Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, December 30, 2012

How Israel's drones minimize civilian casualties

A single Syrian missile strike on a bakery near Hama killed more than 60 innocent civilians last week, so how did Israel manage to fire more than 1,500 high powered missiles into densely-populated Gaza in November, with the total loss of 161 lives, of which 90 have been acknowledged by Hamas itself as active combatants? [I don't think Hamas has directly acknowledged that number of combatants yet, but pro-Hamas sources have documented far more militants killed than the numbers given by Gaza organizations -EoZ]

The numbers speak for themselves, but very little credit has so far been given by foreign governments, NGOs, and the international media for the care taken by the Israeli military to avoid collateral damage during its recent vicious engagement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.

‘Major G,' the chief instructing officer of the Israeli UAV (Drone) School, spoke exclusively to Foxnews.com on condition of anonymity about Israel’s hi-tech drone capabilities, his military’s terms of engaging the enemy, and aspects of his direct role in the recent Gaza conflict in which Israel strongly contends most non-combatant deaths were as a result of Palestinian civilians being routinely used as human shields by Hamas.

“Drones (UAVs – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), play a very important and essential role in the protection of the State of Israel,” ‘Major G’ explained. “The great advantage of the drone is the ability to stay in the air for up to 40 hours at a time above the relevant area to perform ISR missions - Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.”

Once a drone identifies a target, its operator is then responsible for setting in motion a sometimes dizzyingly fast chain of events that may result in a missile strike taking place.

“Using commercial apertures and video cameras, we have the ability to work with both daytime and night time infrared images. My Heron1 drone does only ISR, but I have the ability to designate a target to another aircraft. This capability is very important because I am able to stay above and investigate the target for a long time, clear it of uninvolved civilians, and only when there is a clear path of fire do I call for the F16 or Apache helicopter,” said ‘Major G.’

Critics of Israel’s actions invariably suggest a lack of concern about collateral damage when air strikes are used, but ‘Major G’ revealed in detail how a drone operator sitting somewhere in Israel can clear a target on the ground in Gaza of innocent civilians.

“In a lot of cases we have regular houses where in the basement there is a lot of ammunition, bombs and missiles. The house is populated sometimes with the families having willingly cooperated with the Hamas, and in other cases they don’t have any choice; Hamas forces this on them. In cases where there are people inside a house or building we never strike the target without prior warning. We make phone calls, send leaflet flier warnings, and sometimes use a technique called ‘Knock On the Roof,’ where we fire very, very small, very precise tiny bombs onto the edge of the roof and then they (the family) know that the attack is about to begin and everybody can go outside.”

But even the best intelligence and prior warnings cannot always prevent civilian casualties caught up in the fog of war, as happened in the widely reported case of the Dalou family in Gaza, nine of whom were killed by a single Israeli missile strike.

FoxNews.com asked the Israel Defense Force for an official explanation on the loss of life at the Dalou house and received the following statement:

“The IDF targets only terror related sites based on carefully collected intelligence. All possible precautions were taken as the civilians in Gaza were not targets in this operation. The Dalou residence was known to the IDF intelligence as a hideout of a senior militant operative in Hamas' rocket launching infrastructure. While the IDF regrets the loss of life on both sides, the responsibility ultimately lies with terror operatives who use the civil population as human shields when using civilian buildings as hideouts, or to store weaponry.”

The latter part of the IDF statement has been backed up by Human Rights Watch, which also slammed the Palestinians for randomly attacking densely populated civilian areas in Israel.

“Unlike during previous fighting, armed groups seem to have fired many rockets from underground tunnels, opening a hatch to launch the munition,” HRW stated in its Dec. 24 report.

One of the first points stressed by ‘Major G’ is that the background to many missiles strikes is extensive surveillance and monitoring by various branches of the military and intelligence services for weeks, months, or even years prior to the moment of the strike. Although he didn’t discuss the specific case of Ahmed Jabari, this was evident in the strike that killed the high ranking Hamas terrorist mastermind, the spark that finally ignited November’s hostilities.

