Sunday, November 25, 2012
Elder of Ziyon
According to the articles, it contained some 500 tons of fermenting beverage.
In addition,they found some 712 1.5 liter bottles of the illicit liquor ready to be shipped.
The bootleggers have not yet been caught.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Elder of Ziyon
According to the articles, it contained some 500 tons of fermenting beverage.
In addition,they found some 712 1.5 liter bottles of the illicit liquor ready to be shipped.
The bootleggers have not yet been caught.
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
Times of Israel quotes the Sunday Times:
Again, this is something concrete that the US can do to pressure Egypt. It is anyone's guess as to whether they are twisting arms or saying "pretty please."
(h/t Josh K)
Less than a week after the conclusion of Operation Pillar of Defense, and with Hamas boasting of an imminent increase in military aid from Iran, Israeli satellites have spotted a ship at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas being loaded with rockets and other military supplies ostensibly bound for Gaza, the British Sunday Times reported.This seems to confirm a report from Debka last week. I'm not a big fan of Debka, but the level of detail in that report certainly gives pause:
The report cites Israeli intelligence sources who surmised that the cargo, loaded a week ago, would be shipped to Sudan and from there smuggled over land to Gaza.
According to the report, the cargo may include Fajr-5 rockets of the likes already fired by Hamas during the recent conflict, and whose stocks were reportedly depleted by Israeli bombings. Also possibly included: components of Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, which could be stationed in Sudan and used as a direct threat to Israel.
“With a lot of effort, Iran has skillfully built a strategic arm pointing at Israel from the south,” an Israeli source was quoted as saying.
An Iranian 150-ton freighter departed Bandar Abbas port Sunday, Nov. 18, with a cargo of 220 short-range missiles and 50 improved long-range Fajar-5 rockets for the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report. The ship turned toward the Bab al-Mandeb Straits and the Red Sea.Once again, everything is up to Egypt. If it wants to stop this traffic, it can. But the efforts so far have been half-hearted, and if anything, the recent turmoil in Egypt makes it seem less likely that the nation will take smuggling weapons to Hamas with the seriousness it deserves.
The new Fajar-5s have a 200-kilo warhead, which packs a bigger punch than the 175 kilos of explosives delivered by the rockets in current use with the Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip. To extend their range to cover the 85 kilometers from Gaza to Tel Aviv, Hamas removed a part of their payloads to make them lighter.
Tehran is sending the fresh supply of disassembled rockets to replenish the stocks its allies, the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami, depleted in their round-the-clock attacks on Israel since Nov. 10.
To throw Israeli surveillance off the trail, the ship started its voyage called Vali-e Asr owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, and was quickly renamed Cargo Star and hoisted the flag of Tuvalu. This South Pacific island nation, which lies between Hawaii and Australia, has a tiny population of 11,000, most of them Polynesians. Iran provides most of its revenue since earlier this year when Prime Minister Willy Telavi agreed to register Iran’s entire tanker fleet of 22 vessels to Tuvalu, to help Tehran dodge the US-EU oil embargo.
Our intelligence sources have learned that four big Sudanese shipping boats sailed out of Port Sudan early Monday and are waiting to rendezvous with the Cargo Star and offload its missile cargo in mid-sea.
The Sudanese will then be told by Tehran whether put into Port Sudan with the missiles, or turn north and sail up the Red Sea to the Straits of Tiran to link up with Egyptian fishing boats which regularly ply this waterway in the service of Palestinian-Iranian smuggling networks. They would unload the missile cargo in a quiet inlet on the Sinai coast. From there, it would be carried to the smuggling tunnels running from Sinai under the border into the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian teams assisted by Iranian and Hizballah technicians in the Gaza Strip would then assemble the new rockets and make them operational.
Through most of the voyage, two Iranian warships, the Khark heliicopter carrier and Shahid Naqdi destroyer, which are posted permanently in the Red Sea, escorted the arms ship until the cargo changed hands.
Again, this is something concrete that the US can do to pressure Egypt. It is anyone's guess as to whether they are twisting arms or saying "pretty please."
(h/t Josh K)
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
You mean, Hamas used the war as an excuse to brutally kill political rivals?
But we keep getting told that Hamas is so peaceful, pragmatic and responsible!
From the Daily Mail (UK):
Just imagine how they would treat Jews if they were in power.
(h/t Adloyada)
But we keep getting told that Hamas is so peaceful, pragmatic and responsible!
From the Daily Mail (UK):
This is how Hamas treats its Islamic rivals.Publicly executed minutes earlier as an alleged ‘spy for Israel’, his body was dragged through Gaza City by men on motorcycles, waving pistols triumphantly in the air.
Substitute horses for bikes, noted one witness, and it could almost have been a scene from the Crusades.
Along with five others, the ‘collaborator’ was killed on Tuesday for allegedly providing intelligence to enable Israel to pinpoint attack targets. He was shot twice and then ‘finished off’ with a blow from a heavy rock.
Amid dizzying confusion at the height of the eight-day conflict, there were sketchy reports that the traitors were caught ‘red-handed’ with ‘high-tech filming equipment’.
