From Ian:
Barry Rubin:
A Paradox of U.S. Middle East Policy: The Friend Who Acts like an Enemy is an Enemy
"Yet given the current situation, especially in the Middle East, a realistic policy would make the enemies’ list seem too long and discouraging. In political and diplomatic terms that means the truth will be covered up. The important question is: How far does a country have to go, how futile and even counterproductive do the pay-offs have to be, before it is no longer treated as a friend."
Saturday people, Sunday people
“Saturday People, Sunday People” is the title of a new, mesmerizing book by Lela Gilbert, an adjunct scholar at the Hudson Institute and author of 60 books, including several on the widespread persecution of Christians in Muslim countries, a phenomenon that is reaching epidemic proportions with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
What Do Abbas's Latest Threats Really Mean? by Khaled Abu Toameh
"Why doesn't Abbas consider the possibility of handing the "keys" to another Palestinian? Abbas apparently believes that if he cannot lead the Palestinian Authority no one else should — that if he comes down, then the entire Palestinian Authority should also collapse. A changing of the guard is something that the US and the EU, the major funders of Abbas and his associates, could play a major role in bringing about."
Two-thirds of Israelis support peace with Palestinians that ensures security, polls find
"The public’s support of a peace agreement surged when the plan was upgraded to include certain “perks”, such as a defense alliance with the US, a demilitarization of Hamas in Gaza, the construction of a strong security fence along the border, and a pan-Arab readiness to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. Both polls found that in those cases, over 75% of Israelis would be highly supportive of an agreement with the Palestinians."
Miracle Saves Baby from Rock-Throwing Terrorist
A rock-throwing Arab teen nearly killed a baby Sunday morning when the huge rock he hurled at the car crashed a few inches from the infant.
BBC Watch:
BBC confuses armistice lines with borders yet again
"The BBC’s claim that a return to a “pre-1967 border” would “give Damascus control of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee” is therefore inaccurate as the only border in existence prior to 1967 was the one agreed upon in 1923 by France and Britain which left access to the lake within the borders of Mandate Palestine."
CAMERA:
Pat Buchanan Rants Against "Wolves" Opposing Hagel, Cites E 1 Canard
"Buchanan's latest rantings against "neocons" and "bellicose" Israelis and the "wolves" who want to throw Hagel overboard are a reminder that Buckley's moral leadership is sorely needed today."
French paper to publish comic book life of Muhammad
French magazine infamous for publishing Prophet Muhammad cartoons plans to release illustrated biography of Islam's founder
Thomas Friedman Op/Ed Generator
Because this is what his writing actually looks like.
PMW:
Official PA daily: Be’er Sheva is a Palestinian city
“Palestinian Media Watch has reported in the past that the PA daily presents many Israeli cities and sites as parts of "Palestine." Lod, Acre, Tiberias, and even Tel Aviv have all been presented as "Palestinian" or "occupied" cities, as have places like Mount Carmel and Mount Meron.”
Australia's Grand Mufti meets Hamas
"AUSTRALIA'S Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has met with the hierarchy of Hamas, the Palestinian party listed by the Gillard government as a terrorist organisation.
Dr Mohamed, who has been styled as a moderate since taking the top Australian Muslim post, last week expressed his happiness at being in Gaza, describing it as the land of pride and martyrdom."
Al-Qaeda puts gold bounty on head of Jewish US ambassador in Yemen
Terror group also offers some $23,000 to anyone who kills an American soldier
UN envoy estimates 100,000 Syrians could die in upcoming year
The ongoing war is ‘very, very bad’ Lakhdar Brahimi says, warning that the ‘situation is deteriorating’
Iran says Patriot batteries in Turkey meant to protect Israel
Tehran claims NATO-backed anti-missile system not being used to shield Turkey from Syrian civil war
“Iranian military officials believe that the reason for deploying NATO’s Patriot missiles in Turkey is to prevent Iran from responding to the Zionist regime [of Israel] if it attacked Iran,” spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in Ankara Saturday, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV."
Libya church blast kills two Egyptians: embassy
An explosion rocked a Christian Coptic church near the western Libyan city of Misrata on Sunday, killing two people and wounding two others, all of them Egyptians, an Egyptian diplomat told AFP.
