Wednesday, December 26, 2012

  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Al Arabiya:
An Iranian lawmaker has complained that female Russian technicians working at the Bushehr nuclear power plant are not respecting the country’s dress code despite that they are being paid to wear the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab.

Bushehr’s Russian women technicians receive a “hijab payment” but “do not properly observe” what is required by their contracts, said Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, a member of parliament from Dashtestan in southern Bushehr Province, told Sepas News Agency.

He said despite that there is a “special gathering” for Russians in Bushehr but the female workers often appear in markets and streets without the hijab or with a “poor hijab.”

He urged Russian women to fulfill their “commitments” as written in their work contracts.
On the plus side, paying women to accept their second class status is somewhat better than arresting them for failing to do so.
  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Arutz-7:
The assistant director of the Kashrut department at the rabbinate of the northern Israeli city of Akko was attacked by Arabs on Monday evening.

The attack occurred as the man was standing and talking with the chief rabbi of the city of Akko, Rabbi Yosef Yashar.

"We concluded a working meeting this evening with the Kashrut department and as we stood near the building of the rabbinate, several young Arabs passed by, beat the assistant department head and fled," Rabbi Yashar recalled in a conversation with Arutz Sheva.

He said that he and the assistant director began chasing the attackers until "we encountered police officers nearby and they continued the chase and managed to arrest them."

Rabbi Yashar said that the attack is not a first, and that Akko's Jews have been suffering from violent attacks by local Arabs.
An Arab woman, Annette Haskia, was so upset over this attack that she met with the chief rabbi of Acre to express her disgust. They spoke in public; here is the audio and a rough partial transcript in English:



Anet Haskia: "..This is not my city [Acre] I don't live here but I have nephews and family [here] and by no means whatsoever do I want that they will start to think that the Jew is their enemy. Because he is not. I lived in the other side [the 'Jewish' side] for many years and that [perception] is wrong. I know that the Islamic movement is making inroads. It tempts the young. It buys [things] for them etc."

Rav Yashar
: "I am happy to hear your words. There is a saying [in Judaism] 'words of truth are recognizable' (ניכרים דברי אמת). ... I think that there is a certain reality here that we encounter and it completely doesn't matter if we want it or not. There is what one wants and there is what one faces. It could be that according to what one wants, Jews want to live in a Jewish-only environment and the Arabs want to live in an Arab-only environment. That is what one may want. But the reality is not like that. The reality is that we all exist here. Muslims are here and Christians are here and Jews are here. Now, what should be done? To expel?"

Anet Haskia: "No"

Rav Yashar: "Should Jews expel the Arabs?"

Anet Haskia: "No. Definitely not."

Rav Yashae:"Should Arab expel the Jews?"

Anet Haskia: "Definitely not. Definitely not".

Rav Yashar: "It is not realistic. It is not human..."

Anet Haskia: "No. Right"

Rav Yashar: "And one should not even think in this way".

Anet Haskia: "Indeed. Indeed. I agree with you."

Rav Yashar: "We have here... We are all here and need to stay together and live together".

Anet Haskia: "Indeed".

Rav Yashar: "Of course, how do we live together [in peace]? Only... there is only one formula: when everyone recognizes and respects the customs of the other and the culture of the other and the religion of the other then ones can live together."

Anet Haskia: "Indeed".

Rav Yashar: "If I respect your religion and you respect my religion then it is fine".

Anet Haskia: "Indeed. It was like that".

Rav Yashar: "Now, I want to live my life..."

Anet Haskia: "Indeed".

Rav Yashar: "... that no one would interfere, exactly as you want to live your life."

Anet Haskia: "Sure. Indeed. Indeed"

Rav Yashar: "So why should we disturb each other?"

Anet Haskia: "Also, why live in fear?"

Rav Yashar: "And it also doesn't disturb me... Someone came and said that the muezzin [muslim call for praying] disturbs him. To tell you the truth, the muezzin does not disturb me. Really, it doesn't disturb me... When one makes it very loud then, obviously, it is deafening. But in principle - I respect [it]. For them, the Muslims, the muezzin is calling, so that's fine. I don't see anything bad..."

A comment from someone in the 'audience': "Yes, but I lived in Wolfson. They put a loudspeaker in Wolfson..."

Rav Yashar: "... I'm not talking about provocations. The religion [Islam] does not tell them to make a provocation. Does the Islam tell them to make a provocation? To put a loudspeaker there to annoy [people]? No. You can put loudspeakers. There are rules. There is religion. There is tradition. There are laws. There is Halacha. Now, as you say, we respect [the use of muezzin]. It does not disturb me. When I see the Arabs celebrating Ramadan should I come and disturb them deliberately? Absolutely not. I respect them and I also come to them. I come to respect them. And I want that they will also respect me, let me celebrate my festive days. Now, if I cannot celebrate my festive days we have a problem here and you are right... I fully believe that those who behind this [the recent attack on the Acre rabbinate by Arabs] are [motivated by] political factors..."

Anet Haskia: "Yes".