The Mail on Sunday can today reveal that the dead man in the picture is 37-year-old father-of-five Ribhi Badawi, a Palestinian prisoner in Gaza.
His family, neighbours and friends believe the notion that he spied for Israel is absurd – and there is much that supports their view, not least that as a prisoner Badawi was under armed guard during last week’s conflict.
Badawi was a member of the Islamist group Jaljalat – Thunder – which takes its inspiration from Al Qaeda and is more hardline than Hamas.
He had been in prison since 2009 when he was arrested on terrorism charges. It was alleged he was one of several fighters planning to launch attacks on Hamas.
Badawi’s family claim that while in prison, he was tortured until he confessed to being a traitor.
‘Ribhi was a proud Palestinian. He loved his country with a rare passion and he was more opposed to Israeli occupation than Hamas is,’ said his widow Kholoud.
‘To see the body of my dear husband dragged through the streets like an animal is truly terrible. The men who did this were wild.’
Sitting in her cramped home with three-year-old daughter Baraa (whose name means Innocence), Kholoud then reveals another irony – that her husband was wanted by an Israeli military court for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism following a foiled bombing mission.
The dead man’s family insists his execution had nothing to do with espionage but was rooted instead in political and tribal rivalry. ‘His enemies used the war as an excuse to kill him,’ said his widow, who alleges the man who arrested her husband had once been involved in a dispute with him.
Badawi told his family he was tortured by Hamas in the months after his arrest. For days on end, he said, he was suspended upside down and beaten. ‘They also put a machine gun in his mouth and threatened to shoot unless he signed a blank piece of paper,’ said his widow.
‘He is a tough man and he resisted but after 55 days he succumbed and signed. He was later charged with espionage and terrorism. He was sentenced to death and had been in jail ever since.’
Just imagine how they would treat Jews if they were in power.
(h/t Adloyada)
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
On the first day of Operation Pillar of Defense, the BBC's Paul Danahar tweeted:
Danahar here is using the discredited logic of the Goldstone Report, which tried mightily to distinguish Hamas from the Al Qassam Brigades, not acknowledging that at least three quarters of Hamas policemen also were Al Qassam terrorists.
Notwithstanding that the BBC itself admitted that this wasn't true only seven minutes later, it is absurd to claim that Hamas has a "political wing." There is really no distinction between Mahmoud Zahar and the Al Qassam Brigades.
And for proof, you only need to look at these photos taken within the past two days of Mahmoud Zahar himself:
Political leaders do not dress in military fatigues and carry submachine guns.
In the speech Zahar gave at this Qassam Brigades rally he emphasized that Hamas "will harness these missiles to serve the Palestinian cause and liberate the land," meaning destroy Israel militarily. He also said that the Palestinian people are patient and steadfast Mujahideen, or jihadists.
He looks and sounds pretty military to me!
(h/t Israellycool, Yoel)
Danahar here is using the discredited logic of the Goldstone Report, which tried mightily to distinguish Hamas from the Al Qassam Brigades, not acknowledging that at least three quarters of Hamas policemen also were Al Qassam terrorists.
Notwithstanding that the BBC itself admitted that this wasn't true only seven minutes later, it is absurd to claim that Hamas has a "political wing." There is really no distinction between Mahmoud Zahar and the Al Qassam Brigades.
And for proof, you only need to look at these photos taken within the past two days of Mahmoud Zahar himself:
Political leaders do not dress in military fatigues and carry submachine guns.
In the speech Zahar gave at this Qassam Brigades rally he emphasized that Hamas "will harness these missiles to serve the Palestinian cause and liberate the land," meaning destroy Israel militarily. He also said that the Palestinian people are patient and steadfast Mujahideen, or jihadists.
He looks and sounds pretty military to me!
(h/t Israellycool, Yoel)
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From AP:
Here is the story from JN1:
Police have been posted outside a synagogue in Venezuela’s capital to step up security after an anti-Israel protest during which Jewish community leaders say demonstrators hurled fireworks and shouted anti-Semitic slogans.Spanish-language media specify that the protesters were chanting "Jewish murderers, cursed Jews, stop killing innocent people."
David Bittan is the president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations. He says more than 10 national police officers were sent to provide security at the largest synagogue in Caracas on Friday.
His organization has said about 50 people demonstrated outside the synagogue on Thursday to protest Israel’s airstrikes in the Gaza Strip before a cease-fire this week.
Here is the story from JN1:
- Sunday, November 25, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
You could tell the protection was in place because when you went to its website, you would see a 5-second delay while the software determined if you were a real browser or an automated bot such as that DDoS software uses.
My guess was that it is not legal for a US company to perform services for a US-designated terrorist group.
As has happened a number of times recently, the EoZ readers came through. They tweeted to Cloudflare asking why they supported a terror group, and others contacted CloudFlare support directly and received a disingenuous response about their view of censorship.
(CloudFlare Support) Nov 22 10:30 am (PST) We understand if you disapprove of a given site, but please review our stance on censorship --> http://blog.cloudflare.com/58611873 We cooperate with law enforcement, and will continue to do so if they contact us about a given site. Thanks for reaching out.
