Tuesday, January 29, 2013

  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
An article from  Egypt's Youm7 (and copied in some other Arabic media outlets) talks about Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday:

Jews throughout the world on Sunday marked the anniversary of the alleged "Holocaust" genocide "Holocaust" launched by the German Nazi leadership under the command of Adolf Hitler, during World War II according to the so-called Jewish history.

But that is nothing compared to Islamweb, which published a large article mentioning every major Holocaust denier or minimizer (from Faurrison to Finkelstein) as proof that the Holocaust was a myth created by Jews to take land away from the Arabs and to keep the West under their thumb.

MEMRI brings us another recent example of Holocaust denial, this one also in Egypt.
  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:

UN's Falk Compares Hamas to French Resistance During WWII
UN Special Rapporteur, Richard Falk, has comparing Hamas terrorists to fighters with the French resistance during the Holocaust.
"The U.S. representative to the U.N., Susan Rice, said in a statement at the time that Falk's boycott call was "irresponsible and unacceptable."
“Mr. Falk’s recommendations do nothing to further a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and indeed poison the environment for peace,” said Rice. “His continued service in the role of a U.N. Special Rapporteur is deeply regrettable and only damages the credibility of the U.N.”

Taxpayer Funded BDS at CUNY Is Illegitimate, Racist and Anti-Semitic
"These BDS advocates single out Israel as a cover for rank anti-Semitism. It is not about saving Palestinians (who mostly need to be saved from themselves and their leaders); its purpose is to delegitimize and destroy Israel. They do NOT want a two-state solution. To them Tel Aviv and Haifa are “occupied territories” as much as Gaza, long vacated by Israel and now one of the world’s most prominent terrorist launching points. They want a one-state solution – to have yet another of the many Arab states. They deny – as anti-Semites do – the eternal connection, since recordable history, of the Jewish people to their land. They reject all peace offers by Israel. They subjugate their own people to a vile existence in the false belief that they can “wait out the Jews.”

BBC’s Paul Moss promotes politically motivated stereotypes of Israelis
"Of course Israel has not received economic aid from the US since 2008 and the vast majority of the military aid it does receive (around 1% of the Israeli economy) is spent in the United States, thus sustaining American jobs. As the Assistant Secretary of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department put it in 2011: “We don’t just support Israel because of a long-standing bond, we support Israel because it is in our national interests to do so”.
But does the fact that Israel receives US aid at all make it – as Moss claims – “not like most countries”? Hardly: not only is Israel not the biggest recipient of military aid from the US, but if we look at the subject of financial aid in general, we see that in fact, Israel is exactly like most countries."

British MEP Claims Party Leader in 'Israel's Pocket'
"A British Liberal Member of the European Parliment has accused his party leader of being “in Israel’s pocket” after the Liberal Democrat leadership condemned a party colleague for comparing Israel's treatment of the Palestinians with the Nazis' treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust.
Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat MEP for the North-West of England, posted a message to Twitter, defending party colleague and UK Member of Parliament David Ward, who said last Friday that he is “saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza.”

IDF: B'Tselem Report Another Defamation Attempt
Far left group B'Tselem is again using half-truths, outdated information, and suspect sources to defame the IDF, an army spokesperson said

Police Officer Hurt in Jerusalem Arab Rioting, 2 Bombs Found
Police were busy in Jerusalem and along the city's outskirts on Monday. One officer hurt in Silwan riots, two bombs found at city's edge.

Arabs Caught Red Handed Robbing Ancient Grave
Three suspects were caught inside 1st century cave near Kibbutz Metzer.
"Regretfully, heavy damage was caused to the cave and the archeological find," said Nir Distelfeld, of the Unit for Prevention of Theft in the Antiquities Authority. "Damage to archeological sites is like the erasing of complete pages from the cultural history of the nation and the land, and unfortunately, for the sake of greed and dreams of getting rich, many criminals thoughtlessly destroy the land's history and cultural assets."

Israel to Summon Argentine Ambassador Over Bombing Commission
Israel extremely disappointed by the decision to create a commission to investigate the 1994 attack on a Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

Argentine Jews Slam 'Truth Commission' Deal With Iran
Argentina's Jewish community is “vehemently opposed” to a deal between Argentina and Iran to investigate the Jewish community center attack

Large arms shipment intercepted off Yemen, Iran eyed as source
Surface-to-air missiles among weapons intercepted
Yemeni forces intercepted a ship on Jan. 23 carrying a large cache of weapons - including surface-to-air missiles - that U.S. officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran and destined for Yemeni insurgents, officials said on Monday.

