 1897, and during the conference Russian secret police attacked the venue, and seized all the documents including these protocols, where they were translated into many languages then, to publicize to the world the Jewish conspiracy, and the seriousness of what is happening in the invisible world.

We call the Arab reader to read this book, It answers a lot of heretofore unanswered questions.

As much as the West likes to sweep it under the rug, Jew-hatred is mainstream in the Arab world, and ridiculous articles like this can be published without even a hint of dissent from other newspapers, politicians or pundits.

(h/t Lachlan)

Arabs don't care about the horrible lives of the Gazans in Jordan

From Ma'an:

The Gaza camp in Jordan, near the northwestern historical ruins of Jerrash where the Greco Roman Empire once flourished, was set up by the UN as an emergency measure in 1968.

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War war, about 12,000 refugees fled from Gaza to this area. It now has a population of about 30,000 Gazans.

Hidden in the outskirts of Jerrash, connected to the rest of civilization by a single neglected dirt road, most tourists have no idea about the camp. Locals are known to respond to visitors' inquiries with a suspicious: "Why do you want to go there?!"

Some tourists wonder if Jerrash municipality wants to keep foreigners out, to hide the dilapidated squalor that is so close to a bustling tourist attraction and well kept city.

Living conditions at the Gaza camp have been described as the worst in Jordan.

Surrounded by an empty desert, its streets are filled with children playing near sewage and trash. The pathways are cluttered with discarded food, old recyclables and other materials, which are burned frequently because garbage collection is unreliable.

It is a wonder that children playing football across sewage drains do not seem to notice the offensive smell.

The solution is expensive. Residents pay exorbitant fees in comparison to other Jordanian cities to have this sewage intermittently dumped outside of the city.

Water for bathing and drinking is also sporadically available every two weeks, and sometimes mixes sewage and drinking water as a result of the scarcity of functioning modern pipes.

Further, the living quarters are squalid, antiquated with cracks in the concrete walls, and teeming with residents. Sometimes 10 people can be found in a room of a windowless metal-roofed apartment. There are known cases of 25 residents living in one house.

Others live in roofless apartments or outside in tents where they are exposed to the challenges of the extremely cold seasonal weather. The infrastructure also lacks recreational areas like parks for children and a functioning road system.

Most camp residents possess neither an ID nor passport. Like visible ghosts, after five decades of living and giving birth in Jordan, their families are not recognized. They cannot work, receive government benefits, have full access to education, own a car, nor travel freely. Unemployment tops at 50 percent, school dropout rates are high and life expectancy is much lower than regional averages.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has tried to remedy these conditions. It provides education at four schools up to the 10th grade, as well as a food distribution center. Some of these displaced Gazans receive financial assistance from the United Nations.

The health conditions of the residents is horrifying. Volunteers report the presence of many diseases that are easily preventable with access to Western medicine. There are instances of diabetes, nervous disorders, cancers, high blood pressure and others, which go untreated.

Amid the huge flow of curious guests looking for enlightenment at Jerash's ancient ruins, the Gazan refugees living next door feel forgotten.

The article doesn't mention some crucial facts.

Israel did not drive anyone out of Gaza in 1967. Tens of thousands of Gazans (and many more West Bankers) chose to flee to Jordan voluntarily because they did not want to live under Jewish rule. They are not refugees according to any definition, even UNRWA's.

Jordan used to automatically give citizenship to any Palestinian Arab, but they did not do so for Gazans who fled in 1967. So they are the victims of a deliberate Jordanian policy of discrimination.

This discrimination includes barring Gazans from many jobs. As in Lebanon camps, it is illegal for Jerash residents to build new buildings.

In other words, ordan is practicing apartheid against Arabs born in Gaza as opposed to citizens of any Arab country.

Many of them would like to return to Gaza, and were hoping to do so after Israel's withdrawal. Even though Arab governments and the PA and Hamas all insist that the "right to return" is sacred, not a single one is lifting a finger to insist that these Gazans in Jordan return to Gaza!

There is nothing stopping Jerash residents from deciding to travel via Egypt to Gaza. Except the laws in Jordan, Egypt and Gaza!

So the residents of Jerash teach us that the "right of return" is not anything Arabs really care about - when the "return" is not to territory that Jews live in. It is a facade for the eventual destruction of Israel disguised as a "right." G

Gazans in Jordan can rot away - the Arabs don't care because they cannot contribute to the relentless campaign to delegitimize Israel.