Of course, this isn't a censorship issue - I am not demanding that Hamas' terror wing not be allowed on the Internet. This is a question about US law, period, and whether it is legal for a US company to protect a terrorist website. (The rationale given in their link that protecting bad guys from DDoS attacks helps them more effectively protect the good guys is also disingenuous - by that logic, international corporate security firms like G4S should be allowed to work for terrorist groups as well.)
Other EoZ readers contacted the FBI and the Secret Service, asking about CloudFlare's service for Hamas.
Today, it appears that the CloudFlare DDoS protection is no longer in front of the Hamas website.
Congrats to my readers for making a difference!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
- Saturday, November 24, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
The BBC on Saturday had a long radio piece about the death of Omar Mishrawi, going into details of the horror of a parent at losing a child. In that piece by Jon Donnison (who famously tweeted a photo of a dead baby from Gaza that was actually from Syria) he pretends to address the issues I brought up about inconsistencies in Mishrawi's death:
Firstly, "very few rockets" does not mean "no rockets." The BBC admits that there were some rockets fired from Gaza in the initial hour after the Israeli airstrike that killed Ahmad Jaabari, when Omar Mishrawi was killed. GANSO does seem to confirm that initially, most of the terrorist fire was from mortars, not rockets, but GANSO misses a very large number of attacks in their list. Ma'an seems to confirm that a few terror groups shot missiles relatively soon after the Jaabari hit.
Secondly, Donnison is clearly implying that Israel's alleged airstrike against the Mishrawi home was identical to the strikes it made against terrorists - meaning that Israel was targeting the Mishrawi home. This makes no sense. Especially since...
Thirdly, the initial wave of Israeli attacks in the hours after the Jaabari hit had a single goal: to take out the Fajr-5 rocket locations in Gaza. There were some hits against suspected terrorists, however the IDF tweeted (a little cheekily) a warning for Hamas terrorists to stay underground.
Fourthly, the idea that an errant mortar (or rocket) could not cause the damage as seen assumes that the projectile does not ignite already flammable materials in the house. As I noted, most Gaza homes have propane and gasoline for heaters and generators because the electric power is not consistent, and apparently the Mishrawis are no exception (see photo in my initial post.)
Fifthly, Donnison repeatedly claims in this story that the house was hit by a missile. However, Mishrawi, in the initial BBC video report, said explicitly, and then confirmed, that the house was hit by "shrapnel," not a missile. The BBC's insistence now that it was an Israeli missile has really very little evidence, unless you trust Donnison's opinion that Mishrawi's house looks identical to those of houses that Israel admits they targeted for killing terrorists - none of whom he names. A missile would certainly leave some traces.
Now, where does Mishrawi live? This BBC broadcast says he lives in the Sabra neighborhood, but that is not true - he lives in the Zeitoun neighborhood, as he says himself in that same initial BBC report.
Why is this important? Because the Zeitoun neighborhood is where there was at least one Fajr-5 rocket site that Israel targeted in that same time period, in the middle of a civilian area.
We've seen secondary explosions in videos from Israel's targeting underground missile sites, and there is no way of knowing where the fire-hot debris from those explosions will land.
Based on this evidence, the most likely explanation for Mishrawi's death now seems to be that shrapnel from a secondary explosion of a Hamas missile or ammunition cache targeted by Israel hit the Mishrawi home and ignited something inside, causing a fireball. A misfired Hamas rocket or mortar is still a possibility, though.
The idea that Israel, which managed to kill less than one civilian for every 30 airstrikes in Gaza, targeted the house of a low-level BBC employee during the initial wave of attacks - while he wasn't home - is simply not believable. Unless you are convinced, ab initio, of Israel's monstrous nature, there are other explanations that fit the incident far better.
But if you are the BBC, it is the only possible explanation.
While this radio story seems a bit like a whitewash to avoid any possibility that any other explanation besides a direct Israeli airstrike killed Omar Mishrawi, there is some good news. Questions were brought up and because they were retweeted and escalated, the BBC could not ignore them.
Yes, Donnison seems to have made up his mind before doing the pretense of research to answer the questions. And, yes, skeptics do not have any champions on the ground in Gaza to look at a story like this critically - we are completely at the mercy of the information and footage that the BBC itself is providing, when the BBC has great incentive not to make their employee look like he is mistaken in his grief and misplaced in his anger. (Is there other footage of Mishrawi's home that would shed light on what really happened? How far is his home from any major Israeli airstrikes on that first day? There are still lots of questions that an objective reporter would have asked.)
But the silver lining is that the Beeb was forced to respond; and we can see that its response is still far from objective (especially the insistence that it was a "missile.")
In the future, hopefully there will be journalists in the area who can overlook the camaraderie that the Western journalists in Gaza seemed to have shared and that can look at stories like this in a truly unbiased way.
(h/t JS for much of this)
UPDATE: See also BBCWatch for their take on this story.
.., And in the entrance hall, a two-foot wide hole in the flimsy metal ceiling where the missile ripped through.There is a bit of sleight of hand going on here.
Despite the evidence pointing towards an Israeli airstrike, some have suggested it might have been a misfired Hamas rocket. But at that time, so soon after the launch of Israel's operation, Israel's military says mortars had been launched from Gaza, but very few rockets. Mortar fire would not cause the fireball that appears to have engulfed Jihad's house.