Report: Hizbullah Sets Up Bases Near Syria's Chemical Arsenal
Hizbullah terrorists are setting up bases in Syria close to known chemical weapons storage facilities, according to an Israeli media outlet.

Ancient Timbuktu Manuscripts, 1 in Hebrew, Torched by Islamists
The historic manuscripts of Timbuktu, including one written in Hebrew, are no more. They were destroyed by Islamic terrorists in Mali.

Swiss Jews fault president for Holocaust statement
Ueli Maurer says his was ‘a country of freedom and law’ during the war, neglects to mention it turned away those fleeing Nazis
"But Switzerland’s main Jewish organizations complained Monday that he neglected also to mention “the refugees who were turned back to a certain death.”
A government-commissioned report concluded in 2001 that Switzerland turned back many refugees although the government knew by 1942 of the Nazis’ “final solution.”

Evangelical leader: Israel is safest place on earth
Apostolate Renê Terra Nova, who has brought thousands of Christians from Brazil, tells 'Post' tourists leave "in love."

Muslim Sheikh in Italy: Islam is Pro-Israel!
"Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, the secretary general of the Italian Muslim Assembly and the Khalifa for Europe’s Qadiri Sufi Order, is a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist, as well as Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem, based on his interpretation of Islam. He frequently speaks out for Israel despite the fact that it is highly unpopular within the Muslim world to do so. Sheikh Palazzi does so based on his religious convictions. He asserted, “Viewing the Jewish return to Israel as a Western invasion and Zionists as recent colonizers is new. It has no basis in the authentic Islamic faith.” As co-founder and co-chairman of the Islam-Israel Fellowship, Sheikh Palazzi argues that Muslim religious opposition to the existence of Israel was created by the Grand Mufti Haj Amin Al Husseini and is not grounded within classical Muslim religious texts, which surprisingly actually do support Israel’s right to exist."

Israel joins UN's Kiev Protocol
Environmental Protection Ministry commits to following UN protocol on air pollution; pledges to grant public access to transparent emissions data
Israel is the second country in the Middle East, after Cyprus, to join the protocol. The decision also coincides with Israel's duties as an OECD member.

Free rehab center for southern Israelis breaks ground
Sderot Medical Rehabilitation Center will provide missile-hit southern residents physical, occupational, communication, art, sensory and water therapies at no charge.
  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
There are reports that ten Palestinian Arabs killed on Monday.

Eight were killed in shelling, one by a sniper and one from torture.

Of course, since it happened in Syria, you won't find anything in English about it.

To the mainstream media, the value of Palestinian Arab lives is directly proportionate to how easily one can blame Jews for their deaths.

UPDATE: I pasted the wrong link in this story and cannot find the original even though I know it was in the PalTimes site. This article describes airstrikes in the Palestinian Arab camps yesterday but doesn't give a tally.


  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Today, no fewer than three Arabic language news sites - from Egypt, the West Bank (Fatah) and Austria - are posting stories about a supposedly new US study that proves that Israel was behind 9/11. As of this writing, all of them were the top story in each site.

I don't see anything new; it is simply a rehashing of the anti-semitic crackpot theories that are found throughout the Internet. This "study" finds four prominent Jews who supposedly stood to profit from 9/11, like Larry Silverstein and Ronald Lauder, and then says that the Mossad put explosives in the bottom of the Twin Towers set to explode when the planes hit, or something like that. And that Israeli companies had foreknowledge of the attacks and suddenly broke their lease with the WTC, losing millions of dollars. Except those that didn't. The usual idiocy.

This "study" concludes that Netanyahu was behind the attacks, since he was prime minister at the time. Only one problem: he wasn't.

So what does it say about the Arab media that they prioritize yet another anti-semitic theory on their front pages?


  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Here's the (really well-done) flyer for my talk at Yeshiva University tonight:


It looks like there will be a good crowd based on the number of people who answered the invite on Facebook.

Also, I am told that the sponsors will be serving kosher Dunkin' Munchkins. Who can resist that?

So you might want to get there early to make sure you have a seat!
  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
When looking at Juan Cole's absurd screed last week, I noticed a commenter named Charley James, who obviously worships Cole - and apparently uses his same methods of lying.

Here was his comment:
I’ve been reading Martin Gilbert’s fascinating 2007 book, “Churchill and the Jews.” What I learned for the first time is that, going all the way back to the Balfour Declaration in the early days of the 20th century, the British government (including Churchill, a major supporter of a Jewish homeland in Palestine) insisted on what, today, we call a two state solution.

