Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Hamas' logo for its 25th anniversary shows its priorities

Hamas is planning a huge celebration this coming Saturday for the 25th anniversary of its founding.

Here is their official logo:

A celebration of indiscriminate attacks against civilians! Yay!

But clueless Western "experts" will continue to claim that Hamas really supports a peaceful, two-state solution.

(Last year's logo was also noteworthy - as it showed a weapon emerging from the Dome of the Rock.)

Night reading: When Kuwait expelled 400,000 Palestinian Arabs

The Middle East Forum has a nice article by Steven J. Rosen about the seldom-remembered episode when Kuwait decided to ethnically cleanse hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs in 1991.

The largest forced displacement of Palestinians from an Arab state took place in 1991 when Kuwait expelled most of its Palestinian residents in retaliation for the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) endorsement of Iraq's brutal occupation of the emirate (August 1990-February 1991). It mattered little that this population, most of which had resided in Kuwait for decades, was not supportive of the PLO's reckless move: From March to September 1991, about 200,000 Palestinians were expelled from the emirate in a systematic campaign of terror, violence, and economic pressure while another 200,000 who fled during the Iraqi occupation were denied return. By September 1991, Kuwait's Palestinian community had dwindled to some 20,000.

Yet while this expulsion was near the order of magnitude of the Palestinian 1948 flight (estimated by the Israeli government at 550,000-600,000 and by the Arab League at 700,000),[2] driving PLO chairman Yasser Arafat to declare that "what Kuwait did to the Palestinian people is worse than what has been done by Israel to Palestinians in the occupied territories,"[3] it was largely ignored by the international community with neither the U.N. Security Council nor the General Assembly doing anything to assist the newly displaced refugees and punish their ethnic cleanser.

...Many of the deportees were subjected to abuse or worse during the process of expulsion. In March 1991, the Associated Press quoted a grave digger at the Riqqa Cemetery in Kuwait, talking about mass graves: "They were all Palestinians … One man had a severed head." The agency later reported that even some members of Kuwait's ruling family were involved in the killings of Palestinians, and Kuwaiti pro-democracy activists claimed the royal family had formed private "death squads" to execute people suspected of collaborating with the Iraqis. The director of the Palestine Human Rights and Information Center reported interviews with four Palestinian men who escaped Kuwait after being imprisoned there, saying that they were beaten with metal rods, burned with cigarettes, and interrogated by Kuwaiti officials during their imprisonment in Kuwait City.[14]

Palestinian children were expelled from public schools while heavy financial burdens, such as new health fees, were placed on Palestinians who wished to remain. According to the Palestinian group Badil, "About 4,000 people were killed, and 16,000 tortured in Kuwaiti detention and interrogation centers. Most of these were Palestinians."

...Most of the world was silent in the face of this enormous expulsion, including Kuwait's fellow members of the Arab League. A Palestinian observer lamented that, "You can call it deportation ... But I call it the third catastrophe after 1948 and 1967. Imagine what would happen if Israel deported 300,000 people. The whole world would be up in arms. But when an Arab deports or kills his Arab brother, it's all right; nothing happens."

No resolutions were adopted by the U.N. Security Council or by the General Assembly. Not a word was heard from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People, or the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967. All remained silent on the situation in Kuwait.

The General Assembly-established Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People did record twenty-four statements on expulsions and deportations of Palestinians during 1990-91,[37] but not one of these statements was about the 400,000 Palestinians deported by Kuwait. Instead, all twenty-four statements were angry protestations objecting to Israel's deportation of four convicted Palestinian terrorists with blood on their hands.

It is worth reading the whole thing to get an appreciation of what hypocrites the Arabs are when they claim they care about their Palestinian brothers. Not to mention the UN.

(h/t Josh)

Why peace is impossible, reason #4821

Al Watan Voice quotes a Sheikh Hussein Qassem, an apparent religious leader among Palestinian Arabs in Lebanon.

He says that the UN vote is a step on the way for Arabs to reclaim the Negev, Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Nazareth and Safed and all Galilee.

That's not enough of a reason to say that peace is impossible, though.

But Qassem brings up something else that is undoubtedly a widespread belief, one that does make peace literally and totally inconceivable.

The sheikh said:

We in the House of Palestine Scholars stress the legitimate principles for the liberation of all of Palestine from the sea to the river, from north to south, and we will not give up a grain of sand; all Muslims and Arabs will help us and stand by our side through jihad and resistance to liberate our land from the clutches of this usurper entity and this is their duty - because Palestine is not the property of the Palestinians only and not the property of the Arabs, but belongs to the Islamic nation, Allah bequeaths the earth and hence the Arab and Islamic support for our cause all have the power to return it to its owners...