...
“Since the Second Lebanon War, we have developed a new technique called TCT; Time Critical Targets, targets that have a very short lifespan, 'Major G' said. "We (drones) find them, gather enough intelligence to confirm that this is actually a terrorist, then call for another aircraft to perform the attack.”

The Jabari case was one example of the TCT policy, and ‘Major G’ gave a very rare insight into another. “As another example from the latest Pillar of Defense operation in Gaza, we had intelligence that told us that Hamas terrorists were about to launch missiles. We scanned the area and then saw two people running away right after the launch. A basement (trap) door had closed behind them and nothing was left to be seen (of the missile launch site). This was very complicated because I didn’t know if the people running away actually performed the launch, so we turned immediately to other people who were able to check this out with verified intelligence to confirm that these were indeed the suspects. We called the helicopter and he performed the attack. All this process took less than a minute.”

Looking back on the Gaza conflict, ‘Major G’ summed up his view of how his drone unit and the IDF as a whole had performed.

“We managed to achieve all of our objectives,” he said. Nevertheless, there are always things that we can learn...and do better the next time. Our former Chief-of-Staff, Gabi Askenazi, said, “The military can be for two things; either preparing for a war, or being at war. We are prepared for every kind of scenario.”

Interestingly, Hamas' Palestine Times quoted this report extensively today.

Some random Sunday morning links

Caminos de Sefarad ("Routes of Sepharad"), a website about Jewish history in Spain. (h/t Ken)

Richard Landes of The Augean Stables uncovers a fascinating 2001 article about Osama Bin Laden's recruitment video and how effective it was in manipulating emotions.

Fatah managed to agree with Hamas on a venue for its celebrations in Gaza, to be held January 4th. This is the 48th anniversary of Fatah's first terror attack, although Ma'an keeps pretending it is the anniversary of Fatah's founding, which was actually in the 1950s.

A Palestinian man who was killed in Syria on Friday was a senior figure in Hamas' armed wing, rebels and Hamas officials said Saturday.

TOI has "My mom and dad, the would-be Zionist plane hijackers."

Anat Kutznetzov-Zalmanson’s parents hijacked a plane, and she wants the world to know about it.

Sylva Zalmanson and Eduard Kuznetzov’s only real crime was that they wanted to leave the USSR and live freely as Jews in Israel.

To their daughter, a filmmaker, they are heroes who jumpstarted the movement to free Soviet Jewry, not the criminals the Soviet government made them out to be, sentencing one to death and the other to years of hard labor.

Thieves stole computers in Gaza - from UNRWA.

Here is an English translation of a video by Naftali Bennett, whose party, Jewish Home, in latest polls is closing in on Labor to be the second-largest party in Israel: (h/t Ian)

"Moderate" Islamist in Tunisia calls for 80 lashes against journalists who spread "rumors"

The leader of the ruling "moderate" Ennahda Islamist party in Tunisia issued a fatwa to give 80 lashes for anyone who "spreads rumors without evidence."

Rashid Al-Ghannushi made his statement on Friday.

He was referring to recent Tunisian news reports criticizing Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abu Salam. According to the reports, started on social media, Salam had been repeatedly staying in a luxury Sheraton hotel with a woman who was not his wife, and he was charging the government for the hotel room. The Tunisian media has dubbed this "Sheratongate."

Salam, after initially denying the rumor, changed his tune on Saturday after hotel receipts were produced. He then said that the woman was his cousin and that he sometimes stayed late at work and found it more convenient to go to a nearby hotel in Tunis then to commute home, and that all of the expenses were transparent. The Foreign Ministry that he leads also issued a statement also claiming that he did nothing wrong.

(h/t Lachlan)

Overnight links

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Martin Peretz - an appreciation?

"In his article, Peretz took on the propaganda claims against Israel one by one and discredited them. Among other things, he said that Israel is not a colonialist state; there is no similarity whatsoever between the US war in Vietnam, which as a self-proclaimed radical he opposed, and Israel; the creation of Israel was not sponsored by imperialist powers; Nasser is not a socialist.
Peretz excoriated the Third World and Communist countries for their failure to recognize the Arab threat to Israel's existence, calling their behavior "disgusting."