Preaching the gospel of liberalism to the Jordanian street
"Mudar Zahran, one of the leaders of his country’s burgeoning Dignity Revolution, says spring is in the air. And, he claims, a post-Hashemite Jordan will have huge implications for the Palestinians, who may be forced to choose — Western-style secular democracy or a government led by the likes of Hamas’s Khaled Mashaal "
CNN: IDF Use of Twitter One of “Top 12 Tech Stories of 2012″
"CNN ranked Israel’s use of micro-blogging site Twitter during the Jewish state’s recent Operation Pillar of Defense on its list of the “Top 12 Tech Stories in 2012,” for revolutionizing how involved parties communicate with each other during wartime."
Israel Launches Natural Gas Platform in Coveted Tamar Gas Field
“Natural gas will not only make electricity production more efficient, cleaner, and cheaper, it is a giant step toward freeing us from dependence on foreign energy sources, especially Arab oil,” said Israeli Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau."
UN Watch:
Moynihan’s Moment: the historic 1975 U.N. speech in response to “Zionism is Racism”
"On the occasion of the acclaimed new book “Moynihan’s Moment” by McGill University historian Gil Troy, we feature the historic 1975 speech delivered right after the U.N. declared that “Zionism is racism.” The resolution was repealed in 1991, but its spirit tragically lives on in the form of the U.N.’s enduring obsession with condemning Israel."
Plus, from Zvi:
The Shalom Hospital staff are "a light unto the nations" - restoring light, one pair of eyes at a time.
American President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother underwent emergency eye surgery in an Israeli-run hospital in Equatorial Guinea last week.
Sarah Onyango Obama, the president’s [grand]father’s third wife, lives in the remote Kenyan village of Nyang’oma Kogelo and suffered from an unspecified optical ailment.
Guinean Health Minister Tomas Mecheba Fernandez escorted the First Step-Grandmother to the hospital in advance of her surgery by a team of Israeli doctors.
The procedure was successful and Obama is making a full recovery, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday.
“All of Africa is talking about your hospital and of the fact that you don’t need to fly to Europe to get medical treatment,” said an enthusiastic Obama following her operation.The Shalom Hospital, located in the Guinean capital city of Malabo, was founded by Israeli entrepreneurs Yardena Ovadya and Ariyeh Horesh and is serviced by over 100 Israeli doctors, nurses and staff. The hospital provides medical treatment for underprivileged residents of Equatorial Guinea and other neighboring African countries.
Sarah Onyango Obama is, incidentally, a Muslim. Those Israelis really "hate Muslims", eh?
It is wonderful to read about Mrs. Obama's joy and her enthusiasm for Shalom Hospital. It is also wonderful to see that this was an occasion for Guinea's health minister to pay an official visit to the hospital and meet the Israeli doctors. This example of pure good news stands in stark contrast to the mindless hatred radiating from the ANC in South Africa, which has officially endorsed Bigotry and Double Standards and which has thereby officially raised the stakes in the campaign to obliterate Israel.
Jordanian civilians living near the border with Syria reported heavy clashes between the Jordanian and Syrian armies late Saturday night, during which the Syrian army allegedly crossed the border and used attack helicopters.
ROME (AP) — Rita Levi-Montalcini, a biologist who conducted underground research in defiance of Fascist persecution and went on to win a Nobel Prize for helping unlock the mysteries of the cell, died at her home in Rome on Sunday. She was 103 and had worked well into her final years.
Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, announcing her death in a statement, called it a great loss “for all of humanity.” He praised her as someone who represented “civic conscience, culture and the spirit of research of our time.”
Italy’s so-called “Lady of the Cells,” a Jew who lived through anti-Semitic discrimination and the Nazi invasion, became one of her country’s leading scientists and shared the Nobel medicine prize in 1986 with American biochemist Stanley Cohen for their groundbreaking research carried out in the United States. Her research increased the understanding of many conditions, including tumors, developmental malformations, and senile dementia.
Dr. Levi-Montalcini conducted some of her early research at home while hiding from the Nazis. In 1947, she was invited to the US, where she remained for 20 years before returning home to become director of the laboratory of cell biology of the National Council of Scientific Research in Rome. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1986, together with her collaborator Stanley Cohen. She was one of Italy's most admired women.
Ms. Levi-Montalcini remained actively involved in scientific research until the end of her life.
The world is much poorer for the loss of this remarkable woman, but her life and work have been a blessing for all humankind.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Anonymous