As reprehensible as Mr. Netanyahu’s apartheid policies are, he and a segment of Israel’s voters have lost sight of one of the conditions of their country’s creation: That Palestinians are entitled to their own secure home as much as Jews are entitled.

As an American Jew, I have no sympathy – or tolerance – left any more for the government of Israel, nor for the way organizations such as AIPAC work to manipulate Congress and public opinion. Dr. Gilbert’s book simply confirmed to me that the current government in Israel is as nasty and dark as many of the governments people fled to reach Israel.

So I looked at Gilbert's book to see what Charley, the self proclaimed As-a-Jew, was talking about.

My findings show how easily someone who hates can twist the facts. Gilbert proves that Great Britain supported a policy that is far to the right of the current Israeli government, and indeed one that even the most right-wing Israeli parties are not espousing:

In April 1921, Churchill prepared to set off from London for Cairo and Jerusalem. His object was to determine the nature of British rule in both the Palestine and Iraq Mandates. He had set aside four weeks for the task, which, in Palestine, would include visits to Jewish towns and villages. Before he left London, his three senior Middle East Department advisers, Lawrence,Shuckburgh, and Major Hubert Young — who like Lawrence had helped the Arab forces during the revolt against the Turks — informed him that there was no conflict between Britain's wartime pledges to the Arabs and to the Jews. In 1915 the Arabs had been promised 'British recognition and support for their independence' in the Turkish districts of Damascus, Hama, Horns and Aleppo — each of which was mentioned in the promise — but which did not include Palestine or Jerusalem.4 Two years later Britain had promised a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, but with no mention of specific borders. If, therefore, the land east of the Jordan became an Arab State, and the land west of the Jordan up to the Mediterranean Sea became the area of the Jewish National Home, Britain's two pledges would be fulfilled.

To ensure that Britain had not promised the same area to both the Jews and the Arabs, Churchill's senior adviser at the Middle East Department, Sir John Shuckburgh, asked Sir Henry McMahon why neither Palestine nor Jerusalem had been specifically mentioned in his letters as part of the future Arab sovereignty. McMahon replied that his reasons for 'restricting myself' to specific mention of Damascus, Hama, Horns and Aleppo were (1) that these were places to which the Arabs attached vital importance and (2) that there was no place I could think of at the time of sufficient importance for purposes of definition further south of the above.' McMahon added, 'it was as fully my intention to exclude Palestine as it was to exclude the more northern coastal tracts of Syria.' The reason he had not mentioned the River Jordan as the most westerly limit of Arab control was that he thought it might be 'desirable' at some later stage of the negotiations to find 'some suitable frontier line' between the Jordan and the Hedjaz railway.5 This was the area that Weizmann and the Zionist leaders hoped to include within the Jewish National Home.
We learn from Gilbert that Great Britain fully intended to give all of what later became British Mandate Palestine - and possibly even more! - to the Jews for their national home, and most of Transjordan and Syria to the Arabs for their own national aspirations.

Not only that, but it was clear to the British that Jerusalem was not considered important to the Arabs in these days before the Mufti of Jerusalem started his anti-semitic campaign to kick Jews out of that city.

So thank you, idiotic commenter at a third-rate academic's blog, for giving me the opportunity to learn something. Not to mention to prove how easily haters simply lie.
  • Tuesday, January 29, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
If WND's Reza Kahlili is for real, then this is amazing:
Sixteen North Koreans, including 14 technicians and two top military officers, are among those trapped after a Jan. 21 explosion destroyed much of Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, a source reveals.

The source who provided the initial information on the explosion at Fordow has now provided details of the explosion and the degree of the destruction at one of Iran’s most important nuclear sites.

The source said a log on closed-circuit cameras installed by the regime to monitor the site’s three centrifuge chambers and two highly enriched uranium reserves gave this account:

