Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, February 22, 2013

Was there a "naqba" in 1967? One way anti-Israel propaganda works

Sometimes the most insidious lies one sees in the media are the ones that are not directly related to the topic being discussed.

From the UN's news service, IRIN:

Ahmed Dweik’s family knows a thing or two about the refugee experience.

Theirs started in 1948, when his father fled his Palestinian home town as Israeli forces captured the village of West Batani near Ashdod in present-day Israel.

From there, he settled in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, further south, until the 1967 Arab-Israeli war pushed him to search for an easier life abroad. He went first to Egypt to study, then to Yemen to find work.

That is where Dweik was born. But like his father, he too sought better opportunities, migrating to Syria to look for a better paying job and settling close to Yarmouk, the largest camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria.

“But what happened to my father after the 1967 war happened to me in 2012,” Dweik told IRIN.

Excuse me?

Not one Gazan was expelled when Israel took it over in 1967. During the Six Day War there wasn't even time for the Gazans to flee.

But thousands of them decided to flee anyway after the war. The reason was simple: they didn't want to live under Jewish rule. Many thousands went to Jordan - going through Israel itself. Many others, as was the case with Dweik's father, chose to go to other Arab countries to get jobs.

When IRIN quotes the younger Dweik as saying that his fleeing war-torn Syria is similar to his father fleeing Gaza in 1967, the implication is that Israel was treating Gazans the way Syria is treating its citizens today. This is a baldfaced lie. Readers, not being on the lookout for anti-Israel bias in an article that is about the problems of Palestinians in Syria, will accept this nugget of misinformation as fact.

Multiply that by tens of thousands of such lies one sees in newspapers and books and other media, and you can see how even well-meaning people can be indoctrinated with anti-Israel propaganda without realizing it.

Five more Palestinian Arabs killed without the media noticing

On Wednesday, five more Palestinian Arabs were killed in Syria.

A rocket shot at the Yarmouk camp killed three, including a mother expecting her sixth child.

Another was killed in Jobar and one in Homs.

Of course, "pro-Palestinian" groups have been silent.

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army warned Hezbollah to stop interfering in Syria or else they might attack Hezbollah in Lebanon.

And Reuters has a story on the increased numbers of refugees streaming into Jordan from Syria - but doesn't mention that Jordan still turns Palestinian Arabs back at the Syrian border, another small fact that "pro-Palestinian" groups are ignoring.

Mondoweiss reveals the evil Zionist dentist conspiracy

The blogosphere is filled with "Mommy bloggers" who vent about the everyday frustrations they have in life and commiserate with other stay-at-home moms.

But when the mommy blogger is a Palestinian Arab, in this case someone named Nora Lester Murad, her whines must be against Israel. And the Mondoweiss hate site must distribute her ridiculous complaints far and wide:

A lot of people hate going to the dentist because it hurts. I hate going to the dentist in Jerusalem because it hurts, but not in my mouth. It hurts my sense of belonging.

Last time I took my children to the Israeli dental clinic, the receptionist waved us to the x-ray room and a technician hurried my middle daughter into the big faux-leather chair.

“Wait! Why does she need an x-ray?” I intervened.

The woman had straight blond hair and a pink hair extension that matched her pinkish lipstick. She looked at me with a totally unreadable look on her face.

“She’s having her teeth cleaned. She doesn’t need an x-ray,” I repeated in English. My middle daughter was looking uncomfortable in the chair, embarrassed. The other two had backed into the waiting area and were pretending not to know me.

The technician shouted to the receptionist and there was soon a small congregation of Israeli women around me, all speaking Russian. They were trying to figure out what my problem was.

...I was livid, frustrated, powerless.

“She doesn’t need an x-ray!” I raised my voice, following her to her office.

“I decide!” she countered.

By then, all my children were ready to crawl into the medicine cabinet with shame.

And I made it worse.

I approached a Palestinian woman sitting with her children in the waiting room. I asked her in Arabic if she knew enough Hebrew to explain to “those crazy people” (yes, I was angry) that my daughter needed her teeth cleaned, not an x-ray. She didn’t look too happy to be associated with me in any way, but she stood up to help.