Rav Yashar: "... They want to gain a political gain of this. I don't believe that the residents... the ordinary Arab resident would do something like that. What one thinks it doesn't matter. An Arab is allowed to think that he would prefer to be here without Jews. To think so is fine. But you cannot do it. You would not expel the Jews from here..."

Anet Haskia: "No".

Rav Yashar: "...And the Jews would not expel the Arab from here. It would not help. We will live here together..."

Anet Haskia: "Indeed. There is the reality"...

(h/t and translation O)
  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From MEMRI:



Following are excerpts from an interview with Suha Arafat, widow of Yasser Arafat, which aired on Dubai TV on December 16, 2012:

Suha Arafat: Yasser Arafat had made a decision to launch the Intifada. Immediately after the failure of the Camp David [negotiations], I met him in Paris upon his return, in July 2001 [sic]. Camp David has failed, and he said to me: “You should remain in Paris.” I asked him why, and he said: “Because I am going to start an Intifada. They want me to betray the Palestinian cause. They want me to give up on our principles, and I will not do so. I do not want Zahwa’s friends in the future to say that Yasser Arafat abandoned the Palestinian cause and principles. I might be martyred, but I shall bequeath our historical heritage to Zahwa and to the children of Palestine.”

She has said this before:



As have prominent PLO officials:



Palestinian Media Watch has an entire list of such statements.

There is a pattern of Israel's enemies attacking Israel in order to make political gains - effectively expecting to be rewarded for aggression. World leaders, and way too many Israelis, are eager to let them get away with it.
  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Reuters:
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday forbade local journalists from working with "hostile" Israeli media, it said in a statement.

The weekly cabinet meeting decided "to ban work with all Zionist media and journalists," and to declare Israeli media "hostile."

The statement mentioned Israeli media and television stations which operate in Gaza through local Palestinian production companies, working with Palestinian journalists.

This was the first time Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2006, has issued such an edict, the statement noted.
It will be interesting to see if Reporters Without Borders or the International Federation of Journalists condemn this.
  • Wednesday, December 26, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Two Circles:

Shia community has once again raised the demand for handing over the Free Masonic Temple situated at Ram Tirath Marg in Hazratganj at Lucknow. A signature campaign has begun by Shia-e-Haider-e-Karrar for staking claim over the campus.

The association aims to get over two lakhs signatures in support of their campaign. “We will hand over the signatures and memorandum to the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Shia clerics have also extended their support to our movement,” said Ehtisham Haider, an office bearer of the association.

Earlier on 12 September 2011, hundreds of of Shia Muslims led by Imam-e-Juma Maulana Kalbe Jawwad had staged protest to stake claim over Free Masonic Temple. Shias claimed it be to a mausoleum of their Imams and presently being illegally occupied by Jews.

As per the claims of the Shia Muslims, the Free Masonic Temple is waqf property registered by the name Waqf Karbala Moatmuddaula with Shia Waqf Board. It was constructed by King Naseeuruddin Haider in 1815. It came under the possession of East India Company in February 1856 and they handed it over to Jews."

According to them, Britishers confiscated the properties of Shias for their participation in independence struggle.
At the earlier rally in September 2011:
Regarding the Free Masonic Temple, they claimed that the organisation is anti national and is engaged in subversive activities. "There should be a vigil over their activities. We do not want such organisations to stay in India. However, if the government is desirous they can hand over another suitable location to them," said Jawwad.

Meanwhile, the local residents surrounding the complex remained apprehensive due to heavy police force and agitating Muslims. Many of them climbed on their rooftops and locked their doors.
It appears that Muslims in India believe that they have the right to any land they want through intimidation and false legal claims when in fact their only claim is based on a perceived loss of honor. The idea that "Jews" control an area that they regard as theirs is simply unacceptable.

But I'm sure that's only in India.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Holy Land Missions, December 21:
Pressure from the local community is forcing the hands of the Bethlehem municipality to take down a large Christmas billboard sign that has Jesus on it.

"€œIn the birthplace of Christianity, we have seen over the years that the Christmas holiday has been reduced to snowmen and bells,€" said Pastor Steven Khoury of Holy Land Missions; the ministry behind putting the 1200 square foot sign up. He added, "€œThe essential message of the holiday season has been taken away for fear of what the dominant factors in Bethlehem would say."

Vandals had cut the electric cable surrounding the sign to ensure that it would not be lit up during the night. Barraged with phone calls from the local community, the municipality informed Pastor Khoury that many are campaigning asking us to take down the sign. ...The billboard sign is located at Manger Square with the slogan "Jesus born to die and rose again. Invite him into your heart so you might live - Merry Christmas"€ has caused some people to come out of their cars and take pictures.

Out of fear of repercussions, no one is willing to sell electricity access to the billboard. So Pastor Khoury has been going out with a portable generator and several high beam spotlights and lighting the sign up himself. Anticipating that the sign might be coming down any time, Khoury quickly did one last film next to the billboard sign.


How did every single reporter in Bethlehem miss a story about a pastor who was trying to put up a billboard with a Christian message?