Secrets of the Iron Dome, revealed
Although he couldn’t give too much away, the CEO of Israel’s mPrest, Natan Barak, presented a fascinating overview about his company’s technology, which is at the heart of the short-range missile defense system

“One of the results of the recent Operation Pillar of Defense operation against Gaza rocket-launching terrorists was the enhanced reputation of Israeli hi-tech, thanks to the effectiveness of the Iron Dome missile defense system. People in Israel – and around the world – looked on in awe as Israeli anti-missile missiles plucked attacking rockets out of the sky, effectively vaporizing them before they could fall, whole or in parts, over populated areas.”

Iron Dome stopped 421 Hamas rockets

“The cost to operate Israel's Iron Dome rocket-intercepting system during Operation Pillar of Defense last month was about $27 million, an official said.
Israeli officials said the Iron Dome's five batteries had a kill rate of about 86 percent for the 421 rockets fired that would have hit populated areas, the Washington Post reported. Altogether there were more than 1,500 rockets fired at Israel.”

Golan Heights Residents: Israel is Ignoring Ongoing Bombing, Shooting from Syria

"A report from Israel’s Channel 10 quotes one resident as saying, “The Syrians shoot at us yet the state is silent.” The report also describes how one member of the community had their window blown out, and it quotes another resident who says, quite simply, “We want the quiet back.”

Tom Friedman: Confused and Clearly Hostile to Israel by Ed Koch

“In his December 13 column, Tom Friedman made one of his worst statements, showing his strong bias against Israel: “I sure hope that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby. The real test is what would happen if Bibi tried to speak at, let’s say, the University of Wisconsin. My guess is that many students would boycott him and many Jewish students would stay away, not because they are hostile, but because they are confused.”
Friedman has not apologized for these outrageous remarks, stating only that he regretted the words and should have chosen other terms. I suggest that it is Tom Friedman who is confused. I don’t believe even if he did apologize that the apology means anything and, in most cases, such apologies are simply an effort to end the discussion.”

Haaretz Resurrects the Khazar Jews Theory by Dore Gold

"Despite all the evidence to the contrary, the advocates of the theory tying the origins of European Jewry to the Khazar kingdom have persisted. In many cases over the last few decades, it appears that they are motivated mainly by a hostile political agenda that aims to advance the delegitimization of the Jewish state, rather than by any hard, new evidence that they have been able to marshal to date."

CIF Watch: Guardian falsely claims that “almost no” construction materials have entered Gaza

"Such facts and figures regarding construction materials entering Gaza completely contradict Harriet Sherwood’s claim that all, or “almost all”, construction materials have been banned from entering Gaza over the last two years."

Will the Guardian report on war crimes committed by Hamas?

"No, it’s not significant that HRW occasionally takes a detour from it’s egregiously disproportionate criticism of Israel to acknowledge the painfully obvious about the contempt for human life routinely displayed by the Palestinian extremists who currently rule Gaza.
The only question is whether the Guardian’s Israel correspondent will deem the Palestinians’ violation of Israeli human rights newsworthy."

BBC Watch: The BBC’s unhealthy reliance on information from medics in Gaza

"It is unacceptable that a complaint from a BBC audience member should be dismissed on the grounds that the information provided came from “Palestinian medics” when members of that group – often employed by Hamas – have been known to exploit deaths and injuries for the sake of propaganda.
The BBC needs to acknowledge the fact that information from such sources cannot automatically be classed as reliable and that independent verification is imperative for the health of the BBC’s reputation as an accurate and impartial source."

What Does ‘Mildly Islamist’ Mean?

"The Economist, amongst many others, loves to refer to Recep Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, and his Justice and Development Party, as “mildly Islamist”. He has steered Turkey to new levels of economic prosperity. He has completely overturned the Attaturk secular model of Turkish society and he has turned Turkey into an Islamic State. What I wonder does “mildly” anything mean? Is “mildly” a compliment or a condemnation of compromising mediocrity?"

Syrian Regime Firing Iranian-Made Missiles at Rebels
The Syrian regime this week fired at least two Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles at rebels, U.S. military officials say.