Others said the damage was not consistent with powerful Israeli attacks. But the BBC visited other bomb sites this week with very similar fire damage where Israel acknowledged carrying out what it called surgical strikes. Like at Jihad's house, there was very little structural damage, but the victims were brought out with massive and fatal burns. Most likely is that Omar died in one of the twenty bombings that the Israeli military says made up its initial wave of attacks. Omar was not a terrorist.
Firstly, "very few rockets" does not mean "no rockets." The BBC admits that there were some rockets fired from Gaza in the initial hour after the Israeli airstrike that killed Ahmad Jaabari, when Omar Mishrawi was killed. GANSO does seem to confirm that initially, most of the terrorist fire was from mortars, not rockets, but GANSO misses a very large number of attacks in their list. Ma'an seems to confirm that a few terror groups shot missiles relatively soon after the Jaabari hit.
Secondly, Donnison is clearly implying that Israel's alleged airstrike against the Mishrawi home was identical to the strikes it made against terrorists - meaning that Israel was targeting the Mishrawi home. This makes no sense. Especially since...
Thirdly, the initial wave of Israeli attacks in the hours after the Jaabari hit had a single goal: to take out the Fajr-5 rocket locations in Gaza. There were some hits against suspected terrorists, however the IDF tweeted (a little cheekily) a warning for Hamas terrorists to stay underground.
Fourthly, the idea that an errant mortar (or rocket) could not cause the damage as seen assumes that the projectile does not ignite already flammable materials in the house. As I noted, most Gaza homes have propane and gasoline for heaters and generators because the electric power is not consistent, and apparently the Mishrawis are no exception (see photo in my initial post.)
Fifthly, Donnison repeatedly claims in this story that the house was hit by a missile. However, Mishrawi, in the initial BBC video report, said explicitly, and then confirmed, that the house was hit by "shrapnel," not a missile. The BBC's insistence now that it was an Israeli missile has really very little evidence, unless you trust Donnison's opinion that Mishrawi's house looks identical to those of houses that Israel admits they targeted for killing terrorists - none of whom he names. A missile would certainly leave some traces.
Now, where does Mishrawi live? This BBC broadcast says he lives in the Sabra neighborhood, but that is not true - he lives in the Zeitoun neighborhood, as he says himself in that same initial BBC report.
Why is this important? Because the Zeitoun neighborhood is where there was at least one Fajr-5 rocket site that Israel targeted in that same time period, in the middle of a civilian area.
Based on this evidence, the most likely explanation for Mishrawi's death now seems to be that shrapnel from a secondary explosion of a Hamas missile or ammunition cache targeted by Israel hit the Mishrawi home and ignited something inside, causing a fireball. A misfired Hamas rocket or mortar is still a possibility, though.
The idea that Israel, which managed to kill less than one civilian for every 30 airstrikes in Gaza, targeted the house of a low-level BBC employee during the initial wave of attacks - while he wasn't home - is simply not believable. Unless you are convinced, ab initio, of Israel's monstrous nature, there are other explanations that fit the incident far better.
But if you are the BBC, it is the only possible explanation.
While this radio story seems a bit like a whitewash to avoid any possibility that any other explanation besides a direct Israeli airstrike killed Omar Mishrawi, there is some good news. Questions were brought up and because they were retweeted and escalated, the BBC could not ignore them.
Yes, Donnison seems to have made up his mind before doing the pretense of research to answer the questions. And, yes, skeptics do not have any champions on the ground in Gaza to look at a story like this critically - we are completely at the mercy of the information and footage that the BBC itself is providing, when the BBC has great incentive not to make their employee look like he is mistaken in his grief and misplaced in his anger. (Is there other footage of Mishrawi's home that would shed light on what really happened? How far is his home from any major Israeli airstrikes on that first day? There are still lots of questions that an objective reporter would have asked.)
But the silver lining is that the Beeb was forced to respond; and we can see that its response is still far from objective (especially the insistence that it was a "missile.")
In the future, hopefully there will be journalists in the area who can overlook the camaraderie that the Western journalists in Gaza seemed to have shared and that can look at stories like this in a truly unbiased way.
(h/t JS for much of this)
UPDATE: See also BBCWatch for their take on this story.
- Saturday, November 24, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:
Colonel Richard Kemp: Special Interview: Former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan VIDEO
Leave Israel Alone!
Charles Krauthammer: Why Was There War in Gaza?
Sarah Honig: Another Tack: A-Dawla ma’ana
Our successive confrontations with Gaza are an explicit acknowledgement that disengagement has failed, that we are not disengaged.
Hamas: Truce agreement says nothing about stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the terror group’s political bureau, says Israel is trying to protect its image after defeat
IDF chief of staff: As the dust settles, Hamas will realize the price it has paid
Benny Gantz pays hospital visit to soldiers injured by Gaza rocket fire, says all aims of Pillar of Defense were achieved
‘Taking down Hamas is a necessity, not just for Israel, but for humanity,’ says
estranged son of terror group’s founder
‘We need to educate the Palestinian public that Israel is not the enemy,’ Mosab Hassan Yousef tells Israel’s Channel 2
Richard Millett: Palestinian Ambassador to Britain: “The only solution is one state”
A View From Israel: Truth will prevail
Israel Hatred at the Huffington Post
BBC Watch: BBC Radio 4 gives Durban architect Mary Robinson free rein
BBC’s Donnison suggests (Gaza) rioters may be farmers… or scrap metal collectors
Indonesian Hard-Liners Register Volunteers to Wage Jihad Against Israel
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) distributed registration forms to volunteers willing to wage jihad against Israel at a protest in front of the US Embassy on Friday.