"Tunisian security busts kidnap ring targeting Jews" (updated)

UPI Arabic quotes Tunisian media sources as reporting yesterday that Tunisian security authorities managed to break up what was described as a 'dangerous terrorist cell that was aimed at kidnapping Jews in the city of Zarzis in the extreme south-east of Tunisia.

The weekly newspaper Al Hassan reported that they learned and confirmed from sources that units of the Tunisian Guard managed to dismantle this terrorist network. Sit said that their aim was to kidnap of Tunisian Jewish nationals living in the city of Zarzis to demand ransom and to force the Jews or Zarzis to leave Tunisia.

The Tunisian mastermind of this plot is works as a security guard for Tunisian Jews in the south of Tunisia, where he recruited some young people to do the job. He acquired a car and weapon to get the plan going before he was caught.

The plot was to kidnap Jews as they take their weekly stroll on a seaside promenade every Friday night.

Members of the Jewish community in Tunisia have been concerned with the growing Salafist influence there who have been known to chant "kill Jews."

I have not yet seen this reported anywhere in English.

(Slight update with promenade details 10/31)

Hurricane update and Tuesday links

I am still without power and without my T Mobile hotspot on my phone that would allow me to blog on a laptop. Blogging on an iPhone, as I am doing now, is painful.

And I can't easily get to my job.

So it looks like this blog will be on a hiatus with only occasional updates.

So for now, here is the Tuesday link dump, unformatted, from Ian:

IDF Blog: Hamas Terrorists Firing Rockets on Israel from Houses in Gaza
"The terror group Hamas benefits from using its own people as human shields. When the IDF refrains from firing into densely populated areas, such as neighborhoods or suburbs, the terror organization becomes less vulnerable by default. Most of Hamas' military infrastructure is purposely placed in the middle of Gaza City and scattered throughout crowded refugee camps, further putting civilians in the direct line of fire."

UK academic union faces claims of ‘institutional anti-Semitism’
Severe anti-Israel bias ‘makes Jews feel uncomfortable and unwelcome,’ lecturer charges in landmark tribunal
"The UK’s trade union for academics, the University and College Union, is “institutionally anti-Semitic,” a London employment tribunal heard Monday.
The claim was made on the opening day of a potentially landmark case, which partially revolves around UCU’s resolutions concerning an academic boycott of Israel."

CIF Watch: Six more Palestinian ‘building inspectors’. Again, no context.
“The caption failed to mention the attack against Israel which precipitated the IDF operation – a grad rocket launched from Gaza that morning which destroyed a house in Netivot and injured several Israelis – nor that the building in Nuseirat was reportedly a weapons manufacturing facility.”

Seumas Milne, antisemitism and “the usual internet suspects”.
“Milne wasn’t condemning Holocaust revisionism. He was merely defending Stalinist revisionism.
Those of us among “the usual internet suspects” need not offer an ounce of gratitude to those who cynically champion the cause of dead Jews but seemingly remain indifferent to the aspirations of living Jews.”

BBC Watch: BBC report on Jews in Tunisia tainted by agenda-driven addition
"So, despite numerous examples, including the massacre of Jews in Baghdad in 1828, mass forced conversions in the Persian city of Meshed in 1839, the Damascus blood libel in 1840, the pogroms in Morocco in 1905, the 1929 Hebron massacre and the Farhud in 1941, the BBC once more returns to the simplistic narrative of contextualising prejudice and violence against Jews from Arab lands solely as a reaction to Israel and Zionism."

PMW: PA TV teaches children paradise is reward for martyrdom
“PA TV music video featuring Muhammad Al-Dura, the boy who was killed in a televised crossfire (apparently by Palestinians). Al-Dura calls other children to follow him to joyous child-Martyr Paradise. Al-Dura is shown frolicking joyously on the beach, with his kite, and even going to an amusement park.”

IDF busts Hamas cell in Ramallah, arrests 30 members
Suspects allegedly sought to rebuild Islamist terror cells in Hebron and Bethlehem

Jewish Leaders Blame Hillary Clinton For 'Legitimizing' Ukraine's Neo-Nazi Party
"Israel has expressed “deep concern” at a political breakthrough by an extremist party in Ukraine that is well known for its attacks on Jews and foreigners, and which managed to win a large number of parliamentary seats for the first time on Sunday thanks to an election pact with controversial opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko’s Fatherland Party. The opposition was also boosted by the tacit support of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

Sherrod Brown's Controversial Comments on Obamacare, Iran, Israel
"The senator refused to affirm Jerusalem as capital of Israel, merely stating the following:
I understand the symbolism of it, I’ve been to Jerusalem a number of times. I understand the importance of it, I understand the volatility of it. The Dome of the Rock is the center in many ways of three religions, at least three religions say that. So I understand all that."