"According to the officials, the regime used Fateh A-110 missiles which are more accurate than the older Scud variants that Syrian government forces have used in recent weeks.
The Fateh trades range for accuracy. It can travel about 125 miles, while the Scud can go about 185 miles. But the Fateh has a "circular error probable" or - CEP - of 330 feet, while the Scud's CEP is 1,480 feet. CEP is defined as the radius of a circle in which half of a missile's lethal payload falls and is the standard measure of a missile's accuracy."

Brotherhood’s Shater seeks ‘total control’ of media: Egypt’s opposition group

"Egypt’s opposition group, the Popular Front, said on Wednesday that it had laid hands on a leaked document signed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater in which he urged the government to claim “total control of the media.”
Shater, who was the Brotherhood’s main presidential candidate before he was disquieted by the election committee, reportedly also called for shutting down TV channels owned by opposition groups."

Egypt’s envoy to Lebanon: Cairo will work with Hezbollah, ‘a real political and military force’
Arab nation’s relations with the Islamic group have been strained largely due to the former’s peace accord with Israel; policy shift would be a drastic change from the Mubarak era

Egypt stepping up security in Sinai ahead of New Year’s influx
Thousands of European tourists expected to vacation in Red Sea resort area

Feminine side of Israeli hi-tech is all business
Shefa Weinstein, a female American immigrant working in an overwhelmingly Israeli male world, is doing exactly what she wants – with lots of support from the people around her

Apple’s Annual Best App List Picks Two Israeli Apps

"Any.Do, an Israeli task-management application, was chosen in the in Intuitive Touch category, and GroupShot, a photo-editing application by the Israeli company Macadamia, was picked in the Photo & Video Magic category."

Egypt allows building materials to enter Gaza via Rafah

From Egypt Independent:

Islamist-led Egypt allowed building materials into Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Saturday for the first time since Hamas seized control of the Palestinian enclave in 2007, an Egyptian border official said.

It was part of a shipment of building materials donated by the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, which has pledged $400 million to finance reconstruction in Gaza. The Islamist group Hamas has run Gaza since driving out its rivals in the Palestinian Authority.

Cairo has restricted the use of Rafah crossing to travellers and medical relief, giving rise to extensive smuggling into Gaza through tunnels under the border.

The border official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while the Egyptian authorities had agreed to allow the Qatari-donated material into Gaza, the shipment did not mark the start of the full opening of the crossing sought by Hamas.

An official in Gaza's Hamas government said it was a positive step. "We hope that Egypt will open this crossing permanently for goods so our people can meet their needs," said Ehab al-Ghsain, head of the Hamas government media office.

Ghsain said: "Rafah had been closed for goods for so many years and we always hoped such a policy would change, without exempting the Israeli occupation from their responsibilities. Israel must end the closure and reopen all crossings with Gaza."

But Israel is also allowing more building materials into Gaza:

Israel will for the first time in five years, authorize entry of construction materials into Gaza, as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

"Starting Sunday, up to 20 trucks carrying building materials will enter Gaza on a daily basis, via the Kerem Shalom crossing," said Palestinian official Raed Fattouh to AFP.

Is it worth allowing Hamas to more easily build underground military bunkers if they keep their end of the cease-fire? December has still not seen a single rocket or mortar land in Israel from Gaza.

And Hamas was managing to get all the cement it needed for the past five years through the tunnels anyway.

The accomplishment of a real cease fire - the first true cease fire since Israel withdrew from Gaza - is no small thing. But one month isn't that long either. If it stretches into years, then this might be worth it. But the best scenario is for Egypt to take over responsibility for imports and exports from Gaza, and let the Gaza economy become integrated with Egypt's.

400 killed in Syria on Saturday. Oh well.

From Al Arabiya:

Nearly 400 people were reported dead in Syria Saturday, including some 150 charred corpses that were found in Deir Baalba in Homs, according to activist media.

In Aleppo at least 20 people were killed amid flaring clashes between the regime's forces and members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

The Syrian Media Center reported that surface-to-surface missiles were launched on Mar'ea in the suburb of Aleppo.