Tel Aviv creeps up on Silicon Valley as top start-up center
The Startup Genome project crunches the numbers — lots of them — and concludes that the TA metro area is a great place to found a new venture
Colonel Richard Kemp: Special Interview: Former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan VIDEO
Leave Israel Alone!
"Jews are not promoting brainwashing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non-Muslims. Jews don’t hijack planes; they don’t kill athletes at the Olympics; or blow themselves up in restaurants. There’s not a single Jew who has destroyed a church; there’s not a single Jew who calls for the death of infidels.
Perhaps the world should examine the respective values which exist in the Middle East. As Netanyahu said: ‘If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”
Charles Krauthammer: Why Was There War in Gaza?
"Hamas considers all of Israel occupied, illegitimate, a cancer, a crime against humanity
Why was there an Israel–Gaza war in the first place? Resistance to the occupation, say Hamas and many in the international media.
What occupation? Seven years ago, in front of the world, Israel pulled out of Gaza. It dismantled every settlement, withdrew every soldier, evacuated every Jew, leaving nothing and no one behind. Except for the greenhouses in which the settlers had grown fruit and flowers for export. These were left intact to help Gaza’s economy — only to be trashed when the Palestinians took over."
Sarah Honig: Another Tack: A-Dawla ma’ana
Our successive confrontations with Gaza are an explicit acknowledgement that disengagement has failed, that we are not disengaged.
"When the blood-curdling battle cry exhorting the masses to slaughter the Jews, “Itbach al-Yahud,” was first shouted on April 4, 1920, by Arab marauders rampaging through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, it was accompanied by another mantra: “A-Dawla ma’ana” – the government is with us.
That was the first brazen reverberation of the trust that Jews can be attacked with impunity, that no deterrence exists. It was since oft-chanted during the perpetration of other atrocities during the British Mandate era masterminded by Haj Amin el- Husseini, most notably the hideous Hebron massacre of 1929."
Hamas: Truce agreement says nothing about stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the terror group’s political bureau, says Israel is trying to protect its image after defeat
IDF chief of staff: As the dust settles, Hamas will realize the price it has paid
Benny Gantz pays hospital visit to soldiers injured by Gaza rocket fire, says all aims of Pillar of Defense were achieved
‘Taking down Hamas is a necessity, not just for Israel, but for humanity,’ says
estranged son of terror group’s founder
‘We need to educate the Palestinian public that Israel is not the enemy,’ Mosab Hassan Yousef tells Israel’s Channel 2
Richard Millett: Palestinian Ambassador to Britain: “The only solution is one state”
He finished his speech with this:
“We (the Palestinians) are the only, the only, country in the Middle East that are practicing democracy par excellence.”
and
“I think they (Israel) should be lucky to have the Palestinians as their neighbours.”
A View From Israel: Truth will prevail
"Netanyahu said that Hamas was committing a “double war crime, by indiscriminately targeting Israeli civilians while they hide behind their own.
"The moment we draw symmetry between the victims of terror and the unintended casualties that result from legitimate military action against the terrorists – the minute that false symmetry is drawn, the terrorists win,” he said.
No matter what happens, foreign governments must be made to understand this. Israel’s future depends on its ability to stand up to pressure and fight for what is right. Citizen journalists can surely assist and the last few days have proven that diligence online is not only useful, but influential in spreading the truth.
Israel Hatred at the Huffington Post
"In recent months, the Huffington Post entered the world of video news with its debut of “HuffPost Live.” One might suspect that it was little more than a video version of the leftist website founded seven years ago by Arianna Huffington. Yet a blog known as HuffWatch has been documenting the content at both websites and has discovered a grim, though unsurprising reality: both Huffington Post and HuffPost Live are repositories of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel vitriol. Leading the charge at HuffPost Live is host/producer Ahmed Shihab-Eldin."
BBC Watch: BBC Radio 4 gives Durban architect Mary Robinson free rein
"Nobody mentioned the Bar Ilan speech or numerous subsequent occasions upon which representatives of the current Israeli government have confirmed its commitment to a two-state solution and nobody pointed out to Mary Robinson the considerable irony of her making baseless accusations against a democratically elected Israeli government during a discussion on democracy."
BBC’s Donnison suggests (Gaza) rioters may be farmers… or scrap metal collectors
Indonesian Hard-Liners Register Volunteers to Wage Jihad Against Israel
The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) distributed registration forms to volunteers willing to wage jihad against Israel at a protest in front of the US Embassy on Friday.