Anti-harassment activist “depressed”
In Cairo, at least 87 harassers were arrested; most of them in Downtown where many people go to cinemas, restaurants and other public places to celebrate Eid, which represents the peak season for harassment.

Angry mob bars church goers in Beni Suef (Egypt)

Iranian warships dock in Sudan, days after alleged Israeli airstrike
Naval commanders of two states to meet, as Tehran conveys ‘message of peace and friendship’

Anti-Semitic flyers distributed in French town
Notices call on locals to ‘drive out the Jews’ from small town near Lyon

Their brother's keepers, Schalit and unit tour US schools
“On the one-year anniversary of his release, Gilad Schalit embarked on a speaking tour in New York City and Connecticut, accompanied by 17 soldiers from his old unit. The unit as a whole was affected psychologically by the abduction. Many still suffer from forms of post-traumatic stress disorder, survivor's guilt, insomnia, anxiety attacks, and anger. “

Israeli tech firms raise $488 mln in Q3 from VCs
Israeli high-tech firms raised $488 million in venture capital in the third quarter, up 8 percent from the second quarter, the Israel Venture Capital (IVC) Research Center said on Tuesday.

Lebanese op-ed against Hezbollah "resistance"

Interesting use of Hezbollah's logic against it at Now Lebanon:

Hezbollah anoints itself as “the Resistance” and unilaterally grants itself the right to be armed on the pretext that Israel is still occupying parts of Lebanon’s territory and is violating Lebanon’s airspace.

Therefore, if foreign occupation and violation of border integrity justify the right to bear arms, to be organized in an armed resistance movement and to be entitled to decide without consideration for anyone how, when and where to make use of these weapons, by the same logic, other groups may or should organize themselves into “resistances” to defend Lebanon from the attacks by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Furthermore, maybe resistance organizations should be necessary to liberate Lebanon from Iranian occupation.

For indeed, Lebanon is under Iranian occupation. Hezbollah’s doctrine and its leaders’ statements identify the party as being part of “The Nation” rather than Lebanon. Also, Hezbollah does not hide the fact that it is an integral part of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Furthermore, the party is financed and armed by Iran, and unequivocally and unashamedly proclaims that it takes its orders from Iran’s Supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution. Moreover, the Lebanese state has no free access to the zone occupied by the Iranian militia, and the Lebanese air force is barred from flying in the area under the threat of being shot down. Hezbollah does not act as a Lebanese entity but as an Iranian militia staffed by Lebanese nationals.

Accordingly, considering Iran’s occupation of parts of Lebanon and the attacks of Bashar al-Assad’s army, and based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Taif Accord and the ministerial statements ratified by all parties to parliament which puts the army and the Resistance on the same level of the Lebanese people, every Lebanese—or group of Lebanese—is entitled to form a “resistance” of their own, to carry weapons and to decide when and how to use these weapons to defend Lebanon. Hezbollah is not the Resistance; at best it can be a resistance or the “Islamic Resistance,” but more realistically it should be named ex-resistance as it has stopped acting in such a capacity since the Israeli army left Lebanon.

When it comes to the occupation of one’s country and facing military aggression, there can be no double standard. Similar threats are entitled to similar responses. However, given the danger associated with the proliferation of resistance movements, it would be better for the army to effectively defend all borders against any and all aggression, for the Internal Security Forces to effectively be in charge of security within all of the Lebanese territory, and for the Iranian militia—Hezbollah—to be disarmed and its occupied zone returned to Lebanese sovereignty.

UN to censure Israel for splinters, stubbed toes

From Mightier Than The Pen:

This finger is widely considered the one Iran has on the button.

Geneva, Switzerland (AP) – Arab nations have brought a resolution to the United Nations Security Council that denounces Israel for perpetrating stubbed toes and splinter injuries throughout the Middle East, in violation of international law.

With the Palestinian Authority seeking yet again to establish itself as a non-member observer state some time during the coming year, Draft Resolution 4761 adds tension to an already volatile Arab-Israeli dynamic, which saw accusations fly earlier this year over the origins of body odor and ingrown hairs. Those resolutions were defeated by vetoes in Security Council voting, as both China and Russia did not want to encourage other nations to look into the national origins of lice and pimples.