Sana Revolution reported that a “massacre” took place in Khamsya town near Aleppo. The fighting in Aleppo forced Syria’s national airline to cancel a flight into the city.

3 or 4 Palestinian Arabs were among those killed.

The number of people killed in Syria over the past 18 months is now over 45,000.

Friday linkdump

From Ian:

LATMA: "Wonderful Country's" new season on Channel 2 and Nissim Mishal’s alter ego speaks

Iran Fears May Be Compelling Saudi Arabia to Begin to Tell the Truth About Israel

"If there were a prize for the Arab country that has done most to promote Arab-Israeli peace recently, I'd seriously consider nominating Saudi Arabia. Admittedly, that's a counterintuitive choice: Riyadh doesn't even recognize Israel and shows no signs of doing so anytime soon; moreover, it finances the spread of extremist Islamic ideology. But Saudi-funded papers have been doing something that may be far more important than another handshake on the White House lawn: providing a platform for Arab journalists and public figures to challenge the dominant Middle Eastern narrative of Israel as the root of all evil."

Wiesenthal ranks top 10 anti-Semites, Israel-haters
Muslim Brotherhood’s rise in Egypt catapults two religious figures into No. 1 spot on Simon Wiesenthal Center's year-end list.
Report: 2012 Top Ten Anti-Israel/Anti-Semitic Slurs: Mainstream Anti-Semitism Threatens World Peace

Why a two-state solution will never work
Original Thinking: What will happen when you have pressured Israel into allowing a Palestinian entity to take hold on the 1967 borders, an entity that is taken over by a radical Islamic force bent on Israel’s destruction?

Senior Hamas Official: Reconciliation Efforts With PLO to be Based on Rejection of Israel’s Right to Exist

"A Senior Hamas official said that his organization wants reconciliation efforts with the PLO to be based on the Palestinian Arab demand for a right of return, a demand that if implemented would effectively bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state, as well the absence of recognition of Israel’s right to exist."

The True Face of Hamas and the Five Myths That Obscure It

"Indeed, the world must move beyond the media-driven myths above and recognize Hamas for what it really is: an Islamist terrorist organization dangerously allied with Iran in its mission to destroy Israel. Hamas states this goal in its charter and Iranian leaders declare their genocidal intentions publicly. These forces must be stopped before the doomsday described in my novel leaves the realm of fiction."

Arab MK Sarsour Meets Terrorist who Killed 30 Israelis

Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am) met with several jailed terrorists, including one who was involved in the Park Hotel massacre in 2002.
"In the past Sarsour has called to establish an Islamic Caliphate centered in Jerusalem and has met with senior Hamas terrorists.
He recently chose to condemn Israel for responding to Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza, while failing to condemn Gaza terrorists for firing the rockets."

IDF Personnel Pelted With Rocks, Molotov Cocktails in West Bank as Unrest Persists

"Protesters near Yitzhar descended upon IDF soldiers, throwing stones, and in some cases even Molotov cocktails, before they were dispersed as well. There were other reports of stones being thrown at buses and Israeli vehicles. A security officer’s vehicle was stoned by dozens of Palestinian Arab rioters adjacent to the West Bank outpost of Horsha in the Binyamin Regional Council. Palestinian Arabs also hurled stones at IDF soldiers near the West bank outpost of Ein Kodesh, south of Nablus; there were no injuries"

Pollard’s Catch-22 By Esther Pollard

"While this travesty of justice may not have originated on President Barack Obama’s watch, it has been fully revealed under his tenure. It is precisely for cases like this, where the US justice system is unwilling or unable to correct itself that the American Constitution grants the president virtually unlimited powers of clemency. Justice requires that Obama use his powers of executive clemency to release Jonathan Pollard now."

Iran is in social and economic meltdown
With unemployment soaring and the advent of hyperinflation, the plight of ordinary workers just gets worse and worse

"Workers' strikes and protests are gathering pace in Iran. In 2012, there were more labor protests than for longer than many can remember. Vast numbers live below the poverty line. Non-payment of wages for months at a time is a fact of life for millions. Inflation is soaring. Beggars in veils line the streets.And this is not merely a product of sanctions, though they are certainly biting. Gross mismanagement by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government is doing terrible damage to the social fabric all on its own."