Then the door to the hygienist’s room opened and she stepped out, interested in all the commotion. I ran to her. Her long bouncy curls had changed colors since our last visit.

“Do you remember me?” I asked in English.

“Of course!” She smiled at my children and I felt a wave of relief. She is the reason why we go to that clinic. She makes flossing and mouthwash and fluoride fun.

“Can you please tell them I want you to clean my daughter’s teeth? I told them you wrote it on her dental record, but they don’t understand.”

A few minutes later, my middle daughter was reclining in the hygienist’s chair having her teeth cleaned.

“Apparently the person who scheduled your appointment at your last visit thought you wanted to see the dentist,” she said as she worked. “And everyone who sees the dentist for the first time needs an x-ray.”

“You provide services in Hebrew and in Russian,” I said. “Why not in Arabic? Isn’t Arabic also an official language of Israel?”

Yes, when you are a Palestinian Arab and you are frustrated by something, it must be Israel's fault.

You see how Israel oppresses Arabs? It doesn't force every dentists' office to have Arabic speakers! (Or English speakers, for that matter.)

However, I want to look at Murad's saying that visiting a dentist who doesn't speak her language hurts her sense of "belonging." Earlier in the piece she writes:

Many Palestinians in Jerusalem go to Israeli dental clinics. Why shouldn’t they? Palestinians who have residency in Jerusalem are entitled to Israeli health insurance. It’s one of the few benefits they got when Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem.

Nearly all the approximately 300,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem are “residents.” They were born in Jerusalem (like their parents, and their parents’ parents) but despite Israel’s annexation, they are not citizens of Israel. They have no voice in the Israeli elections that determine their fate. Not that they necessarily want to vote in the Israeli elections. But I digress.

This little aside puts everything in proper perspective.

You see, Arab residents of the eastern part of Jerusalem can choose to become full citizens of Israel. Anytime they want. Thousands have made that decision.

But many others, including presumably this writer, refuse to do so, for whatever reason.

This is fine. But if you refuse to become a citizen, how can you whine about not being allowed to vote in Israeli elections? All it takes is some paperwork. Maybe you could even then start a movement to get Israel to pass a law that every dentist employ an Arabic speaker!

And this shows the hypocrisy of the writer. She chose not to make a simple phone call to find a dentist office that she could comfortably go to - and blames Israel for its lack of Arabic (and paucity of English) speakers. She chooses not to become a citizen - and blames Israel for not giving her full rights.

It is hard to be sympathetic with people who whine about things they can easily change.

The irony is that just like Nora Lester Murad tries to use her bad experience at a Russian dentist office to show how Israel is to blame at large, her article shows that Palestinian Arab problems at large can often be ascribed to the simple inability to take responsibility for their own choices and to instead always blame the other instead.

(h/t Naftali)

Photos:Hamas teaching kids at school how to be snipers

A photo essay from Hamas-oriented Palestine Today shows students in Hamas schools in Gaa being given military training, including how to become a sniper:

Jews and Arabs shopping together today
at Rami Levy

Today I had the opportunity to interview the manager of the Rami Levy supermarket in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank.")

The Rami Levy stores, you will recall, have been the target of Palestinian Authority wrath because it offers low prices that Palestinian Arabs from the area take advantage of. The PA even started a boycott campaign against the chain back in 2010, but it failed miserably.

During today's visit I saw lots of Palestinian Arabs shopping there, together with many more Jews buying food for Purim (the parking lot was completely full.)

So I spoke to the manager of the store, as well as to an Arab supervisor at the market (unfortunately, he didn't want to be on videotape, for obvious reasons).

Over and over again, the manager and Arab supervisor - who incidentally was promoted to his position after only three months on the job - claimed that the store did not discriminate against the Arab employees or customers in any way. Arab employees are paid the same amount as Jewish employees for the same jobs. Roughly half the employees at the store are Arab. They claimed that the store was a perfect example of Jewish-Arab coexistence and tolerance.