Even if the Palestinian Arabs decided that they are willing to compromise for peace tomorrow, the larger Islamic world will never accept anything less than every inch of Israel that they believe is their God-given right. They would brand the Palestinian Arabs as traitors and start the next stage in their never ending quest to destroy Israel, by every possible means at their disposal - military, demographic, political, lawfare, public relations, using useful Leftist idiots - everything.

Can anyone say, with a straight face, that this wouldn't happen?

(h/t Lachlan)

PCHR sort-of admits Hamas uses kids as human shields

A nice find by Henrik, from PCHR last February:

At approximately 00:30 (Feb. 19), an IOF [sic] warplane fired a missile at a training site used by Izz Addin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in Yafa Street, east of al-Tuffah neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. The bombardment resulted in damages to the neighboring establishments, especially Gaza Martyrs Boys Basic School. The windows of the school crushed and damages were caused to the exhibit, the library and the book store in the school. Around 600 students attend this school which employs 23 teachers. The school which measures 4 donums is located 12 meters to the east of the targeted site.

PCHR admits here (without condemnation, of course) that Hamas placed a military site only 12 meters away from a school! (Or, perhaps, they placed the school meters away from their military site.)

According to YellowPages.ps, there is a hospital across the street from the school, too.

The Mohammed Al Dura Hospital.

Here is an IDF photo of that neighborhood prior to Cast Lead.

Tuesday links

From Ian:

An Interview with Asaf Romirowsky on the Palestinian Predicament

"It’s become clear we’re never going to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until we first resolve the fake refugee fiasco. I turned to noted ME scholar and director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East Asaf Romirowsky to gain his thoughts on why being a Palestinian is such a badge of honor."

The UN never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity

"In the original vote, 33 UN states supported the partition of Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states, while 13 states voted against and 10 abstained. Note that almost every country that did not support the creation of a Jewish state next to a Palestinian state today supports the creation of a Palestinian state next to an existing Jewish one."

UN Watch: Hypocrisy at the UN: dictatorships reject “country-specific” resolutions, then adopt 21 country-specific resolutions on Israel

In an astonishing display of hypocrisy even by U.N. standards, numerous country delegates gave impassioned speeches last week objecting to the adoption of resolutions criticizing the murderous regimes of Iran, North Korea and Syria, saying they rejected the practice of singling out specific countries; and then proceeded, only moments later, to vote for a resolution — which most of them also co-sponsored — singling out democratic Israel.

Europe Once Again Shows that Palestinian Violence Pays

"So here’s what we’ve learned from the past week’s events: Palestinians should keep shooting rockets at Israel, because Europe will reward them for it by punishing Israel. And Israel should never again make any agreement with the Palestinians, because the Palestinians won’t be bound by it at all, whereas Israel will be bound not only by what the deal actually says, but by what the Palestinians and their Europeans allies think it should have said."

Douglas Murray: Did Israeli settlements in the West Bank kill the two-state solution?

"Contrary to the wisdom of the Foreign Office et al, the blockage to peace is not Israeli settlement-building, unhelpful though that undoubtedly is. The bar to peace remains, as it always has been – as it was at Oslo, Camp David and over all the decades before and since – an unwillingness on the part of the Palestinians to accept the existence of the Jewish state and an almost completely ignored Palestinian insistence that the final-status Palestinian state should be completely and wholly free of Jews.

Sanctions Fight Is an Example of Why Bibi Doesn’t Trust Barack
The reason Obama and Netanyahu are often at odds over Iran’s nuclear program is that Netanyahu sees the gap separating Obama’s words and his actions, and he doesn’t like it.

IDF Blog: Israel Defense Forces: November 2012
November was a historic month, marked by Operation Pillar of Defense, terror attacks against the Israeli home front, and other events. Here’s what the IDF faced this past month.

Israeli Security Foils Road Terror Attacks
Israeli security forces continue to foil Arab road terror attempts, including an attempted axe-murderer and a briefcase bomb under a bridge.

Hamas tells Fatah: Let’s fight Israel together By Khaled Abu Toameh
Mahmoud Zahar calls on Fatah to "stop wasting time and effort" on peace process; Palestinian reconciliation efforts stepped up.