  • On Jan 21, 14 members of the North Korean team and two military officers now stationed at Fordow along with Iranian scientists started the process of feeding uranium gas into the newly set-up cascades at 9:15 a.m. Tehran time
  • At 10:43 a.m., due to a drop in power pressure, system warning signs went off, but everything went back to normal after two minutes.
  • At 11:36 a.m., five explosions occurred concurrently in the centrifuge chambers, two explosions in the uranium reserve enclosures and a subsequent explosion in the main hallway close to the exit.
  • At the time of the explosions, a very bright red and purple light distorted the image and an extremely loud noise could be heard. Before the explosions knocked out the cameras, interior walls could be seen coming down within the centrifuge chambers. All the explosions seemed to have been initiated from the ceilings.
  • All cameras on the lowest floor (about 300 feet deep under a mountain) and the floor above it (about 250 feet deep) were knocked out, and only two cameras above the installation where security personnel are stationed were working.
  • Security forces immediately informed their superiors, who ordered them to remain in the monitoring room and avoid further communication with the outside world until counterintelligence forces arrived. Twenty-one personnel were gathered in a conference room to await further instruction.
  • Security forces were then told to close down all surrounding roads.
  • Approximately two hours after the explosions, counterintelligence agents arrived and, after interviewing personnel and reviewing tapes, initially concluded that explosives may have been placed in ceiling lamps with some kind of trigger mechanism controlled by a power voltage frequency.
  • The last images show eight personnel in anti-radiation clothing trying desperately to secure one of the rooms.
The regime believes the technology used with the explosives is unknown to their forces, the source said.

Iranian authorities fear that opening the site from the outside in a rescue mission could possibly release radiation and uranium gas or cause further explosions, which could contaminate thousands of people living nearby, the source said.
The gap between what Kahlili writes and what can be confirmed is very wide. But there is enough confirmation that there was a blast last Monday that we need to at least consider that his sources are the real deal.

The "power voltage frequency trigger" might jive with the stories last August of an explosion that disrupted power to the area. A test run?

According to a report from Israel radio noted by commenter Yenta Press, the IAEA was planning a visit to Fordow this week. If true, we should have some ideas pretty soon whether Kahlili's fantastic stories are  accurate. Moreover, the IAEA can perform spot inspections are Fordow and Natanz with only a couple of hours notice - if they think something happened, I cannot believe that they wouldn't be paying a visit very soon.

Or get stopped trying to, which would be a  confirmation of sorts as well.

Monday, January 28, 2013

  • Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
This troubling story has been all over the place, all from this Ha'aretz article claiming that Israeli officials admit to giving contraceptive injections to Ethiopian women without their permission.

But what does the article actually say?

A government official has for the first time acknowledged the practice of injecting women of Ethiopian origin with the long-acting contraceptive Depo-Provera.

Health Ministry Director General Prof. Ron Gamzu has instructed the four health maintenance organizations to stop the practice as a matter of course.

The ministry and other state agencies had previously denied knowledge or responsibility for the practice, which was first reported five years ago.

Gamzu’s letter instructs all gynecologists in the HMOs "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment.”

He also instructed physicians to avail themselves of translators if need be.

Gamzu’s letter came in response to a letter from Sharona Eliahu-Chai of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, representing several women’s rights and Ethiopian immigrants’ groups. The letter demanded the injections cease immediately and that an investigation be launched into the practice.

About six weeks ago, on an Educational Television program journalist Gal Gabbay revealed the results of interviews with 35 Ethiopian immigrants. The women’s testimony could help explain the almost 50-percent decline over the past 10 years in the birth rate of Israel’s Ethiopian community. According to the program, while the women were still in transit camps in Ethiopia they were sometimes intimidated or threatened into taking the injection. “They told us they are inoculations,” said one of the women interviewed. “They told us people who frequently give birth suffer. We took it every three months. We said we didn’t want to.”
First of all, Israeli doctors admitted offering Depo-Provera years ago to those who want it. In June 2008, the health minister of the time, Yaacov Ben Yezri, "said the high number of Ethiopians in Israel using the drug reflected a 'cultural preference' for injections among Ethiopians." Whether this is true or not, it shows that Ha'aretz is sloppy already in the first paragraph - they meant to claim that Israel acknowledged injecting the drug without permission.

But does that memo really say that?

The TV special that claimed that these women were coerced into taking the drug aired about six weeks ago. Isn't it possible that this memo was more to show caution that there might have been some women who misunderstood the use of the drug or the options they have for birth control? That's the way the quoted part reads tome. It certainly doesn't admit that Israeli doctors were conspiring to sterilize Ethiopian women, as Ha'aretz alleges - and as other media have willingly published.

Now let's look at the earlier article about the TV investigation:
Women who immigrated from Ethiopia eight years ago say they were told they would not be allowed into Israel unless they agreed to be injected with the long-acting birth control drug Depo Provera, according to an investigative report aired Saturday on the Israel Educational Television program "Vacuum."

The women say that while waiting in transit camps in Ethiopia prior to immigration they were placed in family planning workshops where they were coaxed into agreeing to the injection - a charge denied by both the Joint Distribution Committe, which ran the clinics, and the Health Ministry.