From seeing the protests against the store by leftists who claim to be supporting human rights, however, I knew that these Rami Levy employees could not possibly be telling the truth. There had to be some way that they mistreated their Arab workers - I knew it, deep down. The "human rights" activists wouldn't lie, would they? I just had to dig a little deeper.

Finally, I discovered the shocking truth.

The manager showed me the synagogue on the premises. I naturally asked him if there was prayer room for Muslims as well. He answered that they only go to the mosque on Fridays and generally pray by themselves during the week, and he is happy to let them go where ever and whenever they want to pray (usually outside.) He also said that during Ramadan he would adjust their work schedules so they could break the fast with their families.

In other words, only Jews have a room for prayer.

It gets even worse!

I asked the manager if Rami Levy gives out gifts to their employees for various holidays. He answered that they do give out Mishloach Manot baskets to all employees every Purim.

But then he admitted the shocking truth.

Rami Levy takes the wine bottles out of the gift baskets meant for Muslim employees! Only the Jews get wine!

They made some excuse, saying that giving alcohol to a Muslim is offensive. Pshaw. The anti-Israel Leftists know the real reason: explicit, abject Jewish discrimination against Arabs.

There can be no other explanation that makes sense to those who are offended by real coexistence.

Thursday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S: Iron Dome is Important to Peace Process (VIDEO)

Following his public statement criticizing a “60 Minutes” report that asserted Israel’s Iron Dome defense system would hinder rather than help along the peace process, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, appeared Tuesday Morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program to tout its capabilities.
“It not only saved Israeli lives but it saved Palestinian lives because we didn’t have to operate on the ground,” Oren noted, referring to Iron Dome’s effectiveness during Israel’s November conflict with Gaza terrorists. He believes the program will also be instrumental in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority because, “It gave us space and time.”

Andrew Bolt: If Wilders is wrong, explain this conference
This hypocrisy and fear is exposed best by what is misleadingly called a ”Peace Conference and Exhibition” being organised in Melbourne in March.

Al-Azhar Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, is the highest-ranking cleric in the Sunni Muslim world. He has prayed to God to “terminate” the Jews and is a virulent anti-Semite to judge from his sermons:

IDF: Expect Intifada, Not Talks with Palestinian Authority

Israel's military is training for the possibility the Palestinian Authority may soon launch a formal third intifada.
A senior IDF officer warned Thursday morning during an interview on Army Radio that army analysts believe it is likely the PA will choose to launch an intifada over returning to the negotiating table for final status talks with Israel.
The officer, who serves in the regions of Judea and Samaria, said Thursday in an interview on Army Radio that soldiers are currently training to deal with four-week confrontation scenarios.

Fatah mad over reported indirect Israel-Hamas talks By Khaled Abu Toameh

Fatah official says only PLO is authorized to conduct negotiations as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians.”
Fatah officials expressed outrage on Wednesday over reports that Hamas and Israel are conducting indirect talks in Cairo.
According to the reports, Israeli and Hamas officials who arrived in Cairo recently have been holding indirect talks about consolidating the current cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which has been in effect since Operation Pillar of Defense ended in November.
Jamal Muheissen, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said the talks Hamas has been conducting with Israel are “unacceptable.”

CAMERA: Where's the Coverage? LGBT Community Suffers in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority

Even ten years in prison for homosexuality is not the worst that can happen to a gay man in Gaza. Last year, the Hamas-run regime executed a gay man.
Gay Palestinians regularly seek to escape to Israel. In considering a case where a gay Palestinian man sought asylum, the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the state to take into consideration the degree to which his life would be at risk due to his sexual orientation, should he be returned to the West Bank.

A Chinese Life Is Worth Less Than a Middle Eastern Life

Imagine the international uproar if 100 young Palestinian Arabs burnt themselves to death while demanding Israel return land to the Arabs? Not 100 at once, but one by one, one could envision the topic dominating world headlines. Coverage of funerals, visuals of their families and undoubtedly we’d see pundit after pundit pontificating on the need to “understand their frustrations.”
Meanwhile, in Nepal, 100 Tibetans have burnt themselves to death to protest Chinese rule of Tibet – and it has largely been ignored by the media. No calls for China to give in to Tibet because of the poor oppressed Tibetian people – no U.N. peace force, and little media coverage. In December 2010, a Tunisian fruit-vendor set himself on fire, and media coverage of subsequent Arab riots and the “Arab spring” fueled global headlines for months on end. Despite the fact that China is a world power, the Middle East is more interesting to the media, and for the media seemingly a Chinese life is worth less than a Middle Eastern one.