It has an attractive protagonist, who speaks English well. It is an underdog story. It is about freedom of religion. It has the irony of Jesus being absent from Bethlehem. This story is made for TV and print media.

There must be a reason why the reporters ignored this story. Perhaps because of the types of people who are against the sign? Pastor Khoury doesn't identify them, so it is unclear who they are.  All we know is that they are dominant in Bethlehem (so they can't be Christians), that they are from the local community (so they can't be Jews)  that they are threatening those who support the message with violence (so they can't be Quakers,) and that reporters are reluctant to report when these people are acting against freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

This is a tough one.

(h/t Petra)
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Al Arabiya:
The Middle East Broadcasting Center’s children entertainment channel MBC3 hit back on Tuesday at a prominent Saudi preacher who urged parents to prevent their kids from watching the channel because its content promotes “atheism and corruption” according to him.

Sheikh Mohammad al-Arifi, known for his controversial statements, wrote in a twitter post, "It is prohibited to enable your child to watch MBC3 children; its scenes are full of ideas of atheism and corruption; remove it now; your child is in your care.”

MBC3 issued a statement describing Arifi's twitter post as "tendentious and far from reality altogether."

The MBC3 statement pointed to a previous seen as preposterous religious edict by Arifi in which he said a daughter should not sit alone with her father for fear that she might tempt him into lusting after her.

"Words cannot describe such mentality and such rationale, especially that it is coming from individuals who should be at the psychiatric hospital to treat abnormal thinking instead of issuing fatwas,” the MBC statement added.

Sheikh Arifi had called on his followers on Twitter to boycott advertisers on MBC channels. Ironically as some commentators may see, the sheikh presents a religious show on another Arab television network which has a similar grid of programming and Western content.
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
Transcript from NPR:
Now we turn to a community in Detroit that's unexpectedly playing Santa Claus today. You may have heard the joke that Chinese restaurants get packed on Christmas Day with all the people who don't observe the holiday. About 20 years ago, the Detroit Jewish Community Relations Council decided to forgo the chop suey and instead spend the day serving the city.
The council now runs an annual Mitzvah Day that brings out close to a thousand people - mostly Jewish, but other faiths participate, as well. And they volunteer at homeless shelters, group homes and nearly 40 other projects around the city. We wanted to hear more about this service event, so we've called on two faith leaders in the Detroit area who've been involved for a number of years.
Micki Grossman is the co-chair of Mitzvah Day, which she's participated in for the past two decades. And Dr. Muzammil Ahmed has organized members of his Muslim community to pitch in, as well. He's head of the Michigan Muslim Community Council. Welcome to you both.
MICKI GROSSMAN: Thank you.
MUZAMMIL AHMED: Thank you.
HEADLEE: Micki, let's begin with you. We know about the Chinese food joke. That's been a long-running bit of humor. But how did this begin with the Jewish Community Relations Council? Why did the group decide to spend Christmas Day differently?
GROSSMAN: Well, first of all, I have to tell you that traditionally, in the Jewish community, synagogues and temples had independently picked up programs and would go into a soup kitchen and so forth on Christmas Day. They would have their men's club and sisterhood do something like that.
So there were a few congregations that did it. About 20-some years ago, it actually was a group of women who - Jewish women, who did volunteer work during the year who sat around and discussed the fact that: Why don't we do something big on Christmas Day? And see what we could do about it. And so we started out that way.
I didn't originate the plan, but I was on that steering committee. And we had about 200 volunteers that year, men and women.
HEADLEE: Well, for those of our listeners who are not Jewish, explain what mitzvah means and how a mitzvah is part of the Jewish faith.
GROSSMAN: Mitzvah is a commandment. It's become translated as a good deed, but it actually is a requirement that we have to do something to repair the world, to make life better for other people. Whether they're homeless, hungry, sick or poor, that's just one of the tenets of our faith. And so we use the word mitzvah. And so it became Mitzvah Day that we're going out and doing something good, and it's also a good way to spend the day or part of the day.
HEADLEE: So, Dr. Ahmed, does the Muslim faith have something like mitzvah? Is that also a commandment for Muslims?
AHMED: It certainly is. One of our five pillars of faith is giving zakat, which is charity. And as part of charity, we consider performing charitable acts and deeds something that is highly encouraged and very much an example that we want to set for ourselves and our families. So doing service work, doing small things and large things for the community is something that is an integral part of our faith.
HEADLEE: But why Christmas? How did the people in your Muslim community get involved, and why choose Christmas as the day for serving the community?
AHMED: That's an excellent question, and in some way, I think we're following the footsteps of the Jewish community in that many Muslims that have been in America have been doing a lot of charitable activities and functions over the years, but on Christmas Day, we don't necessarily celebrate Christmas, but we did want to recognize and respect the people around us that do have wonderful experiences on this day. And we wanted to share in that experience somehow, yet maintain our own independence and identity. And the Mitzvah Day seemed like a wonderful way to give back to the community at a time when they need it. And the community has always stepped forward to stand up for the Muslim community in recent months with different things that have happened. We thought this would be a great time to be able to give back.
GROSSMAN: Could I jump in for just a minute? Because...
HEADLEE: Of course.
GROSSMAN: ...about three years ago, the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council was having lunch with two leaders from the Muslim community, and they were just sitting around talking. And somehow, Robert told them about preparing for Mitzvah Day, and he had said, you know, this is something for us to do, because we don't celebrate Christmas the same way.
And so that's how it evolved. And it's ongoing. I mean, we have many partnerships that the Jewish and Muslim community do together, but this has become a spectacular event.
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:

Palestinians Burning Their Bridges
"The Palestinians and their leadership have spent the last 20 years converting a strong Israeli majority in favor of the peace process into one that regards the whole concept as a dangerous fantasy. Twenty years ago the Israeli left romped in an election that relegated the Likud to minority status. In next month’s Knesset elections, not even the Labor party will spend time advocating for more concessions to the Palestinians in exchange for the hope of peace. Terrorism, the second intifada, the rise of Hamas and the conversion of Gaza into a terror state have effectively destroyed the Israeli left. But rather than react to this somber shift in the mood of their neighbors with an attempt to restart peace talks or to convince them that their goal is to end the conflict rather than to merely continue it on more advantageous terms, the Palestinians are planning on doubling down on their negative image."

Majority in House: Punish PLO, Close Its Office
A majority of the House of Representatives wants to punish the PLO and close down its DC office, but the Senate rejected a similar move.

Maikel Nabil Sanad, Political Activist and Blogger Brings Tidings From Egypt to Israel
“I’m breaking a taboo coming to Israel, but I’m not the first Egyptian to do so,” said Maikel Nabil Sanad, a political activist and blogger who was jailed and tortured for 302 days for criticizing the Egyptian army post-Mubarak. He was pardoned by the Egyptian military in January 2012 following international pressure and efforts of several different human rights organizations including UN Watch.

As Hagel’s star withers, will a blunt-talking policy wonk drop her kids to take the Pentagon?
Michele Flournoy has been touted by conservatives, Israel supporters, women’s rights activists and Democrats for the US defense secretary post. But does she even want the job?
"A senior Republican Senate aide told Politico that Flournoy was well versed in Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, which is partially funded by the US, as well as regional arms sales and the importance of Israel’s military edge over its neighbors.
On Iran, her views seemingly fall in line with the pentagon’s official position, that a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities must be kept on the table, though the option is not an effective one."

Bethlehem's Christmas war on Jesus
"The Khoury's live in Bethlehem. Steven was raised there where his father, Dr. Naim Khoury, started Holy Land Ministries in 1980. During the past 32 years Steven, his family and the ministry's congregations have experienced opposition to the gospel of Jesus the Messiah, God's incarnate Word made flesh.
There have been threats and muggings, fire bombs and murder. Many believers have fled the region, but the Khoury's remain. Every Sunday, worship and teaching are broadcast from speakers atop their local church's steeple, clashing with Islamic calls to prayer."

Radical Muslims Take Anti-Christian Protest to St Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Eve
"A group of radical Muslims is planning to use St Paul's Cathedral to protest against the sins of British society and the fallacy of the Bible.
The protesters were due to gather outside the cathedral at 1pm, while a Christmas Eve Eucharist takes place inside.
Ahead of the protest, radical preacher Anjem Choudary claimed that Jesus belonged to Islam and that British society was riddled with "sin".

Honest Reporting: The 5 Best Articles of 2012
"I don’t want to let the curtain fall on 2012 without acknowledging that sometimes, Big Media gets the story right. While looking over content for the 2012 Dishonest Reporter Awards, I promised myself I’d follow up with a positive list. It’s my own subjective list, and I invite you to post your own list of articles in the comments section."

Eye on the UN: Antisemitism & The Latest Performance of Roger Waters

Egyptian Army Thwarts Rocket Smuggling to Gaza
Armed forces in the Sinai foiled an attempt to smuggle 17 rockets to Gaza.
"Armed Forces personnel in North Sinai, in cooperation with local Bedouins, foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle 17 rockets to Gaza, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
A military source told the agency that the rockets are a French-made TDI model, caliber 68 mm, range three kilometers and can be used air to land or land to land."

‘Agent 15’ Paralyzing Syrian Victims
Assad’s forces probably are using “Agent 15,” which causes paralysis. The worse news is that Assad has more deadly chemical weapons.

Russian military presence in Syria poses challenge to US-led intervention
Advisers deployed with surface-to-air systems bolster President Assad's defences and complicate outcome of any future strikes

Assad’s Cash Problem: Will Syria’s Dwindling Reserves Bring Down the Regime?
"But it is the Syrian leader who faces total collapse in the face of bankruptcy. So dire are Assad’s finances, in fact, that in recent months Russia flew eight plane-loads of Syrian banknotes, printed in Russia, to Damascus, in a kind of rescue package estimated to weigh about 240 tons, according to flight records obtained by ProPublica, a U.S.-based non-profit investigative journalism organization."