"We said we won't have the shot. They told us, if you don't you won't go to Israel And also you won't be allowed into the Joint (American Joint Distribution Committee) office, you won't get aid or medical care. We were afraid... We didn't have a choice. Without them and their aid we couldn't leave there. So we accepted the injection. It was only with their permission that we were allowed to leave," recounted Emawayish, who immigrated from Ethiopia eight years ago.

Emawayish was one of 35 women, whose stories were recorded by Sebba Reuven, that relate how they were coaxed and threatened into agreeing to receive the injectable birth control drug.

The birth rate among Israel's Ethiopian immigrant population has dropped nearly 20 percent in 10 years.

According to the report, the women were given the Depo Provera injections in the family planning workshops in transit camps, a practice that continued once they reached Israel. The women who were interviewed for the investigation reported that they were told at the transit camps that having many children would make their lives more difficult in Ethiopia and in Israel, and even that they would be barred from coming to Israel if they refused.
If true, this is indeed terrible. But the denials in that program were no less emphatic:

The Joint said in a response to "Vacuum" that its family planning workshops are among the services it provides to immigrants, who learn about spacing out their children's birth, "but we do not advise them to have small families. It is a matter of personal choice, but we tell them it is possible. The claims by the women according to which 'refusal to have the injection will bar them from medical care [and] economic aid and threaten their chances to immigrate to Israel are nonsense. The medical team does not intervene directly or indirectly in economic aid and the Joint is not involved in the aliyah procedures. With regard to the use of Depo Provera, studies indicate that is the most popular form of birth control among women in Ethiopia," the Joint said.

In its response to "Vacuum," the Health Ministry said it did not "recommend or try to encourage the use of Depo Provera, and that if these injections were used it was against our position. The Health Ministry provides individual family counseling in the framework of its well baby clincs and this advice is also provided by the physicians of the health maintenance organizations."

The Jewish Agency, which is responsible for Jewish immigration from abroad, said in response that it takes a harsh view of any effort to interfere in the family planning processes of Ethiopian immigrants, adding that "while the JA has never held family planning workshops for this group in Ethiopia or at immigrant absorption centers in Israel, the immigrant transit camp in Gondar, as the investigation noted, was previously operated by other agencies."
Three separate organizations on two continents are accused of performing the same reprehensible practice, a practice that would involve an unusual amount of collusion and conspiracy. But not one doctor from these agencies has come forward to verify the claims.

Yet another denial was published in a blog when the report first came out, from a doctor at The Joint:
JDC runs the medical program in Gondar for potential immigrants to Israel. As part of this, we offer voluntary contraception to our population. Our clinic offers both birth control pills and injectable contraception. If a woman prefers another method of contraception such as implantable or tubal ligation, we send them to facilities down the road in the city of Gondar for this.

Women come to the program because they desire family planning. We present the various options to them and they choose. So women both choose to use contraception and choose their method. And choose when to discontinue contraception. It has always been that way in our program.

Right now we’re caring for about 4500 potential immigrants to Israel. We average about 85 family planning visits each month.

We do not inform the Israeli authorities who is on family planning, and I have no idea what happens once they arrive in Israel.

Regarding the rate of 30% reported some years ago, we offered family planning to the population at a time when it was less available to the general public, and our population chose to use it.

At present, the rate of modern contraceptive use in Amhara Region is 33% indicating a significant demand, as contraceptive services have become more available to the public. Even now, there is an unmet demand for contraceptive services in this region of over 20%. To give you an idea of the rise in this service, in 2005, 15.7% used modern contraception in Amhara region.

Injectable contraceptives are the most desired throughout the country. They are easy, culturally preferred, and offer the ability to be on birth control without a woman informing her husband, which is an issue here.

I appreciate the chance to set this record straight.

Best wishes,

Rick Hodes, MD, MACP
Medical Director, AJJDC-Ethiopia


Update 9:50 am CST – I followed up with Dr. Hodes to make sure there was no mistake about what he was saying:


"So to be clear, you're saying that you personally never told any woman that she would have to take Depo-Provera shots in order to immigrate to Israel? The women claim that JDC workers from Israel told them they had to do it. Is that claim to the best of your knowledge false?"
Dr. Hodes replied:
To the best of my knowledge, this claim is 100% false.

Neither myself nor my staff have ever told any women in our program that they should take Depo-Provera for any reason. 100% of Depo-Provera shots are purely voluntary, and may be discontinued (or changed to another method) at any time.