Honest Reporting: Whose Opinion Matters? A Look at the New York Times

And it’s not as if there are regular columnists working at the Times who clarify Israel’s perspective to readers. Roger Cohen and Tom Friedman, the columnists who write most frequently about Israel, are both clearly critics of the Netanyahu government and its policies. This comes through in the combined 22 columns the two penned during 2012.
The Times did not completely prevent dissenting viewpoints from appearing on the op-ed pages. Two articles gave views supporting Israeli policy. One argued for the legality of the settlements while a second took issue with those who have said that a military strike on Iran would not be effective. Yet these two articles hardly constitute “balance.”
Overall, 68 percent of opinion pieces in the New York Times in 2012 were critical of Israel while just over 2 percent were supportive.

Hollywood’s Unknown Rescuer
Before Schindler’s List, an L.A. studio boss saved hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust. Why was he alone?

That same year, Harry Warner was also working hard to push American policymakers to save Jewish refugees from Hitler ¬but from the top down, rather than from the bottom up. In October 1938, after hearing that the British were considering restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine, he immediately sent a telegram to his brother Jack in London, instructing him to go see U.S. Ambassador Joseph Kennedy for help. Warner sent a second missive directly to President Roosevelt—addressed “My dear president”—asking him to personally intervene. (The stress of the episode, according to Warner biographer Michael Birdwell, put Harry Warner in the hospital with bleeding ulcers that same month.)

Sarah Honig: Doing well

How many in Israel realize that this country was recently declared the second-best educated in the world (after Canada)? How many know that a recent survey declared Israel the first in the world in hi-tech Research and Development intensity?
Odds are that very few do. In our society, bad news is given resonance and the good is relegated to the margins. When Israeli fifth-graders do badly in international math evaluations, the entire country seethes. This feeds political recriminations that generate more headlines for days to follow. Our successes rarely, if ever, receive notice.

Thursday Links Part 1

From Ian:

British MP ditches debate because rival is Israeli
Anti-Israel politician George Galloway claims he was misled about opponent’s identity in Oxford University face-off

British MP George Galloway quit a debate on Israel at Oxford University Wednesday after discovering that his opponent was an Israeli citizen. The Respect party legislator, who is renowned for being staunchly pro-Palestinian, stormed out of the building saying: “I don’t recognize Israel and I don’t debate with Israelis.”
Galloway was first to speak in the debate, opining in favor of the statement “Israel should withdraw immediately from the West Bank” for 10 minutes. But midway into his opponent’s address, in which the third-year student referred repeatedly to Israel as “we” and “us,” Galloway inquired whether the speaker, Eylon Aslan-Levy, was Israeli. Upon learning that he was, the MP stormed out of the building with his wife, claiming that he was misled.

BBC Watch: Gaza news ignored by the BBC

Can you imagine how many heart-rending, finger-wagging reports would have been produced by the BBC if Israel had taken to flooding the Gaza Strip’s smuggling tunnels in order to put them out of operation? In particular, can you imagine the outrage if – as has been claimed – such flooding operations were carried out using sewage?
It is now over a week since reports of just such actions on the part of Egypt began coming through, but so far there has not been a mention of the subject from the BBC’s Gaza reporter on any of its radio or television channels or on its website, despite his clearly being aware of the story.

CAMERA: Neglected Facts About Hunger-Striking Samer Issawi

As Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi has allegedly exceeded more than 200 days of a hunger strike, Palestinian demonstrations and NGO activity on his behalf have intensified, and so too has media coverage. Though some media outlets have demonstrated great interest in Issawi's case, that interest is decidedly selective.
Take for instance the following photograph and caption which appeared in yesterday's Ha'aretz English edition on page 2. (It did not appear in the Hebrew edition.)