Ahmadinejad Sacks Cabinet's Sole Woman
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked Health Minister Marizeh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in his cabinet, state television reported on Thursday.

"The minister had proposed price hikes for a number of medications due to the plunge of the Iranian rial against the US dollar and Western sanctions imposed on the country over its disputed nuclear program, AFP reported."

Preacher in Iran re-arrested on Christmas

"Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was first arrested on October 19, 2009 for protesting against Iran's decision to force all children including his two sons to read the Quran in schools.
He was at that time charged with apostasy and evangelism to Muslims. He spent three years or 1,062 days in prison.
Nadarkhani was released in September of 2012 after Christians around the world prayed for his release."

Christian Politician Quits Egypt Upper House as Tensions Persist

"A Christian member of Egypt's upper house of parliament quit on Thursday, reflecting persistent political tensions just a day after the Islamist-dominated chamber took over legislative authority under a contentious new constitution."

CAIR Protests Saudi Radical's Exclusion From U.S.

"He belittled Muslims who failed to take action, including "harming the Jews." He invoked Israel's targeted killings of Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz Rantisi, saying he prayed that Allah "will destroy the Jews and their helpers from among the Christians and the Communists, and that He will turn them into the Muslims' spoils. I praise the Jihad, the sacrifice, and the resistance against the occupiers in Iraq."

Hitler statue placed outside Warsaw Ghetto stokes outrage
Italian artist’s depiction of the Nazi dictator, previously shown in New York, draws condemnation after being moved close to site of mass murder

Israel grants scholarships to 66 outstanding Indian scholars

"Sixty-six post-doctoral scholars from India will travel to Israel in the coming months to pursue research at top universities. The researchers will be sponsored by the government of Israel which has announced three-year scholarships grants for Indian scholars.
According to officials from Embassy of Israel, this is the first programme of its kind, bringing advanced Indian researchers to Israel in a wide range of topics."

Who Was the 19th Century American Preacher Mendenhall John Dennis?
Actually, He Was a Jerusalem Watchmaker Named Mendel Deniss, Jerusalem's First Photographer

Jewish War Heroes comic book #3

This completes the series of vintage 1944 comic books from the Canadian Jewish Congress I have been posting for the past three weeks.

Jewish War Heroes 3

Two more Syrian generals defect

From Naharnet:

Two Syrian air force generals have defected from the regime of President Bashar Assad and joined opposition forces in Turkey, a diplomat said on Friday.

The generals, commanders of the Regional Air Force, have crossed the border and arrived in the town of Reylanli in southern Turkey, the Turkish diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The generals and dozens of lower-ranking officers and their families were taken to a separate camp where army defectors take refuge.

Turkish officials refuse to give an exact number of Syrian generals currently on Turkish soil as some are returning to Syria to join the active fighters inside the conflict-wracked country.

The latest defections come as Syrian rebel forces besiege Menagh air base northwest of Aleppo after months of clashes with loyalist troops.

Saudi authorities break up nefarious Christmas celebration plot

From Al Akhbar:

Saudi religious police stormed a house in the Saudi Arabian province of al-Jouf, detaining more than 41 guests for “plotting to celebrate Christmas,” a statement from the police branch released Wednesday night said.

The raid is the latest in a string of religious crackdowns against residents perceived to threaten the country's strict religious code.

The host of the alleged Christmas gathering is reported to be an Asian diplomat whose guests included 41 Christians, as well as two Saudi Arabian and Egyptian Muslims. The host and the two Muslims were said to be “severely intoxicated.”

The guests were said to have been referred to the "respective authorities." It is unclear whether or not they have been released since.

The kingdom, which only recognizes Islamic faith and practice, has in the past banned public Christmas celebrations, but is ambiguous about festivities staged in private quarters.

Saudi religious police are known to detain residents of the kingdom at whim, citing loose interpretations of Sharia and public statements by hardline religious leaders to justify crackdowns.

Saudi Arabia's head mufti Sheikh Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah had previously condemned “invitations to Christmas or wedding celebrations.”