Tel Aviv creeps up on Silicon Valley as top start-up center
The Startup Genome project crunches the numbers — lots of them — and concludes that the TA metro area is a great place to found a new venture
"While missiles pounded southern Israel and the IDF prepared to rout Hamas terror in a ground campaign, Israeli technology was once again proving its versatility. The world was stunned last week at the effectiveness of the Israeli-developed Iron Dome anti-missile system as it began shooting down Hamas rockets — and it was stunned again a few days later, when an international study declared Tel Aviv to be the second best place in the world for start-ups."
- Saturday, November 24, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From the official Iranian Mehrnews Arabic site:
(h/t Lachlan)
Again, this is the official translation from Iran, and it has been copied by many Arabic newspapers.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that resolving the Palestinian issue does not need war, but requires a unified Islamic decision to remove the Zionist entity off the map.
(h/t Lachlan)
Friday, November 23, 2012
- Friday, November 23, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
One of the examples I gave was the Daily Mirror (UK), which showed a photos the grieving Egyptian prime minister Kandil cradling the head of the child, and had written "Egypt's Prime Minister wept today as he kissed the forehead of a boy killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza."
CNN and others made the same accusation, but they sort of retracted (reluctantly) when confronted with the facts.
The Daily Mirror did not, as far as I know.
So I was surprised to find out today that the link to that article is now broken, and cannot be found using the search engine on the Mirror website.
Instead of admitting the mistake, the Daily Mirror consigned the article to the proverbial "bit-bucket." It simply erased the article and pretended that it never made the mistake to begin with.
Puts your faith back into journalism, doesn't it?
It always amazes me that major, reputable media act with such immaturity when faced with their mistakes. They don't realize simple psychology: properly issuing corrections does not detract from their reputation, it enhances it.
The original CNN video with the same mistake is still online. Some 1350 people "Liked" it on Facebook. There is no indication that the report is based on a lie on that same page. People can Google it a decade from now and the lies that Sara Sidler spouted will still be there. CNN's retraction/clarification, as it were, is not even placed on the same page as the original video, where people can see the full picture. Instead, it was buried in paragraph 16 of an unrelated article. The impression that one gets isn't that CNN doesn't care about accuracy, its reputation is the driving force behind its correction policy and instead of doing proper fact-checking they instead try to minimize and hide their mistakes.
People understand that the news media can make mistakes. But when the same media is seen trying to hide or bury those mistakes, they appear small and petty. The obfuscation is in some ways worse than the errors, because it shows that the outlets care more about their reputations than about the accuracy that they pretend is their primary goal.
I don't know which is worse - the Daily Mirror pretending that the mistake never happened, or CNN which buried its clarification but which still features the mistake in a video that people can watch in blissful ignorace on their site.
Either way, though, it explains why people increasingly do not trust the mainstream media and are relying more and more on alternative outlets, like blogs.
(h/t Emet)
- Friday, November 23, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:
LATMA: The BBC lies and Israel defends itself
A Ceasefire Has Not Been Enacted on Israel’s Other Battlefield
Media should use ceasefire to reflect on double standards By Richard Kemp
Why Israel can't win this propaganda war
Russia Today Continues its Anti-Israel Propaganda, Going Even Further Than Arab TV
BBC Watch Not enough Israelis killed by “home-made contraptions” for BBC’s Mishal Husain
Huffington Post Deletes Hamas Comment Praising Tel Aviv Bus Bomb From AP Story
Agence France-Presse perpetuates a Hamas lie
Israeli Reservist Injured in Wednesday Attack Dies From his Wounds
Tel Aviv terror attack victims speak
Israel Vs. Hamas Is Civilization Vs. Savagery
FM: Israel will eventually need to overthrow Hamas
In CNN interview professing a desire for peace, Mashaal asks, ‘How can I accept Israel? They have occupied my land’
After 8-day conflict that saw hundreds of rockets fired into Israel, Hamas leader claims his group does not target civilians
Hamas: We do not support Abbas's statehood bid By Khaled Abu Toameh
Denial comes shortly after Abbas's office says Haniyeh expressed support for effort to upgrade to non-member state.
Gaza leader Haniyeh thanks Iran for helping make Israel ‘scream with pain’
Hamas PM tells delirious crowds ‘the idea of attacking Gaza is gone,’ a day after ceasefire is agreed
PMW: Hamas song - death to Israel
A day after Hamas-Israel ceasefire following Hamas-Israel conflict
For third time, Lebanese army disarms rocket aimed at Israel
Soldiers defuse missile a day after two were fired but failed to reach Israeli territory
Gaza ceasefire: Hamas's celebrations mask major defeat
The (real) new Middle East By Danny Danon
Only by staying true to our principles and meeting the terrorist aggression with decisive action can we hope to assure true safety and security for the citizens of Israel.
Venezuela: Dozens attack synagogue over Gaza conflict
Demonstrators hurl fireworks into building, shout anti-Israel slogan
Argentine govt. slams violence at anti-Israel rally in Buenos Aires
Jewish pupils attacked outside school in Paris suburb
Faculty report two attacks and one break-in in space of 48 hours
Italians hold speech rally for Israel
Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein organizes a “speaking marathon” to support Israel in front of parliament in Rome.