In fact, we don't have JDC workers from Israel come and tell women
these things.
So how can these contradictory claims be reconciled? The idea that the Joint, the Jewish Agency and the Health Ministry are all lying might work for anti-Israel conspiracy theorists, but it is hardly credible.

My guess - and it is only a guess - is that Ethiopian women were generally enthusiastic about the idea of birth control. And as Dr. Hodes says, the idea of injectable contraception was appealing to them - because they don't have to tell their husbands.

This is the key to understanding the story. The Ethiopian husbands would generally be averse to their wives taking birth control, so they must do it in secret - and the Depo-Provera is by far the best method to keep their husbands from knowing. They simply tell them that they were receiving inoculations or some other excuse.

Now, when the men start getting suspicious as to why they aren't having kids, how many of the wives will admit that they are secretly taking contraception? It is much easier to come up with a story about how it all happened without their knowledge, or how they were forced to do it against their will.

I am not denying that there is racism in Israel, just as there is everywhere else. I can certainly believe that some Israeli doctors may be more likely to recommend the Depo-Provera injection for black women than their whiter patients. I can believe that the frustration of not being able to communicate can result in sub-par care, and in not explaining the contraceptive options that they have. It is very possible that the doctors did not properly inform the women of the (sometimes serious) side effects that Depo-Provera has. The TV program helped expose these fissures in the care being given to Ethiopian women. This would naturally result in the Gamzu memo that Ha'aretz reported so eagerly.

The idea that doctors - especially in doctors who willingly travel to Ethiopia, people who would be among the most dedicated medical professionals on the planet - would conspire to effectively sterilize black women is simply not plausible.

Ha'aretz, and the gullible hateful media that follows it slavishly, was actively trying to demonize Israeli health officials and organizations that are dedicated to helping people - in order to report a scoop. The facts that we are aware of today, however, do not add up to the claims being made.

Perhaps my theory isn't 100% correct. I'm the first to admit that we don't have all the facts. But what I am suggesting fits the facts we do know much better than the yellow journalism being practiced in this case.

UPDATE: Mordy in the comments points to a 2005 study that says exactly what I was guessing:
Because contraceptives may introduce social discord, leading at times to intimate partners’ violence amongst African couples, women of low bargaining powers often resort to family planning methods that are suitable to covert use.

Women can take injections of Depo-Provera while visiting a health facility and remain protected against unwanted pregnancies for three months. This may be done without their husband’s knowledge and without the bother of having to remember to take the pill or to undergo clinical procedures that are involved when opting for implants or intrauterine devices. Consequently, a general pattern that has been observed in the contraceptive method mix in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the developing world is the predominance of injectables.
If a reporter visits one or fifty of these women and asks if they took the injections voluntarily, what do you think they would say?

UPDATE 2: Reuters did a tiny bit of actual reporting and asked Gamzu whether his memo was an admittance that Israel is forcibly giving the drug to Ethiopian women:
Ministry Director-General Roni Gamzu said the decision did not imply he accepted the allegations by the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
Ha'aretz' misinterpretation of the memo, as I wrote above, was the linchpin for the entire story.

This is looking more and more like Ha'aretz' version of the "Racist Jews steal organs from Arabs and Haitians" story that the anti-semites love to push.

(h/t Jonah B)
  • Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
The official FARS/ISNA news agency of Iran brags about Iran's latest invention - a machine that chops the fingers off of criminals.

It was unveiled Thursday with a live demonstration in Shiraz of the device chopping the fingers of an alleged thief and adulterer. (He is still getting lashes and jail time as well.)

American Thinker notes:
Contacted by FRANCE 24, the spokesperson for Iran Human Rights, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, who is based in Norway, explains: "What is surprising about this is that not only was this a public amputation, but that photos of it were distributed by official press agencies, and that they showed a machine that we had until yet never seen images of. We have noticed that the authorities have recently being making more and more publicity surrounding cases of corporal punishment. Every time we get closer to an election, the number of these incidents increases. And we're getting quite close to the presidential election [slated for June]. I believe this is a strategy to instil fear in the population so as to avoid any protests.
In other Iranian technology news, the nation claims to have successfully sent a Jew into space.

Oh, sorry - it was a monkey. Easy to make a mistake in that part of the world.

(h/t Al Gharqad, PTWatch)
  • Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Ian:

Barry Rubin: The Region: The Arab Left
"Sure, they were long apologists for repression carried out by leftist regimes, but not for repression carried out against leftists. Now things have changed. The Western Left has sided with the reactionaries because they hate their own countries’ systems more. This is a mistake and their compatriots will pay for it in blood."