"As a goodwill gesture, the Hamas government has allowed 17 Fatah activists who fled the Gaza Strip to Egypt five years ago to return to their homes.
The activists fled during the fighting that erupted between Fatah and Hamas and resulted in the Islamist movement’s takeover of the Gaza Strip."

MEMRI: Mahmoud Al-Zahhar against Mahmoud Abbas: Anyone Who Wants to Liberate Palestine Should Pick Up a Gun

PMW: "Hey [Netanyahu], you dog, you invader" - Fatah official Jibril Rajoub on PA TV

Honest Reporting CA: Top 10 Canadian Media Fails of Israel-Hamas War

"In war, the saying goes, the first victim is the truth. The “Eight Day War” between Hamas and Israel saw many falsehoods perpetuated in and by Canada’s media. Here are the top 10 media fails from English Canada."

Guardian interrupts ‘live blog’ on Mid-East uprisings with news that Jews might build homes

"And, below the shocking reports from Jerusalem, in other, far less important news: Lebanon and Syria risk igniting a dangerous military confrontation, and Islamists in Egypt organized a mass rally meant to intimidate the highest court in the country. "

In foiled Jordanian terror plot, officials see hand of resurgent al-Qaeda in Iraq

"The plan was to unleash mayhem across an entire city and “bring Amman to its knees,” in the words of one security official. It would start with suicide bombings at two shopping malls, then build momentum as teams of terrorists blew up cars and raked cafes with machine-gun fire."

Police Arrest Two Accomplices in Toulouse Terrorist Attacks
French police arrested two alleged accomplices of gunman Mohamed Merah, who killed rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren in Toulouse.

Turkish TV Fines 'The Simpsons' for Mocking G-d
Turkish board of television is fining private broadcaster for airing episode of "The Simpsons" showing G-d to be under influence of Devil

Israel Daily Picture: 150 Years Ago in Jerusalem -- Read What the Tourists & Explorers Wrote

William Seward (Lincoln's Secretary of State): The population of Palestine is estimated at only 200,000.... Jerusalem is divided now according to its different classes of population. The Mohammedans are four thousand, and occupy the northeast quarter, including the whole area of the Mosque of Omar. The Jews are eight thousand; and have the southeast quarter....The Armenians number eighteen hundred, and have the southwest quarter and the other Christians, amounting to twenty-two hundred, have the northwest quarter.

Nearly 70 years on, Holocaust survivor reunites with ‘Righteous’ rescuer
At 85, Polish woman takes her first flight to meet the Jewish ‘cousin’ her parents hid from the Nazis

"Dudziak lived in Lublin during World War II and asked her family to look after Beiman when Beiman’s parents went missing — presumably sent to the nearby Majdanek concentration camp. Although extremely poor, the family hid Beiman in its home and pretended she was a niece until the city was liberated in 1944."

Also, former German FM Joschka Fischer: The New Middle East’s New Problems (h/t Missing Peace)

Chas Freeman freaks out over hasbara

Even though he is a known anti-Israel nutcase prone towards Jewish conspiracy theories, it is still amusing reading Chas Freeman's recent speech on the evils of Zionists, you know, defending themselves:

Before I get to specifics, let me provide a general description of hasbara and its purposes. Hasbara is usually translated as “explanation.” That does not do the concept justice. Hasbara links information warfare to the strategic efforts of the state to bolster the unity of the home front; ensure the support of allies; disrupt efforts to organize hostile coalitions; determine the way issues are defined by the media, the intelligentsia, and social networks; establish the parameters of politically correct discourse; delegitimize both critics and their arguments; and shape the common understanding and interpretation of the results of international negotiations.

This sounds so much more impressive than the inept pro-Israel messaging I see every day!

Hasbara has its roots in earlier concepts of propaganda, agitprop, and censorship. Like them, it is communication calculated to influence cognition and behavior by manipulating perceptions of a cause or position with one-sided arguments, prejudicial substance, and emotional appeals. Unlike its progenitors, however, hasbara does not seek merely to burnish or tarnish national images of concern to it or to supply information favorable to its theses. It also seeks actively to inculcate canons of political correctness in domestic and foreign media and audiences that will promote self-censorship by them. It strives thereby to decrease the willingness of audiences to consider information linked to politically unacceptable viewpoints, individuals, and groups and to inhibit the circulation of adverse information in social networks.

I'm sorry, but doesn't he seem to be describing anti-Israel propaganda campaigns?