Female Warrior to be Honored for Killing Terrorist
A female soldier from the Caracal unit who killed a terrorist near the border with Egypt will be given a citation on Tuesday.
"The Head of the IDF's Southern Command, Tal Russo, will award a citation on Tuesday to a female fighter in the IDF's mixed sex Caracal unit, who shot and killed a terrorist who carried out a terror attack near Israel's border with Egypt in September."

Spain, Israel plan to work on infrastructure projects
"Spanish Development Minister Ana Pastor Sunday opened the door to Spanish businesses and experts to participate in big infrastructure projects that Israel will put up for bidding in the near future at a total cost of more than 10 billion euros (USD 13.2 billion).
Expansion of ports, electrification of railroad lines, new highways, tunnels and even the construction of a mixed high-speed train line between the Mediterranean and Red Seas are some of the projects to which Spanish firms will aspire after the signing Sunday of a technical cooperation agreement between the two countries."

Sacramento City Council Members Who Resisted BDS Dedicating Ambulance to Ashkelon
"The ambulance was given as a gift to Ashkelon by Robert Leeds, a 13-year-old from the Los Angeles area who wanted to make a contribution to a worthy civic cause, according to a StandWithUs press statement. Attendees of Leeds’s bar mitzvah, instead of giving him gifts, were told to designate money toward the ambulance.
The ambulance dedication is a thank you to the city of Sacramento for approving the newest sister city resolution with Ashkelon last August despite opposition from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in their on-going attempts to pariah the state of Israel,” Gail Rubin, representing the Sacramento-Davis area chapter of SWU, told JNS"

Israel Daily Picture: Christmas in the Holy Land 100 Years Ago
The photographs on this page were taken by the American Colony Photographic Department before and after World War I when the British captured Palestine after 400 years of Ottoman rule.


  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
El Balad reports that Sheikh Mahmoud Murad Amam, a preacher in Damanhour, attacked Egypt's secularists while delivering a sermon Friday.

He described secularists as "more dangerous than the Zionists and Jews."

"They are receiving external funding to destabilize Egypt," he said, adding attacks on the media and journalists, accusing them of lying and slander against him for their reporting on his previous sermons.

(h/t Lachlan)
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ma'an:
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday criticized Arab states for evading their financial commitments to the PA.

Arab countries have yet to follow through on a pledge in March to provide a financial safety net of $100 million monthly to the PA to mitigate Israeli sanctions, which were imposed in November.

During a visit to Jenin, Fayyad called for an urgent Arab summit to address the PA's financial crisis.
So what else is new?
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
The Dead Sea Scrolls:
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) is very proud to present the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, a free online digitized virtual library of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hundreds of manuscripts made up of thousands of fragments – discovered from 1947 and until the early 1960’s in the Judean Desert along the western shore of the Dead Sea – are now available to the public online. The high resolution images are extremely detailed and can be accessed through various search options on the site.

With the generous lead support of the Leon Levy Foundation and additional generous support of the Arcadia Fund, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Google joined forces to develop the most advanced imaging and web technologies to bring to the web hundreds of Dead Sea Scrolls images as well as specially developed supporting resources in a user-friendly platform intended for the public, students and scholars alike.


The Mishnah:
The text of the Mishnah describes the first written account of the early Jewish oral tradition and the earliest significant work of Rabbinic Judaism. It dates from the period of the second century BCE at a time when persecution of the Jewish populations gave rise to the fear that the details of the oral traditions dating from the first five centuries BCE might be lost. As a written authority it is second only to the Bible text and can be used as a source of authority for making judgments. The Mishnah is divided into six orders (Shisha Sedarim) and over the next six centuries, along with further commentaries, came to form the Talmud. The major part of the text of the Mishnah is written in Hebrew and reflects the debates which took place in the first and second centuries CE by a group of Rabbinic thinkers known as the Tannaim. It teaches by drawing on examples of specific judgments along with debates by notable Rabbis, and discusses problems from all areas of human existence.

This is one of only three complete manuscripts of the Mishnah, and considered to be 'an outstanding witness of the western type of Mishnaic Hebrew'. Of the manuscript, Schiller-Szinessy (vol. ii p. 9) writes: ‘Although this copy can lay claim neither to a very great age, nor to absolute correctness, we cannot hesitate to pronounce it to be a MS. beyond all price.’ Edited by W. H. Lowe, ‘The Mishnah on which the Palestinian Talmud Rests’ (Cambridge, 1883) – although that title can be considered inaccurate given more recent research on the manuscript.

((h/t Yoel)
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
Hamas continues to slowly release obituaries of terrorists killed during Pillar of Defense. (HRW used the absence of names on the Al Qassam website as evidence that the dead could not be terrorists!)

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights described a "civilian" death this way:
At approximately 19:50 on Saturday [November 17], an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a gathering of Palestinian civilians in Wadi al-Salqa village, killing Ali Hassan Bin Saeed, 25, and wounding 3 others.

But Hamas released Saeed's obituary today, referring to him as a "mujahid."