A member of the Higher Council of Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Mohammed al-Othaimin recently prohibited sending holiday wishes to "heretics" on Christmas or other religious Christian holidays.

The story goes on to show that in Saudi Arabia, there is no big stretch from amusing "Oddly Enough"-type stories to real abuse of human rights:

On Thursday, the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights reported that Saudi human rights defender Raef Badawi is at risk of execution on apostasy charges.

Badawi is co-founder and editor of the Liberal Saudi Network. When he first appeared before the district court in Jeddah, he was charged with “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and “going beyond the realm of obedience.” The Judge then referred the case to the higher Public Court on an apostasy charge, which carries the penalty of death.

The General Court in Jeddah proceeded with apostasy charges on December 22.

Badawi was arrested this June after the Liberal Saudi Network called for “a day of liberalism” in Saudi Arabia, which included a conference that was later canceled after a warning from authorities.

Earlier this week, controversial Saudi novelist and political analyst Turki al-Hamad was arrested for criticizing Islam and the royal family in a series of tweets.

Al-Hamad is an outspoken liberal who writes about sexuality issues, underground political movements and religious freedom. The offending tweets suggested that Islam be rectified in the same way that the Prophet Muhammad is said to have revised earlier Abrahamic religions.

(h/t Ian)

A "Saddam Hussein" party wants to run in Jordanian elections

From Ammon News:

The Board of Commissioners in the The Independent Elections Commission (IEC) rejected the name of a national list which chose former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's name, although it accepted the applications of the candidates provided that they change the name of the list.

The IEC in its meeting Wednesday decided not to accept the naming of the lists that contain personal names, or any name could spark sectarian, racial or political strife or contrary to public order or that could affect national unity and security of the nation.

The surprise did not stop at the name of the list, but the second surprise was that one of the candidates at the head of the list was named Saddam Hamdan Hussein.

He added that he will fight in the upcoming parliamentary elections, saying that "Saddam Hussein's name was chosen because people in Jordan loved him."

Muslim Brotherhood leader says Jews have the "right to return" to Egypt

Essam el-Erian, vice president of the Freedom and Justice party of the Muslim Brotherhood, called on Egyptian Jews to return to their "homeland" in Egypt - in order to give their Israeli homes to Palestinians.

On a Cairo TV show on Thursday, Erian said "that the right of return, especially if that leaves a place for a Palestinian [to move in], can not be denied and can not be waived at all," saying he calls for "Jewish Arabs and Egyptians, who Abdel Nasser expelled, to return once again to their country."

It sounds like Egypt really needs cash, and the jizya tax on dhimmis is the best way for them to raise it.

In response, Hafez Abu Saada, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, called Erian's remarks "catastrophic" because it would allow Egyptian Jews to sue for the properties that were stolen from them when they were forced out of Egypt.

How is this position consistent with "human rights?"

Simple. Jews are obviously not human, so they have no rights.

Deja vu: Abbas keeps lying and threatening

From Ha'aretz:

If diplomatic stagnation continues after the Israeli election and construction in the settlements doesn't stop, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will dismantle the PA and return responsibility for the West Bank to the Israeli government, he told Haaretz in an interview on Thursday.

"If there is no progress even after the election I will take the phone and call [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu," Abbas said. "I'll tell him, 'my dear friend, Mr. Netanyahu, I am inviting you to the Muqata [the PA presidential headquarters in Ramallah]. Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the Palestinian Authority."

"Once the new government in Israel is in place, Netanyahu will have to decide -- yes or no," Abbas said.

Now look at this other report:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Israel does not stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

"If Israel does not stop settlement building ... I will strive to end Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories," he said.

"I cannot be the president of a non-existent authority as long as Israeli occupation of the West Bank continues," he said.

That quote is also from December - December, 2010.

Does this sound like a leader of a state? Abbas' idea of "leadership" is to keep threatening - threaten resignation, threaten to dismantle the PA, threaten to go to the ICC.

He said he would be willing to renew talks with Netanyahu immediately after the election, but would demand that Israel freeze construction in the territories for the duration of the talks, renew the transfer of tax proceeds that Israel collects on the PA's behalf, and release some 120 Palestinian prisoners who are imprisoned in Israel since before the 1993 Oslo Accords.