Past efforts by states to shape domestic and foreign opinion depended on the production of persuasive information and efforts to deprive audiences of access to contradictory information by interrupting its supply through censorship, jamming, and other techniques directed at reducing its flow. By contrast, hasbara assumes the free flow of information within an open marketplace of opinion. In that context, it seeks to promote selective listening. The purpose is to constrict the demand for information, not its flow. Although hasbara includes efforts to impede access to information through a wide variety of techniques adapted to new information technologies, it focuses on limiting the receptivity of audiences to information.

That is freaking brilliant! By sending out information, hasbara activists are squelching the demand for contrary information! How remarkably insidious!

Of course, it doesn't explain why I would willingly link to his anti-hasbara screed and quote large sections of it. But never mind; it makes me and my pro-Israel cohorts sound so damn brilliant!

In addition to traditional techniques of agitprop, disinformation, and propaganda in conventional media, the Israeli hasbara apparatus made heavy use of more focused channels of communication like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. It inundated audiences with information favorable to its cause and squeezed out information that contradicted its theses.

That is a very impressive achievement, to squeeze out other opinions simply by stating your own. Unless, by stating a Zionist opinion, one demonstrates that the anti-Zionist rhetoric is filled with lies and slander. That might effectively marginalize the liars. Which is, in Freeman's bizarro world, apparently a minor form of censorship. And must be stopped. Um...yeah.

The state of Israel has organized civilian government and military units to exploit this, including creating websites, social media accounts, and messages attributed to false identities. It has learned how to manipulate browser functions, search engine algorithms, and other automated mechanisms that control what information is presented to Internet users. Such manipulation can ensure that certain commentary and information will or will not appear in response to searches. It can assign greater prominence to old material critical of sources or analyses than to new entries favorable to them. It can arrange for searches to find only positive or negative commentary and information on a topic.

Damn, we're good! Using secret Zio-tools, we manipulate Google! We own SEO! We ROCK!

In some countries, like the United States, Israel can rely upon a “fifth column” of activist sympathizers to amplify its messages, to rebut and discredit statements that contradict its arguments, facts, and fabrications, and to impugn the moral standing of those who make such statements.

So people who are pro-Israel are a "fifth column." Hmmm. And those who love the Saudis, and support their culture of misogyny, bigotry and Islamic supremacy - like Chas Freeman - must be patriotic Americans.

Yeah.

As one pertinent example, the Jewish Agency for Israel has sponsored an online “Hasbara Handbook” for students around the world to use as advocates of Israel and its policies.

The “Hasbara Handbook” explains many standard techniques of propaganda and deceptive rhetoric. It rehearses specific arguments and counter-arguments and outlines a program of training for advocacy and rebuttal. It also stresses the importance of labeling or “name-calling” – the linking of a person or idea to a negative symbol.

Just for giggles, I downloaded the 2002 Hasbara Handbook and searched for how it advocated the technique of "name-calling."

Surprise! It doesn't! it talks about how anti-Israel voices use "name calling" and how to counter it!

I wonder, is "fifth column" an example of name-calling?

Egyptian newspapers, TV strike in protest of constitution

From Al Ahram:

Twelve Egyptian newspapers and five TV channels announced that they will go on strike for one day to object to both recently issued constitutional declaration and the draft constitution.

The newspapers will not print on Tuesday and the TV channels will go off-air on Wednesday.

The draft constitution, which was passed on 30 November by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and is set to be voted on in a referendum on 15 December, does not include articles against the imprisonment of journalists in cases related to freedom of expression as demanded by journalists.

The Journalists Syndicate's executive council had withdrawn its representatives from the Constituent Assembly in mid-November after its recommendations and suggestions were ignored by the assembly.

Later, the general assembly of the syndicate had threatened on 25 November to stage a strike against the constitutional declaration that president Mohamed Morsi issued on 23 November..

The newspapers that will go on strike on Tuesday include: Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Watan, Al-Tahrir, Al-Wafd, Al-Youm 7, Al-Dostour, Al-Shorouk, Al-Sabah, Al-Ahaly, Al-Ahrar, Al-Fagr and Osbooa.

The TV channels that will go on strike on Wednesday, with blank screens broadcasting in place of content, are: ONTV channels, CBC and Modern channels, Al-Hayat Channels and Dream TV channels.

Already on Monday, Al-Wafd newspaper, Al-Youm 7 newspaper, Al-Watan newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper and Tahrir newspaper shared the same headline “No to dictatorship” with an illustration showing a prisoner made of newspaper sitting in a dark cell.