In the proposed resolution’s current language, the Council “condemns Israel for continued victimization of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in neighboring countries through the nefarious use of splinters and stubbed toes. The United Nations calls upon Israel to meet its obligations under international law and previous UN resolutions, and to cease causing injury to the innocent toes and fingers of oppressed minorities.”

Although Russia and China are expected not to veto this resolution, the U.S. State Department has expressed unease about its language, and most experts believe an American veto is inevitable, given profligate use of splinter and stubbed toe technology by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Israeli officials have remained largely silent on the matter, but a Foreign Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Jewish state would expend little effort in lobbying its few allies on the Council to defeat the resolution, explaining that the country does not wish to call even more attention to its minor-foot-injury weaponry. It is widely believed in the intelligence community that Israel possesses wart and corn generators, and unconfirmed reports have surfaced in the last six months that the country has also developed a potent paper-cut-and-lemon-juice arsenal....

As usual, by the time the accusers of Israel figure out how to move a pawn, they've already been checkmated.

Israeli technology has gone way past the splinter and paper-cut stages. They've already patented special ringing-in-the-ear technology, for example.

Perhaps the most subversive invention, created less than a hundred years ago, was to create the hangover. It never existed before the "Free Soviet Jews" movement of the sixties, and was deliberately designed to enslave those behind the Iron Curtain.

But even as we speak, the Zionist fiends have gone way beyond physical irritation to invade the psyches of their enemies.

Yes, the very idea that a mere cartoon can insult a prophet - and that ordinary people must riot to defend their dead leader - is a completely Jewish invention.

(h/t Yerushalimey)

Fatah members proud that Arafat intended to fool the world with Oslo

I was going through a Fatah Facebook page and saw someone posted a video that they said was "very important."

It was a slightly edited version of a video that Palestinian Media Watch had posted long ago from a 1995 PA TV broadcast.

Arafat: "When the Prophet made the peace of Hudaybiya, [Muhammad's followers] Omar Ibn al Khattab and Ali Ibn Abi Talib said: "How can we accept an agreement like that?" "How can we accept such humiliation of our religion, Oh, Messenger of Allah?" And when we signed the agreement in Oslo if anyone has an objection to that agreement, I have a hundred."

Note: Arafat compares the Oslo Accords with the Hudaybiya Pact, which the Prophet Muhammad signed with the Quraish tribe with the intention of breaking it later.

So not only do many Arabs know that Arafat was lying at Oslo and that the Palestinian Arab leadership had no intention of making real peace with Israel - they are proud of it!

Morning after Sandy open thread

It was an eventful night with high winds and lots of transformer explosions, but not much rain. Power will be out for a while, maybe days.

I have a few posts queued up since yesterday for this afternoon but I don't see much new blogging until things sort themselves out.

So here is a post-hurricane open thread!

The liberation of a Jew-hater into a Zionist

From the Calgary Herald:

Kasim Hafeez grew up hating Jews and hating Israel. Now the 28-year-old British Muslim of Pakistani origin travels the world explaining how and why he has gone from a hater to a lover of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.

His personal journey of going from chanting “Death to Israel” in London’s Trafalgar Square to speaking about how he became a proud Zionist kept the Herald editorial board enraptured for much longer than our allotted hour on Thursday.

“To put it very bluntly, I was an anti-Semite,” the 28-year-old Nottingham-based university administrator said.
[...]
In 2000, Hafeez travelled to Pakistan and got swept up in radical Islam in a big way, believing that Muslims had to rise up and fight the “evil Jews and help his oppressed Muslim brothers and sisters.”

Upon returning to the U.K., Hafeez said he got further radicalized. He pulled out his iPad and showed photos of books, CDs and DVDs — including ones put out by the terrorist group al-Qaeda — that he bought openly at South Asian shops all over the U.K.

But his radicalization really ramped up upon attending university, where he studied political science, and with the help of his professors, turned virtually every class discussion towards how the Jews stole Muslim Palestinian land and were the root of all evil in the world.

After 9/11, Hafeez and his radical friends started attending “Stop the War” protests, which would “instantly turn into Israel hatefests.”

He and his Muslim friends made a point of befriending “middle-class white kids from Oxford” for their PR value. “We didn’t really see them as friends because we abhorred everything they stood for,” he admitted.

Eventually, all of his activism didn’t seem enough and Hafeez started saving money, hoping to return to Pakistan to attend a jihadi training camp. “Thankfully, it didn’t pan out that way,” he said, with a chuckle.