Saeed was born in Saudi Arabia, but went to UNRWA schools in central Gaza. He attended Palestine Technical College for management and office automation, and received his bachelors degree in business administration. He joined Hamas in 2005 and the Al Qassam Brigades in 2006. He was involved in working on several weapons smuggling tunnels and participated in Cast Lead as well as Pillar of Defense.

This is one of the people who are being identified in the media as a "civilian" killed by Israel, basing it on PCHR's bogus statistics.

(poster h/t Challah Hu Akbar)
  • Tuesday, December 25, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon


 Barak Ravid in Ha'aretz writes a truly bizarre article that discerns anti-Muslim bigotry in this brief talk.
“Today Christian communities throughout the Middle East are shrinking and many of them are in danger,” said Netanyahu, according to the announcement published by his bureau in Hebrew and English. “...this is of course not true in Israel. Here there is a strong and growing Christian community that participates fully in the life of our country.”

Netanyahu did not specify in his greeting exactly who is threatening to annihilate the Christians, but it's clear from the wording that he means the Muslims. As he did last year, he emphasized that the Christian community in Israel is large and that it enjoys freedom of religion and freedom to worship, but this year he added a hinted reference to the “Judeo-Christian heritage.”

The reference is to a sensitive term taken from the conceptual world of the rightist-evangelical anti-Muslim wing of the Republican Party.
Dexter Van Zile in The Algemeiner points out that every Christian knows that Muslim extremists are indeed threatening Christians in the Middle East; it hardly needs to be mentioned.

In fact, by not mentioning the Muslim tormentors of Christians, Netanyahu was going out of his way to make his Christmas message upbeat, not the hateful rant Ravid thinks it is.

Moreover, Ravid asserts that Netanyahu "hints" of the the phrase "Judeo-Christian heritage" and implies that this is an unforgivable anti-Muslim phrase.

In reality, the phrase is not as loaded as Ravid believes it is - it has been used way before modern Zionism.

Netanyahu's actual words can hardly be more innocuous - or accurate.  He said "We hope that you will recall the places where Judaism and Christianity emerged." Who but a conspiracy theorist can find offense at that sentence?

Just like Netanyahu doesn't use the word "Muslim," he doesn't use the phrase "Judeo-Christian." Ravid is basing his article on what Netanyahu doesn't say and draws fevered conclusions from what he believes are the secret racist beliefs underlying the message with these omissions!

This isn't the work of a journalist or of a editorialist - these are the ravings of a paranoiac who is determined to see hidden meanings in everything uttered by his imagined enemies.

Finally, it is useful to point out that, unlike Netanyahu's positive message for Christians on the holiday, Mahmoud Abbas' Christmas message was literally filled with explicit hateful attacks on Israel and Zionism, referring to the Jewish state's "injustice and tyranny" and Israel's desire to "Judaize the whole earth." He accuses Israel of "eroding the national and religious culture" of Palestinian Christians. He says that Israel is "tormenting" Palestinian Arabs and making their lives a "living hell." Beyond his explicit message of hate, Abbas further implies that Palestine is only sacred to Christians and Muslims, not Jews.

The contrast between Netanyahu and Abbas could not be starker.

Ha'aretz, of course, has nothing bad to say about Abbas' speech. In fact, it never even reported it. That would upset the narrative of the evil, extremist Netanyahu versus the moderate, liberal Abbas. We can't have that.

Monday, December 24, 2012

In May 2011, to much fanfare, Mahmoud Abbas announced that he removed leniencies to the Palestinian Arab laws that reduced murder sentences in the case of "honor killings," if a woman is murdered for reasons of "family honor."

I noted at the time that he didn't bother to get rid of the law, but sort of amended it a little with still lots of loopholes.

It was even worse than I interpreted it. Abbas did literally nothing.
President Mahmoud Abbas has no plans to amend laws that reduce sentences for suspects who claim an "honor" defense for murdering women, his legal adviser says.

"Why change it? This would cause serious problems," Hassan al-Ouri told Ma’an, adding that such a reform would "not benefit women."

In May 2011, the president pledged to amend the law to guarantee maximum penalties for "honor killing" in response to protests over the killing of university student Aya Baradiya in Hebron.

The decision was announced in a phone call to a primetime show on state TV, drawing tears among crowds of mourners shown in a live link-up from the Ramallah studio to Baradiya’s hometown.

Abbas suspended Article 340, which offers a pardon for murder if the perpetrator committed the crime on finding his wife in bed with another man.

The reform was cosmetic: Article 340 had never been used in Palestinian courts since it was legislated in 1960.

"So why did we change the law? To garner public opinion," al-Ouri said in an interview in the presidential compound in Ramallah.

"I, personally, was against the amendment because the crimes that happen in the street have no relevance to Article 340," the legal adviser added.

Al-Ouri says the president will not change the go-to clauses for lawyers seeking leniency for clients who claim they committed murder to defend family "honor."

Articles 97 to 100 of the Jordanian Penal Code, in force in the West Bank, still offer reduced sentences for any act of battery or murder committed in a "state of rage."

In 2009, Abbas ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but al-Ouri, the legal adviser, says it will only be implemented "so long as it doesn’t contravene Islamic code."