The draft constitution itself has verbiage supporting freedom of the press, but it is fuzzy because there is always the caveat that the press must adhere to community standards, which could mean anything.

But before you think that these liberal, secular voices are necessarily the "good guys," here is a poster at one of their anti-Morsi rallies (screen shot from here):

Because even among enlightened, secular Egyptians, there is no worse insult than "Jew" or "Zionist."

(Mohamed ElBaradei lost all his credibility in Egypt by telling a German interviewer that many of the Islamists are Holocaust-deniers; now he is being derided as "Mr. Holocaust.")

(h/t PTWatch)

A reminder of the PLO's real goal

Shhhh...don't tell anyone:

Fatah leader Abbas Zaki speaks on Al Jazeera about "the great goal," referring to the goal of destroying Israel.

"The agreement is based on the borders of June 4. While the agreement is on the borders of June 4, the President [Mahmoud Abbas] understands, we understand, and everyone knows that it is impossible to realize the inspiring idea, or the great goal in one stroke. If Israel withdraws from Jerusalem, if Israel uproots the settlements, 650,000 settlers, if Israel removes the (security) fence - what will be with Israel? Israel will come to an end. If I say that I want to remove it from existence, this will be great, great, [but] it is hard. This is not a [stated] policy. You can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself."

[Al-Jazeera, Sept. 23, 2011]

There are a lot of people today who are so - very - upset over the idea of Jews building houses in their own capital, saying that it dooms the two-state solution. (It doesn't.)

I don't recall a peep from any of them when this was broadcast to millions of Arabs last year on the most popular Arabic news network.

I also don't recall that great statesman Abbas denying (or reprimanding) Zaki's words.

(h/t O)

Palestine Times reports that Hamas plans to repair and activate the Gaza airport, with help from Egypt.

Deputy prime minister Ziad Zaza said that Hamas seeks to open and activate the Gaza International Airport, saying "The government has received Egyptian promises to provide facilities for large Rafah [material transfers] in the coming days, as well as demands by the Egyptian mediator for the reinstatement of Gaza International Airport, and the Gaza seaport."

Zaza claims that the terms of the truce allows unlimited imports of construction materials to Gaza, not just the materials needed for specific NGO projects that Israel had been approving. The construction materials will be imported from Egypt using a planned improved Rafah crossing.

The airport was owned and managed by the PA.

While Israel's legal right to a naval blockade of Gaza is pretty ironclad, I am not sure what avenues Israel can use to stop airplanes flying from Gaza over Egyptian airspace. (Besides bombing the runways.)

Sorry, BDSers. No more grocery shopping for you.

From Times of Israel:

The past week has seen one of this year’s biggest buyouts of an Israeli company by a large multinational: NCR, which makes checkout systems for retail, automated teller machines, and cash dispensers and the like, bought Israel-based Retalix, a provider of retail software and services, in a deal valued at about $650 million.

Starting slowly in Israel, where its retail point-of-sale (POS) software manages cash registers in nearly every Israeli supermarket and fast-food outlet, Retalix has slowly expanded and exported its offerings. In 2011, Retalix was ranked among the top four software vendors for grocery retailers and among the top 10 large software vendors to retailers by retail industry publications.

When stores used regular cash registers, they were able to tally totals, make change, and keep track of the income and expenses. The revolution led by Retalix, more than any other company, enables retailers to use the information that comes out of a POS system in so many different ways. For example, retailers can use the information gathered at the POS with a wide range of business intelligence tools — which products are hot, who’s buying what at which times of day, what promotions are having the biggest sales effect.

By linking sales data to a credit or loyalty card, retailers can implement programs that reward shoppers for buying and keep them coming back. And the POS information on what products were sold makes it easier for retailers to keep track of inventory, payments, and expenses. And all of the data is stored securely in the cloud, enabling administrators or management at other outlets of the chain to easily access it for their needs. According to industry analysts, Retalix is a world leader in deploying these software solutions. And NCR, primarily a hardware company, will now be able to offer some of the most advanced POS systems in the world.

(h/t Ishai)

Accepting nominations for the 2012 Hasby Awards!

It's that time again!

The Hasby Awards is the annual, or maybe biennial, recognition of the best specific examples of hasbara (Israel advocacy) during the past year.

Good hasbara, in my opinion, has two components: It is effective in changing people's perceptions of Israel and it reaches a large audience. And, of course, it must reflect the truth.