Hamas's Talibanization of the Gaza Strip by Khaled Abu Toameh
"Instead of seeking unity with Hamas, the PLO leadership should be making a bigger effort to prevent radical Islam from extending its control to the West Bank. The PLO can achieve this goal only if it continues with its current policy of conducting security coordination with Israel.
Meanwhile, foreign activists who continue to arrive in the Gaza Strip to voice solidarity with Hamas need to know that they are complicit in the effort to establish a repressive and brutal entity that has no respect for freedoms and despises Western culture and values."

Israeli UN Envoy: Security Council Has “Selective Perception”
"Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor told the UN Security Council last week that the Council “needs a GPS system to find its moral center in this debate on the Middle East.”

Iraqi Ally of Israel on Hagel, “This is Not a Minister of Defense, But a Minister of Chaos” (INTERVIEW)
"On Friday I spoke with former Iraqi Parliamentarian Mithal al Alusi, who has championed counter-terrorism cooperation and normalized relations between Iraq and Israel. This Arab ally of Israel is dismayed by what he sees as President Obama’s abandonment of the liberals and moderates of the Mideast."

Shots fired at bus, terror attack foiled in West Bank
Border Police arrest three Palestinians carrying seven pipe bombs at checkpoint

Arabs Attempt to Storm Tree Planting, Jewish Town in Gush Etzion
As Israelis in Gush Etzion attempted to plant trees, a mob of Arab thugs and international anarchists rioted.

No One Injured in Bus Attack; Arabs Stone Kindergarten
Sunday saw several violent incidents in which Arabs rioted, and threw rocks at kindergarten children

'Tunisian president delays visit at Abbas's behest'
Ma'an news agency reports Moncef Marzouki postponed his visit to Gaza till March after talks with Abbas at African Union summit.

CIF Watch: The Guardian’s Michael Cohen & terrorist atttacks which ‘help’ the peace process
"The degree of Cohen’s malice, or at least callous indifference, towards the lives of Israeli men, women and children is only matched by the risible political logic. He’s suggesting that only with a gun to their collective heads – and the necessity of burying more of their dead – will the obstinate Israelis take leaps of faith necessary for an agreement with the Palestinians."

Former Italian prime minister defends Mussolini-Hitler pact
Marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Silvio Berlusconi says Fascist leader acted in his nation’s best interest; ceremonies held at Polish camps and ghettos
"He was speaking to reporters Sunday on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust. When Germany’s Nazi regime occupied Italy during World War II, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps. In 1938, before the war’s outbreak, Mussolini’s regime passed anti-Jewish laws, barring them from universities and many professions, among other bans."

MEMRI: Egyptian Blogger: Six Million Jews Could Not Have Died In European Nazi Camps

Muslim Group Threatens Egypt's Coptic Christians; Tells Them to 'Pay Tribute'
"An armed Islamic movement calling itself the "Brigade of Muslims" released a statement on Saturday threatening Egypt's Coptic Christians and asking them to pay tribute.
"Egypt is an Islamic country and will be ruled according to Shariah," the statement added."

As Syria totters, Israel places Iron Domes in north
Netanyahu also summons home front defense minister for emergency talk about chemical weapons threat

Ahmadinejad urges Muslim world to unite to destroy Zionism
"Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Muslim world to unite to eradicate Zionism, which he called “corrupt, uncultured and murderous” Sunday.
Ahmadinejad spoke in Tehran to the 26th International Islamic Unity Conference, which coincided with International Holocaust Remembrance Day."

Iran arrests 11 journalists over ‘foreign contacts’
Development marks serious escalation of government press crackdown

Iran sentences American pastor Saeed Abedini to 8 years in prison
Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, an American imprisoned in Iran on charges of evangelizing, was sentenced this morning to eight years in prison.

Iran, Argentina agree to probe 1994 Jewish center bombing
Countries to launch ‘truth commission’ to investigate Buenos Aires attack in which 85 people were killed
Jewish groups, however, made clear their discomfort at Argentina’s efforts to improve relations with Iran despite the unresolved bombing case.

Pro-Israel Groups Prepare to Battle BDS 'Day of Action'
Jewish groups in Europe said that they would be organizing counter-boycotts against a planned 'day of action' by BDS radicals
"Anti-Israel Arab sympathizers and international anarchists are targeting several Israeli fruit exporters with protests, in their ongoing efforts to promote boycotts of Israel. In a statement released several weeks ago, the international BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) movement named February 9 as a “Day of Action” against two major Israeli agricultural exporters to Europe, Mehadrin and Hadekalim."