‘Where’s my wife?’ Electronic SMS tracker notifies Saudi husbands
The eye in the sky, invented by the Israel Police
700 people work for the department’s Technology Administration, and they have developed some innovative tech — which is shared, for free, with departments around the world
LATMA: The BBC lies and Israel defends itself
A Ceasefire Has Not Been Enacted on Israel’s Other Battlefield
"Anonymous bloggers like Elder of Ziyon, who from behind a computer screen, armed with nothing more than a sharp eye for falsehood and an abundance of common sense, forced retractions and corrections (albeit some half-heartedly) from such media giants as London’s Telegraph newspaper and CNN. The outlets had falsely reported as fact, Hamas’ claims that four year old Mahmoud Sadallah, who was famously pictured cradled in the hands of Egypt’s Prime Minister, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. In truth, as Elder proved, he was killed by a Hamas rocket that fell short, landing in Gaza.
Others include Challah Hu Akbar, who meticulously surveys reports of civilian casualties in Gaza for discrepancies and falsehoods, BBC watch, who embarrassed the British network’s Gaza correspondent, Jon Donnison, after he posted one of the false Syria images on Twitter. Other such troopers go by the names of Brian of London, Missing Peace, Emet, Carl in Jerusalem, Aussie Dave, Huff Watcher and Daled Amos. There are a number of increasingly tech savvy larger Jewish groups that are becoming more digitally active as well."
Media should use ceasefire to reflect on double standards By Richard Kemp
"Predictably enough, the media has been full of shrill accusations of indiscriminate Israeli air strikes and deliberate targeting of civilians. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Why Israel can't win this propaganda war
'Moral superiority', that’s the key to understanding the left’s support for Hamas
"Western Leftists don’t have to live with the consequences of their support for aggression in the Middle East. But the sad truth is that the Palestinians are paying a heavy price for their failure to face up to realpolitik."
Russia Today Continues its Anti-Israel Propaganda, Going Even Further Than Arab TV
“A notable example is Abby Martin, a presenter on RT, who has a long history of making incendiary anti-Israel comments on her program “Breaking the Set”. Her statements range from wild exaggerations to outright falsehoods. Some of these comments are so blatantly and almost embarrassingly false, with presenters making allegations that even Arab TV channels don’t make.”
BBC Watch Not enough Israelis killed by “home-made contraptions” for BBC’s Mishal Husain
Huffington Post Deletes Hamas Comment Praising Tel Aviv Bus Bomb From AP Story
Agence France-Presse perpetuates a Hamas lie
"AFP alone did not respond to direct calls to correct or otherwise address the egregious misinformation. AFP Jerusalem bureau chief Philippe Agret and photo editor Marco Longari did not lift a finger to correct the record even when they were informed that the Telegraph reported that “experts from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights who visited the site on Saturday said they believed that the explosion was caused by a Palestinian rocket.”
Israeli Reservist Injured in Wednesday Attack Dies From his Wounds
The reservist who was injured Wednesday by rocket fire in the Eshkol Regional Council area has died.
28-year-old Lieutenant Boris Yarmolnik died Thursday from his wounds at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
Tel Aviv terror attack victims speak
For first time since 2002, Tel Aviv rocked by bus bombing which injured 28; driver: 'I was sure it was a rocket hit'
Blast, smoke and anxiety – 28 people were injured in a terror attack in Tel Aviv on Wednesday when a massive blast ripped through a bus near the Kirya army compound. As three of the injured went into surgery, others recounted the moments of horror as they witnessed the first explosion on a Tel Aviv bus since 2002.
Israel Vs. Hamas Is Civilization Vs. Savagery
"Hamas' al-Aqsa TV, run by a Palestinian parliament member, is already notorious, encouraging children to become terrorists, as when it depicted a 4-year-old girl holding an explosive, singing of killing Israeli soldiers as a suicide bomber. On Wednesday, the channel's news reader prayed "to Allah the exalted that we see body bags in a short while" and joyfully reported that "the morale of Gaza residents is in the sky right now."
As Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president, wrote over 60 years ago, "The real opponents of Zionism can never be placated by any diplomatic formula: Their objection to the Jews is that the Jews exist, and in this particular case, that they exist in Palestine."
FM: Israel will eventually need to overthrow Hamas
Liberman tells Channel 2 that launching IDF ground operation to occupy Gaza and overthrow Hamas regime would take 4 months.
In CNN interview professing a desire for peace, Mashaal asks, ‘How can I accept Israel? They have occupied my land’
After 8-day conflict that saw hundreds of rockets fired into Israel, Hamas leader claims his group does not target civilians
Hamas: We do not support Abbas's statehood bid By Khaled Abu Toameh
Denial comes shortly after Abbas's office says Haniyeh expressed support for effort to upgrade to non-member state.
Gaza leader Haniyeh thanks Iran for helping make Israel ‘scream with pain’
Hamas PM tells delirious crowds ‘the idea of attacking Gaza is gone,’ a day after ceasefire is agreed
PMW: Hamas song - death to Israel
A day after Hamas-Israel ceasefire following Hamas-Israel conflict
For third time, Lebanese army disarms rocket aimed at Israel
Soldiers defuse missile a day after two were fired but failed to reach Israeli territory
Gaza ceasefire: Hamas's celebrations mask major defeat
"Hamas has lost key generals, international support, used up a huge quantity of its weapons, lost key infrastructure, and helped give Israel the international support it needs for a ground operation in Gaza if Hamas misbehaves.