So think about the best specific videos, events, speeches, articles, graphics, blog-posts, campaigns, demonstrations or any other items that would qualify, and write your nominations in the comments.

With luck, there may even be an awards ceremony!

(I never got around to giving the 2011 awards, but you can see the nominations here.)

US warning Syria on chemical weapons

From the NYT on Saturday:

Western intelligence officials say they are picking up new signs of activity at sites in Syria that are used to store chemical weapons. The officials are uncertain whether Syrian forces might be preparing to use the weapons in a last-ditch effort to save the government, or simply sending a warning to the West about the implications of providing more help to the Syrian rebels.

“It’s in some ways similar to what they’ve done before,” a senior American official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. “But they’re doing some things that suggest they intend to use the weapons. It’s not just moving stuff around. These are different kind of activities.”

The official said, however, that the Syrians had not carried out the most blatant steps toward using the chemical weapons, such as preparing them to be fired by artillery batteries or loaded in bombs to be dropped from warplanes.

Now the US is starting to warn the regime, although not very explicitly:

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a "strong warning" Monday to the regime of Bashar al-Assad over the potential use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people.

"This is a red line for the United States," Clinton said after meeting Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. "Once again, we issue a very strong warning to the Assad regime that their behavior is reprehensible. Their actions against their own people have been tragic."

"I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people, but suffice it to say that we're certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur,” she said.

"There is no doubt that there is a line between the horrors that they [the Assad regime] have already inflicted on the Syrian people and moving to what would be an internationally condemned step of utilizing chemical weapons," Clinton said, without providing further details on the nature of the planned action.

The warning came as The New York Times reported Monday that the Americans and Europeans had sent warnings via intermediaries to the Syrian regime after detecting movement of chemical weapons by the Syrian military in recent days.

"The activity we are seeing suggests some potential chemical weapon preparation," one US official told the daily, which added that the activity over the weekend has set off a flurry of emergency communications among the Western allies.

If the West starts to consider military action, then Syria might decide to start something on the border with Israel itself to muddy the waters.

And what Western nation would want to be perceived as supporting Israel militarily, even as they warn Israel not to retaliate?

But there's more. Wired's Danger Room reports:

Engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas, an American official with knowledge of the situation tells Danger Room. International observers are now more worried than they've even been that the Damascus government could use its nerve agent stockpile to slaughter its own people.

The U.S. doesn’t know why the Syrian military made the move, which began in the middle of last week and is taking place in central Syria.

All that’s certain is that the arms have now been prepped to be used, should Assad order it.

“Physically, they’ve gotten to the point where the can load it up on a plane and drop it,” the official adds.

Sarin gas has two main chemical components — isopropanol, popularly known as rubbing alcohol, and methylphosphonyl difluoride. The Assad government has more than 500 metric tons of these precursors, which it ordinarily stores separately, in so-called “binary” form, in order to prevent an accidental release of nerve gas.

Last week, that changed. The Syrian military began combining some of the binaries. “They didn’t do it on the whole arsenal, just a modest quantity,” the official says. “We’re not sure what’s the intent.”

Jeffrey Goldberg adds another dimension from the Israeli side:

The U.S. is not the only country worried about the possible use of chemical weapons. Intelligence officials in two countries told me recently that the Israeli government has twice come to the Jordanian government with a plan to take out many of Syria's chemical weapons sites. According to these two officials, Israel has been seeking Jordan's "permission" to bomb these sites, but the Jordanians have so far declined to grant such permission.

Of course, Israel can attack these sites without Jordanian approval (in 2007, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor), but one official told me that the Israelis are concerned about the possible repercussions of such an attack on Jordan. "A number of sites are not far from the border," he said, further explaining: "The Jordanians have to be very careful about provoking the regime and they assume the Syrians would suspect Jordanian complicity in an Israeli attack." Intelligence sources told me that Israeli drones are patrolling the skies over the Jordan-Syria border, and that both American and Israeli drones are keeping watch over suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites.

He went on to provide context of the Israeli request: "You know the Israelis -- sometimes they want to bomb right away. But they were told that from the Jordanian perspective, the time was not right." The Israeli requests were made in the last two months, communicated by Mossad intermediaries dispatched by Prime Minister Netanyahu's office, according to these sources. (I asked the Israeli embassy in Washington for comment on this, but received no answer.)

There are a lot of moving pieces around Syria now.

(h/t Yoel, Josh Block)

Another huge Monday linkdump

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Palestinians: Abbas's Classic Thug Extortion Trick

"This is a classic case of diplomatic terrorism. If you don't hand over the money, their friend here is really, really mad, and they're only just managing to hold him back. And the world fell for it."