"These are not preconditions, these are commitments Israel already took upon itself in the past," said Abbas, and hinted that he needed some kind of gesture from Israel. "If Netanyahu will do these things, it would help [restart talks]. I only ask of him not to build [in the settlements] during the negotiations."

Abbas, as usual, is lying. Israel may have made gestures to restart talks in the past - but now Abbas is claiming that they are "commitments."

Once again, one has to ask: how can Israel negotiate in good faith with a person who lies as easily as he breathes?

The Redacted Iraqi Jews

An amazing article at Gatestone Institute by Nabil Al-Hadairi:

The recent Conference of Religions and Sects in Sulaymaniyah, organized under the supervision of Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, was an important milestone: The first such conference to take place in Iraq that seriously covered the defense of religions and sects after the collapse of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein.

Present at the conference were Christians, Muslims (both Sunni and Shi'a) and other, smaller, minority groups. What was surprising was that there was not a single representative of Iraqi Jews to relate their glorious history, so full of great accomplishments for the glory of Iraq and its constitution. In their absence, they could not tell of the calamity that befell them when their citizenship was withdrawn, their money and property confiscated, their rights denied, and when they were subjected to being imprisoned or murdered while ethnic cleansing was committed by forcing the best of my Iraqi Jewish friends to emigrate.

At the conference, it was apparent that no one was available to represent them or mention this sensitive subject. Therefore, to balance the debate, I decided that this was going to be my discussion subject, as my solemn duty to repay some of our debt to them.

The Presidential Council, the ruling party, and Iranian agents in Sulaymaniyah all warned me not to raise such a subject and speak about it, and tried to forbid it. They claimed that it is too sensitive and dangerous, and that due to the current public mood, it should not to be spoken about in public.

...Despite the uncivilized methods used in attempting to suppress my presentation, the audience responded with full support and a standing ovation The address apparently caused considerable embarrassment to the conference's organizing committee, which then was forced to take the topic seriously.

Results were achieved when three paragraphs were adopted in the text of the final communique: The seventh paragraph states the importance of correcting the constitution to add Judaism as an official religion alongside Islam, Christianity and others, and restoring the Jews' citizenship. The ninth paragraph consists of ten points, of which article nine recognizes the rights of Jews in nationality and national belonging. Article five recognizes the crime of expulsion and its effects, and article five calls for Jewish heritage sites to be cared for, without tampering.

It is great to see one person making a difference.

(h/t Ian)

An Israeli car, sort of, gets ready for the EU market

From CarBuzz:

New automakers from China seem to be popping up left and right these days, but only a few will actually survive to export cars from the (ironically) decentralized local automotive industry. One of the new brands that's showing potential is Qoros, a joint venture between Chery Automobile and Israel Corporation. And now it has revealed initial images and details of its first model, the GQ3 compact sedan. Set for a live debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the GQ3 is sized to compete with the likes of the Ford Focus and Honda Civic.

The GQ3 will be the first of a broader model lineup that will later include larger family cars. Along with a host of hi-tech safety features, the GQ3 seems like it may be one of the few Chinese-built cars that may have a realistic future outside of its native country.

Globes adds:

Israel Corp. has set up a company to manufacture mainstream gasoline cars and become "more European than Europe." While Israel Corp's partners are Chinese, car manufacturer Chery, and the factory is located in the Yangtze delta, but to all intents and purposes this is a standard development project that could have been implemented by Volkswagen or Hyundai. The engineers, designers, and even media strategists were hired in Europe. A large part of the basic engineering planning of the car was put in the hands of Austrian company Magna Steyr - an independent systems contractor for the European car industry. The gearbox and navigation systems and many other car components were purchased from known international manufacturers, and the car was planned to meet the most stringent European collision and emission standards and so on. Major effort was even put into the car's interior and exterior design to meet European consumer preferences with an unconcealed likeness to the Volkswagen Jetta.

The highly effective campaign to unveil Qoros is focused on Western Europe and especially the German market, which is a rock on which many previous Chinese cars have floundered.