Hafeez’s plans were scuttled by reading The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz. He read the book with the intent to “prove it all wrong.”

What he ultimately found out instead was that he knew virtually nothing about the region — that Jews, for instance, had lived in Israel for thousands of years and that a Palestinian state never actually existed. As he tried to prove the book wrong, the opposite started to happen:

“In hindsight, I never actually gave a real damn about Palestine, I was just obsessed with hating Israel.”

Starting to suspect the cause he was prepared to die for was a colossal lie, Hafeez fell into a depression. When he got better, he decided to travel to Israel to see for himself in 2007.

What he noticed was, even though he was held for eight hours at Ben Gurion Airport for questioning, he was treated with great courtesy and decency by the Israeli guards, who apologized to him repeatedly and who were the first Jews he had ever actually talked to.

The contrast to how he was treated in Saudi Arabia in 2002 when he went on a religious pilgrimage, shocked him. At the Saudi airport, while waiting in line for passport control, he was sent to the back of the line five times to make way for Arab Muslims, who are considered superior to South Asian Muslims: “I’ve never experienced the level of racism like I did in Saudi Arabia.”

By contrast, in Israel, while expecting to find apartheid signs directing Muslims to wait for one bus or another, what Hafeez saw instead were Muslims, Jews and Christians all going about their lives in harmony.

“Here’s a state that’s constantly called an enemy of Islam, yet Muslims have more rights in Israel than they have anywhere else in the Middle East,” he said.

In Jerusalem, Hafeez visited the Muslim mosque — the Dome of the Rock, where no Jews are allowed — the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre and then also visited the most holy site in the world for Jews, the Western Wall. With his Saudi experience still fresh in his mind, he assumed Muslims would be barred, but he was welcomed.

As he stood among Orthodox Jewish men and others praying, Hafeez said when he reached out and touched the wall, he “burst into tears.”

A rabbi asked him if he was OK. Hafeez said that he was. The rabbi asked him if he was Jewish. Hafeez said no. The rabbi then said, “That’s OK, this is Jerusalem, it’s everybody’s home.”

Years of hatred and animosity toward Jews and Israel melted away at that moment and Hafeez became a free man — like the people of Israel.

“Being so full of hate is just not healthy,” said Hafeez, who visited 10 Canadian cities on this tour. “Life is just so much better when you’re not so angry and full of hate.”

In many respects, the costs have been great for speaking the truth. Hafeez has received death threats, and his father would rather continue to invest his life into hating Jews and Israel, than loving his son, whom he refuses to see.

Ultimately, Hafeez said he seeks to warn the West of the incompatibility of radicalized Islam with a liberal democracy.

“Radical Islam has been brilliant at using this term ‘Islamaphobia’ to stifle any debate about the negative influence of radical Islam on western society,” he said.

“Radical Islamists are using freedom of expression rights to limit our freedom of expression,” he warned. “We must stop this now.”

There have been other articles about Hafeez, for example here.

Egypt asserts its masculinity; bars American woman for "insult"

From Bikya Masr:

After allegedly insulting an Egyptian customs officer at the Aqaba port, an American woman was barred from entering Egypt, the ministry of interior said Tuesday.

The woman, who was trying to cross into Egypt from the eastern port of Aqaba, allegedly “verbally attacked” the customs officer over visa-related issues and when the ministry was made aware of the incident, the decision to forbid the women from entering the country was put into action.

Amr Roshdy, the spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs said that the necessary legal steps were made against the banned visitor.

The rest of this article shows what is obvious to anyone who actually observes the region, and it is missed by those who refuse to see the truth:

Reports mentioning the incident were cheered by online commentators.

One man said it was “a step in the right direction to regain Egypt’s dignity” while another said that “this action puts us on the same level with the US.”

Egypt’s decreasing regional role and US dominance across parts of the region has made Egyptians yearn for action that proves Egypt’s power and asserts its place internationally.

This is the honor/shame mentality that is the key to understanding the Arabic-speaking world.

Arabs will act in ways that are at odds with how Westerners would act - because they think differently.

The idea of such pride at banning a woman is ridiculous on its face, but once you put it in the proper context of an honor/shame society, it makes perfect sense.

And the last paragraph proves that it isn't Israel that the Arabs resent - it is Western power, viewed as being at the expense of Arab masculinity.

It might be a throwaway article, but if you don't understand it, you don't understand the Middle East.