Why Hamas and Islamic Jihad Supported Abbas's Statehood Bid by Khaled Abu Toameh

"Hamas and Islamic Jihad celebrated because they think that the UN has paved the way for the establishment of an Islamist state within the pre-1967 lines. Like many Palestinians, the two Islamist states are confident that the countdown for the creation of an Iranian-backed entity in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem has begun.
The Palestinian Islamists's message to the Palestinians is: "Let Mahmoud Abbas take now whatever he can because we know that in the future these lands will be under our control."

‘We now have a state, Abbas declares, returning triumphant to Ramallah

President tells crowd of thousands ‘We won’ and dedicates victory to Arafat and martyrs
“Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine,” Abbas added. “The world has said ‘no’ to aggression, settlements and occupation.”
Abbas dedicated the “achievement to the Palestinian prisoners and martyrs who dedicated their blood throughout the long national struggle.”

How Israel's Ceasefire Terms Are a Security Disaster

“The elimination of this cordon sanitaire, which protects the security fence, and therefore the country, will not only leave Israel more vulnerable to attacks by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, but also invite "publicity stunts" by adversarial non-governmental organizations under the direction of Hamas leaders, such as, for example, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM organizes riots and demonstrations, staging them for television cameras to make Israel look as if it is attacking Arabs, when in reality, Israel is responding to Arab attacks -- a detail the media usually leave out.”

PM says Palestinian incitement against Israel reflects root of the conflict
‘This is not a dispute over land, but a denial of the existence of the state of Israel,’ Netanyahu tells ministers
PMO: Special Briefing on Incitement in the Palestinian Authority
Presentation as a: VIDEO or PowerPoint

Israel to hold back NIS 450 million in tax revenues to PA

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed that he would hold back NIS 450 million to offset a NIS 800 million debt owed by the PA to the Israel Electric Corporation.

Hey fellow liberals, it’s time to let the facts get in your way

"Within their excuses and rationalizations for the Hamas regime’s abhorrent actions – such as the targeting of Israeli civilians and the employment of Palestinian human shields – ran a familiar argument: That all means are justified, since the Jewish State is legally and morally illegitimate."

Hamas: State needs armed struggle with Israel By Khaled Abu Toameh
Osama Hamdan says Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is an illusion, won't add anything for Palestinians.

"A Palestinian state without an armed struggle against Israel is an illusion and won’t add anything for the Palestinians, top Hamas official Osama Hamdan was quoted Sunday as saying."

Haniyeh to EU: Remove Hamas from terror organization list
‘We have no problem with Jews worldwide,’ claims Gaza’s Islamist PM, calls Israel the world’s biggest terrorist state

CIF Watch: The Guardian approved malice of Joseph Massad

‘Comment is Free’ editors have granted space to Hamas members on several occasions, so it is not surprising that they published a piece by an ideological extremist who has characterized Jews as “supremacists”, a term popularized by Gilad Atzmon and David Duke. Nonetheless, the sheer volume of lies and the degree of malice in his CiF polemic are both staggering.

BBC Watch: Undiluted propaganda from the BBC’s Jon Donnison

"Once again, Donnison absolves the Palestinians of all responsibility, framing them solely as passive victims of Israeli actions.
"Donnison manages to produce a ‘report’ which does a pretty good impression of being taken straight from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign propaganda handbook rather than anything approaching the standard of informative, accurate and impartial reporting which the BBC is committed to providing for its audiences."

BBC whitewashes Jenny Tonge

"To describe Jenny Tonge as a “frequent critic of Israel” is therefore akin to portraying the BNP’s Nick Griffin as having a passing interest in demography.
It is incomprehensible why the BBC should choose to highlight Tonge’s malicious fringe agenda – whilst whitewashing her shameful racism in the process."

Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Publish Hamas Disinformation After it Has Been Exposed

"The correction of the piece was made after it had already been widely publicized in English and circulated to readers worldwide, all the while ignoring the public information about the false accusation against Israel of culpability for Sadallah’s death that was available for at least five days prior to the publication of Pfeffer’s original column."

Jew-hating United Church members pretending to be self-hating Jews

"Independent Jewish Voices' claim that they are members of the United Church who
happen to be Jews is about as valid as someone who says they are a Sunni Muslim who happens to be a member of the Roman Catholic Church."