"Look, we are for total equality but if there is a basic tenet of Islamic code that we would be forced to change under CEDAW, then people would revolt and brand us as non-believers," al-Ouri said.
It's still open season on Palestinian Arab women, thanks to Mahmoud Abbas, the darling of the the Left!

I'd love to hear what the anti-Israel Code Pink group has to say about this....

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

  • Monday, December 24, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon


For the confused, here is Slate's article about Nittel Nacht. A more "lomdish" article is here.

(h/t Yerushalimey)
  • Monday, December 24, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
Hamas' spokesman, Abu Obeida, responded to Human Rights Watch's charges that they target civilians by simply denyng it.

While he admitted that the Hamas rockets aren't accurate enough to target precisely, he claimed that all of Hamas' rockets are aimed at military sites.

Now, compare what Hamas says now with its press release on the last day of the fighting last month (excerpts):

The Al Qassam Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the following jihad tasks :
Day: Wednesday Date: 07 Muharram 1434, corresponding to 11/21/2012
Details :
- At 01:55 we bombed occupied "Ashdod" with 5 Grad rockets.
- At 04:30 we bombed occupied "Ashdod" with a makeshift rocket.
- At 09:45 we bombed occupied "Beersheba" with a Grad rocket.
- At 10:15 we bombed "Kiryat Malachi" with 3 Grad rockets.
- At 10:15 we bombed "Sderot" with a Qassam rocket.
- At 11:07 we bombed "Nir Yitzhak" with 3 Katyusha rockets.
- At 11:18 we bombed "Kiryat Malachi" 7 Grad rockets.
- At 11:10 we bombed "Kissufim" with two mortars.
- at 13:50 we bombed occupied "Beersheba " with 4 Grad rockets.
- at 15:20 we bombed troop concentrations in the military location of "Nahal Oz" with two mortar shells caliber.
- at 19:50 the bombing of "Ofakim" with a Grad missile.
....

This brings the number of rockets fired by the Qassam Brigades towards enemy positions since the beginning of the aggression to 1573 rockets.

This comes in the context of responding to the Zionist crimes and massacres committed against civilians and the bombing of houses over the heads of their inhabitants what led to the martyrdom and injury of dozens of innocent citizens

The Qassam Brigades committed itself to turn the life of Zionists into hell, and make them regret their heinous crimes against the innocent and crush their pride and to soak their noses in the dirt.
They also published numerous posters glorifying their ability to make ordinary Israelis run into shelters, which is consistent with their stated goal of - literally - terrorizing ordinary Israelis.

But if they repeat the lie that they only target military sites often enough, the media will start believing it.
  • Monday, December 24, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:

Hamastine: A Present from the U.N. to Khaled Mashaal by Amin Farouk
"The West, which stands on the sidelines and condones their criminality through inaction, should take into consideration that eventually Israel will be forced to take determined steps against the Palestinian terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, as the Allies did for example, against Dresden. When that happens, the UN would do well not to complain: Israel has the right to defend itself, just as, in the Second World War, the Allies had the right to defend themselves -- as any country has a right to defend itself."

When the Terrorists Become the Standard Bearers
"When Wolf Blitzer was covering Operation Pillar of Defense, he had a guest on the show from Gaza describing the Gaza side of the story. The conversation seemed more like a Saturday Night Live skit. The guest explained how Israel was sending missiles into heavily populated areas, and that the missiles were doing a lot of damage. Wolf then asked with a curious intonation whether the rockets that were being fired from Gaza were guided or were falling haphazardly into Israel. The guest concurred that not only were they unguided, but Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system was abating the impact of the Hamas weapons. To which Wolf asked, “There is no Iron Dome or its equivalent on the Gaza side, right?” The guest said, “No, Israel’s missiles are hitting inside and destroying….” Gaza’s infrastructure."

CIF Watch: CiF Watch prompts Guardian correction to Ashrawi claim regarding ‘Jews only’ homes
"Ashrawi was slyly attempting to con CiF readers into believing that new homes in eastern Jerusalem would be leased to residents based on a discriminatory policy in order to buttress her broader narrative of Israeli racism."

Honest Reporting: Squeezing a Story Out of Bethlehem
"The Guardian regularly trashes or undermines Jewish historical claims to the land of Israel that go back to biblical times. Why is it, however, that the same paper has no problem promoting the claims of Palestinians using biblical imagery to buttress the case if those Palestinians happen to be Christian?"

Video Captures Arab Firebombing of Historic Jewish House in Jerusalem’s Old City
"Arabs in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem’s old city videotaped their firebombing of the Jewish Meyuhas House according to Israel’s Channel 10. The video was posted to YouTube on December 22nd and was apparently shot the night before. The video credits “Bustan
Cultural Center” for capturing the footage."


Israel Targeted Gaza Civilians – with Humanitarian Aid
"Israel “targeted” Gaza civilians with humanitarian aid during the counter-terrorist Pillar of Defense operation, at the same time Gaza terrorists committed war crimes by firing missiles on Israelis, as cited by Human Rights Watch on Monday."