In addition, Israel's Iron Dome has proven very successful, and the US has agreed to supply more, making Hamas's weapons of choice increasingly less effective as the days go by. Hamas has also probably not delighted its Iranian masters either, as this conflict has brought Israel and the US closer than it has been since Obama took office – good news for Israel, but bad news for Iran as the US-Israeli divide was primarily over Iran in the first place.
In fact, other than a possible improvement in support from Palestinians and some bragging rights in questionable circles, it is hard to see what, if anything, Hamas got out of the past week."
The (real) new Middle East By Danny Danon
Only by staying true to our principles and meeting the terrorist aggression with decisive action can we hope to assure true safety and security for the citizens of Israel.
Venezuela: Dozens attack synagogue over Gaza conflict
Demonstrators hurl fireworks into building, shout anti-Israel slogan
Argentine govt. slams violence at anti-Israel rally in Buenos Aires
Jewish pupils attacked outside school in Paris suburb
Faculty report two attacks and one break-in in space of 48 hours
Italians hold speech rally for Israel
Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein organizes a “speaking marathon” to support Israel in front of parliament in Rome.
‘Where’s my wife?’ Electronic SMS tracker notifies Saudi husbands
"Denied the right to travel without consent from their male guardians and banned from driving, women in Saudi Arabia are now monitored by an electronic system that tracks any cross-border movements.
Since last week, Saudi women’s male guardians began receiving text messages on their phones informing them when women under their custody leave the country, even if they are travelling together."
The eye in the sky, invented by the Israel Police
700 people work for the department’s Technology Administration, and they have developed some innovative tech — which is shared, for free, with departments around the world
- Friday, November 23, 2012
- Elder of Ziyon
This morning, after the incident on the Gaza border, CNN interviewed Diana Buttu, former PLO spokesperson.
See how she avoids answering anything, and how she lies with impunity without the interviewer making even a half-hearted attempt to blow holes in her statements:
When asked about the bus bombing in Tel Aviv, rather than condemn it, Buttu says:
She then goes on to say that violence is inevitable for people under "oppression" - in other words, saying that Mahmoud Abbas' calls for "popular resistance" is simply not going to work, and Palestinian Arabs will always resort to violence. Again, the interviewer didn't press her on this matter, asking her if she felt this was their right, or what she thought about the bus bombing or the rocket fire on civilians.
She then completely ignored a decent question about whether an Islamist political takeover of the Palestinian Arabs was inevitable, answering with a terse "no" without explanation and then went back to her playbook of pretending that Israel was the only one to benefit from the Fatah-Hamas split and of course that they were using it to build new settlements - something that hasn't been done in, oh, about a decade - and somehow ethnically cleansing Arabs:
Again, no pushback from the host on this obvious lie.
And then Buttu goes on to say that negotiations are not ever going to work, and that the only path to peace is by having the world pressure Israel and support her murderous cousins who just terrorized a couple of million Israelis.
Gee, thanks, CNN, for allowing a propagandist liar to spew forth for three minutes without a single challenge. Great work.
See how she avoids answering anything, and how she lies with impunity without the interviewer making even a half-hearted attempt to blow holes in her statements:
0:19 - "The young man who was killed today was actually a farmer, who was trying to go farm his fields. There is absolutely no evidence that this was a demonstration,..."She says this while the video is showing a demonstration! And Ma'an adds:
A relative of the dead man, who was at the scene, told Reuters that Qudaih had been trying to place a Hamas flag on the fence. He added that an Israeli soldier had fired into the air three times before Qdeih was hit in the head by a bullet.So he was not only demonstrating - he was right at the fence and ignoring warning shots while apparently climbing it!
When asked about the bus bombing in Tel Aviv, rather than condemn it, Buttu says:
0:51 - "Well, the incident regarding the bus occurred before the cease-fire took place - Look, I think we have to put this in its proper perspective..."and then going on about how it is all about the "occupation." The implication is that a bus bombing is a legitimate act of war.
She then goes on to say that violence is inevitable for people under "oppression" - in other words, saying that Mahmoud Abbas' calls for "popular resistance" is simply not going to work, and Palestinian Arabs will always resort to violence. Again, the interviewer didn't press her on this matter, asking her if she felt this was their right, or what she thought about the bus bombing or the rocket fire on civilians.
She then completely ignored a decent question about whether an Islamist political takeover of the Palestinian Arabs was inevitable, answering with a terse "no" without explanation and then went back to her playbook of pretending that Israel was the only one to benefit from the Fatah-Hamas split and of course that they were using it to build new settlements - something that hasn't been done in, oh, about a decade - and somehow ethnically cleansing Arabs:
"getting rid of as many Palestinians as possible."
Again, no pushback from the host on this obvious lie.
And then Buttu goes on to say that negotiations are not ever going to work, and that the only path to peace is by having the world pressure Israel and support her murderous cousins who just terrorized a couple of million Israelis.
Gee, thanks, CNN, for allowing a propagandist liar to spew forth for three minutes without a single challenge. Great work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