Hungary holds landmark anti-Nazi protest, after far-right lawmaker called to ‘screen Jews’ as security risks
Budapest rally is ‘the most important demonstration since Hungary became a democracy,’ says Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel director

Egypt won’t enter rink with Israel

Sports Minister Amer Farouq threatened to pull funding from roller hockey club if it played against Jewish state
"The Egyptian national roller hockey team on Friday boycotted a world championship game against Israel, reportedly on orders of Sports Minister Amer Farouq, who said he didn’t recognize Israel as a state, Israel Sports 5 reported on Sunday."

Tel Aviv Bus Attack Heroes Feted for Saving Lives
Security staff from the Ministry of Justice in Tel Aviv received awards Sunday for saving lives, and capturing a terrorist.

Alanis Morissette lands in Israel
Canadian chanteuse set to perform her first gig in Israel since 2000

"Morissette decided to expedite her arrival so that her family could enjoy a few days in Israel, including a visit to Jerusalem’s Old City."

Iron Dome sparks interest from potential buyers around world

"South Korea, Singapore reportedly in talks to purchase the missile defense system following impressive interception rate in last conflict with Hamas Clinton: The Iron Dome system knocked rockets out of the sky like never before."

Top Australian company buys into Israeli natural gas
Woodside Petroleum will pay up to $2.5 billion for a 30% stake in the Leviathan offshore
field

"Reuters reported on Monday that Woodside’s agreement also allows the company to be involved in future offshore exploration, via two already extant Israeli offshore petroleum licences. CEO Coleman said that this aspect of the deal was “an exciting opportunity to grow our portfolio in the emerging Eastern Mediterranean basin.”

Plus: Essential Apps When Under Fire

Expert:"Iran behind DDoS attack on US banks"

The first six minutes of this video shows Mike McConnell, former Director of National Intelligence and now working at Booz Hamilton, directly saying that Iran was behind the denial of service attacks that some major US banks suffered last September.

The consensus is that Iran attacked the US in a semi-sophisticated cyber-terrorist attack. (The target is not military, but civilian infrastructure, so any way you look at it, this is terrorism.)

This was apparently already common knowledge in some circles in October:

Iranian hackers renewed a campaign of cyberattacks against U.S. banks this week, targeting Capital One Financial Corp. COF +0.36% and BB&T Corp. BBT +0.07% and openly defying U.S. warnings to halt, U.S. officials and others involved in the investigation into the attacks said.

The attacks, which disrupted the banks' websites, showed the ability of the Iranian group to sustain its cyberassault on the nation's largest banks for a fifth week, even as it announced its plans to attack in advance.

U.S. officials said the attacks against banks, and others against Middle Eastern energy companies, were sponsored by the Iranian government and approved at high levels as part of a low-grade cyberwar that officials warned could lead to retaliation.

Unclear is at what point attacks on individual banks constitute an assault on the overall financial system that would call for a forceful response from the U.S. military, which has formed a "Cyber Command" to help defend government computers and critical civilian networks.

"It is a fair question," said a senior U.S. official. "I am not sure I have the answer to it."

PalArab music video says it all

Seen on Palestine Today:

The translation - which, I understand, is very heavy on "Oh our Gaza, oh our (West) Bank, oh fire, oh volcano... Tel-Aviv is a token... We won, we won, we won" is not very important.

The part that is interesting to me is that the video - already with thousands of views in two days - does not distinguish between rockets towards Israeli civilians, Israeli women running to shelters, the bus bombing in Tel Aviv, dead Gaza babies - and Abbas' UN stunt.

All of those represent "victory."

Think about it. While the West tries mightily to distinguish between the "moderate" Palestinian Arabs who are supposedly aghast at terror and who really want peace, and the "tiny minority of extremists" who love violence, videos like this - which are a dime a dozen - show that there is really no distinction at all.

The goal is the same: the destruction of Israel. Rockets, they believe, further that goal, as do bus bombings.

But so do dead Gaza kids - because they help demonize Israel in the media.

And so does Abbas' UN stunt - because it pressures Israel to give up land.

Those are all tactics. But the goal is the same, whether in ten years or a hundred.

The people who made this video, and those who watch it, don't see any distinction between "moderate" and "extremist." The "moderates" in Ramallah cheered random rocket fire towards Israeli cities no less than the "extremists" in Hamas. The distinction is an artificial construct created by Westerners to justify pressuring Israel to give up more and more in the name of "peace."

The reality, however, is reflected in this video.

(h/t Al Gharqad)