Al Jazeera: Assad Unleashed Chemical Weapons
Assad has dropped bombs containing toxic gases, killing six people and blinding others in Homs, Al Jazeera reported Monday.

Air strike kills dozens of Syrians in bread line
Activists say large crowd was queuing for bread, video shows dozens of dead bodies; special envoy arrives for new talks.
Christianity 'close to extinction' in Middle East
Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.
"The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.
And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.
Here's the beginning of the book this article refers to:

November Free Chapter - Christianophobia by Robert Shortt

Christians in Israel Well-Off, Statistics Show
Christians in Israel are prosperous and well-educated - but some fear that Muslim intimidation will cause a mass escape to the West
"The Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday released statistics on the 158,000-strong Christian community in Israel. The statistics showed that Christians living in Israel are well-educated and prosperous – but there were fears that Muslim intimidation in cities in northern Israel, where many of them live, are causing large numbers to consider emigrating to the West."

After 1,500 years, frankincense returns to the Holy Land in time for Christmas
"Seven years after I revealed her success in sprouting a 2,000 year-old date palm seed found on Masada, botanist Dr Elaine Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies has done it again.
1,500 years after the last frankincense tree disappeared from the Holy Land, Dr Solowey has managed to grow the first shoots of a tree whose scented white sap was once worth more than gold."

Israel water tech start-up all WET after contest
"TACount, which developed an innovative technology to detect bacteria in water and food, was declared ‘ready to export’ at the Water Export Technology Revolution Competition
Last week was a big one for water in Israel, as seven companies competed in the final round of the prestigious W.E.T. (Water Export Technology) Revolution Competition."

ISRAEL21c’s top 10 stories of 2012
2012 was a year of innovation and progress. To celebrate the New Year, ISRAEL21c looks back at the top stories of the year.
"If you read the world’s newspapers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the only things happening in Israel this year were security related: the looming threat of a conflict with Iran, missiles from Gaza and unrest on Israel’s borders. The pages of ISRAEL21c, however, tell a completely different story."
  • Monday, December 24, 2012
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the New York Daily News:
When it comes to Israel and school shootings, Wayne LaPierre doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Israeli security experts said Sunday.

Such shootings are very rare in Israel and have been associated with terror attacks, not crazed gunmen, they said.

Appearing on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, NRA honcho LaPierre said: “Israel had a whole lot of school shootings, until they did one thing. They said we’re going to stop it and they put armed security in every school and they have not had a problem since then.”

But Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the situation in Israel was “fundamentally different” from that in the United States.

“We didn’t have a series of school shootings, and they had nothing to do with the issue at hand in the United States. We had to deal with terrorism,” said Palmor.

“What removed the danger was not the armed guards but an overall anti-terror policy and anti-terror operations which brought street terrorism down to nearly zero over a number of years,” he said. “It would be better not to drag Israel into what is an internal American discussion,” he added.

“There is no comparison between maniacs with psychological problems opening fire at random to kill innocent people and trained terrorists trying to murder Israeli children,” said Reuven Berko, a retired Israeli Army colonel and senior police officer.

In recent years, restrictions on gun ownership in Israel have been tightened, not relaxed.

“Israeli citizens are not allowed to carry guns unless they are serving in the army or working in security-related jobs that require them to use a weapon,” said Berko.

The worst attack on an Israeli school was in 1974, when terrorists from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine took 115 people hostage in a school in Maalot in northern Israel. Twenty-five people were killed as Israeli commandos stormed the building, 22 of them children.

“The attempt to compare the two tragedies is absurd,” said Prof. Gerald Steinberg of Bar-Ilan University. “Palestinian terror attacks like one one at Maalot — the goal of which was to use the children as hostages in order to free other terrorists — are totally different from crimes committed by deranged people with guns.”

Despite having a standing army of more than 100,000 and police and security guards carrying guns on the street, Israel has strict firearms licensing and supervision.
Licenses must be renewed regularly and cannot be issued to people with a history of mental problems or a criminal background.

“In a country where hundreds of thousands of people carry firearms, it is essential to manage the training, licensing and authorization of those who wish to be armed,” said Yakov Amit, head of the firearms licensing department of the Public Security Ministry.
I have occasionally written about the Kotel haKatan, the small area of the Western Wall that is rarely visited even though it is actually closer to the holiest area of the Temple Mount than the more famous Kotel is.

Yesterday afternoon there was a Jewish prayer service there for the occasion of the fast of the 10th of Tevet.

A Muslim took a video of these "Talmudic rituals" being performed and now there are articles are in today's Islamist media complaining about how this literally otherwise empty area is a holy Muslim spot called "the strap of the Kurds." Even the supposedly liberal Ma'an in Arabic complained about the "Talmudic rituals" being performed there.



For fun, I did a Google search on the "Strap of the Kurds" in Arabic. There are thousands of results, but every single one I could find was in articles about how Jews are trying to pray there.

Like the larger Kotel and so many other Muslim "holy sites," their importance is directly proportionate to how much other religions are interested in them.

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