History Made as Natural Gas Flows from Ship to Hadera
History was made on Saturday as natural gas began flowing from the regasification ship hired by the IEC to its power stations.

Israel Daily Picture: 1939 Jewish Demonstration against the British White Paper
"In a previous posting we presented details and pictures of Palestine's Jews demonstrating in Jerusalem against the White Paper on May 18, 1939. The American Colony photographers returned four days later to film the protest of the women of the Yishuv, led by some of the leading women figures in Jerusalem at the time: Ita Yellin, Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, and Sarah Herzog."
  • Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the excellent Missing Peace blog:

Dr Ali Reza Nourizadeh, a senior researcher and director of the Centre for Arab & Iranian Studies in London, confirmed during a telephone interview with Missing Peace that an explosion has occurred in the underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow Iran.

Nourizadeh, who is a commentator for Deutsche Welle and the Voice of America and has an extensive network of contacts in Iran, told us that the explosion has caused relatively little damage to the uranium enrichment facility itself but that the blast has blocked the entrance to Fordow. He confirmed that more than 200 personnel are trapped in the plant and that there is a unknown number of casualties.

He said that since the blast the city of Qom, where Fordow is located, has been encircled by forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He also reported that today the regime arrested between eight and twelve Iranian journalists who where accused of collaborating with foreign media. Nourizadeh said that local journalists have been responsible for leaking information about the incident in Fordow. Their computers and other equipment has been confiscated.

Nourizadeh dismissed reports about an imminent Iranian retaliation against Israel via Hezbollah. He said that Iran will not retaliate at this point of time, but it could be that Hezbollah will heat up the border with Israel for reasons more related to the Syrian civil war.

Meanwhile Israeli TV channel 10 reported that the US government has officially denied that an explosion took place Fordow.
I also received an email from Israel:
Minister Uzi Dayan, indicated on radio [Reshet Beyt, Middle East magazine; 7pm - 7:50 pm approx] that there had been an explosion of some kind at Fordow. But he pointed out that Iran has many enemies, thus not taking responsibility for the explosion in Israel's name.
It is starting to look like my decision to run the story on Friday (which I was on the fence about) was a good one.

Too bad if the centrifuges weren't damaged or destroyed, though.

Earlier Fordow stories here and here.

(h/t EG)

UPDATE: From PJ Media's Tatler:

I’m told that there was indeed an explosion, which took place in a gas line that was being run to a new part of the Fordo facility, deep underground. I don’t know if it was sabotage or an accident, but eyewitnesses talk about a monster blast, and it does indeed appear that lots of workers are trapped.

There are lots of explosions in Iran’s pipelines, and at the country’s refineries, as I’ve pointed out several times. Both petroleum and natural gas pipelines are blown up regularly, and the biggest refineries are often out of commission.

This is different; the regime dearly wants to craft atomic bombs, and the new Fordo facility, cleverly concealed from IAEA inspectors, would have added to their capacity, and, as long as it remained secret, would have enabled them to work away from the snoopers. Now, not only is the new facility exposed, but it, and the surrounding operations, are severely damaged.

UPDATE: Still too early to know all the details, but it seems the gas line was being run to a facility separate from the formerly-secret-but-now-well-known site. So while the new, very deep underground, project was blown up, the older one is intact.
  • Monday, January 28, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Al Manar (Hezbollah):
The Zionist former Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni admitted last week that the Arab Emirate of Qatar has funded the electoral campaign of Zionist Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and that of the 'Yisrael Beiteinu' party.

During an interview with the Zionist television Channel-1, Livni said that her rival Netanyahu has received from Qatar $3 million and the 'Yisrael Beiteinu' party $1.5 million for their campaigns.

However, Netanyahu promised the Qatari emir in exchange that he will meet Hamas after the elections and that the right-wing coalition will promote the creation of a Jordanian-Palestinian governed federation, she added, noting that Hamas and the Zionist officials had already held secret meetings in Doha.

Livni also stated that she is a close friend of Mrs. Mozah, wife of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar.
Iranian media is also reporting this.

This bizarre rumor seems to have started from a pro-Assad Syrian TV channel on January 18:



Israelis are amused.

Recall that only a couple of months ago Arabic media went crazy over a different piece of laughable fiction involving Livni, saying that she admitted having sex with Arab leaders to blackmail them. Soon thereafter the rumor morphed to add Saeb Erekat to her stable of sexual conquests.

It is obvious that Arab journalists can lose their jobs - or their lives - for telling the truth. I wonder if any one of them was ever fired for making stuff up.

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