Iran installs uranium enrichment accelerators
Diplomats say Tehran upgrading fissile material production, nearing ability to outfit nuclear warhead

In a disheartening signal to world powers at upcoming Iran talks, Tehran has started installing high-tech machines at its main uranium enrichment site that are capable of accelerating production of reactor fuel and — with further upgrading — the core of nuclear warheads, diplomats said Wednesday.

Michael Totten: Free Syrian Army Threatens Hezbollah in Lebanon

Hezbollah is scary good at insurgency, but counterinsurgency is emphatically not a skill in its toolbox. That’s one of the many reasons the organization has never tried to conquer the rest of the country. It can’t. It can only push people around from its own corner.

Turkish Official: Marmara Trial of Israeli Commanders ‘Political’

A top Turkish government legal official has said that his country’s in absentia trial of top Israeli commanders for their role in May 2010 Marvi Marmara flotilla incident is “political, not really judicial.” The trial will restart Thursday after first beginning in November 2012.

Report: Budapest University student council lists Jews
Hungarian anti-Semitism watchdog calls for police action on alleged files, which would violate the law

Members of the student council of the University of Budapest reportedly have compiled illegal lists of students’ presumed religion, ethnic background including Jewish origins, and political affiliation.
The files were compiled annually on freshmen by the HOK student council, according to a report published Tuesday by the Hungarian television channel ATV, which received a copy of a full list from 2009.

Israeli Scientists Create ‘Stealthy Fiber Optic Communications’

Two Israeli university professors and a PhD candidate have created a concept for “stealthy fiber optic communications.”
Developed by Ben Gurion University of the Negev’s Prof. Dan Sadot and Prof. Ze’ev Zalevsky of Bar Ilan University together with PhD student Tomer Yeminy, the new encryption method enables stealthy transmission of any optical communications signal.

Pirate bugs, the superheroes of Arava farms
Predatory wasps and other beneficial insects are taking over for chemical pesticides on many crops grown in Israel’s fertile desert.

Meet the superheroes of the insect world: “pirate bugs” that feast on thrips, aphids and other tiny pests that destroy and infect food crops.
Single-mindedly devoted to their mission, these beneficial predators have allowed Israeli farmers in the Arava region of the Negev Desert – where 60 percent of Israel’s fresh vegetable exports originate – to cut their use of chemical pesticides by about 80%.

In an interview for a Palestinian Arabic newspaper, Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Aloul admitted that Fatah has never abandoned the option for terrorism against Israeli civilians.

"Fatah has not abandoned its armed struggle," he stated, adding that this was noted in the Sixth General Conference of Fatah held in Bethlehem in the summer of 2009. He added that it was always possible to "rebuild the organization" on the basis of the new facts.

Aloul also praised the terrorists that were the hallmark of Fatah operations in the past.

He also emphasized that the issue of Palestinian Arab prisoners in Israeli jails would be the top priority when President Obama visits the region.

Hezbollah, Iran continue targeting Jewish civilians

From YNet:

While Jerusalem and Washington are trying to convince the European Union to add Hezbollah to terror black list, a Cyprus trial might help bring about this change.

Six months after the arrest of Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, 24-year-old Lebanese who holds both Lebanese and Swedish passports, Yaacoub has admitted in court to membership in the Hezbollah, and gave information regarding his communications with his handler, the use of code words, and European activities of the Shiite organization, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Upon his arrest, the assumption was that Yaacoub intended to carry out a terror attack against Israeli targets in Cyprus. He denied this, but admitted that his handlers ordered him to look for Kosher restaurants in Limassol. In addition, he said that he was sent by the Hezbollah to other areas in which there were great Israeli and Jewish presences, such as Antalya and Amsterdam.

And from Ha'aretz:

Nigerian security forces uncovered an Iranian terror cell that was allegedly planning to launch attacks against Israeli and American targets in the city of Lagos, Nigerian authorities said Wednesday.

Three members of the cell were arrested by security forces. The leader, Abdullahi Berende, a 50-year-old Shiite Muslim Nigerian citizen, was arrested on December 12, 2012, after six months of surveillance. Two other members - Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewumi - were also arrested. The fourth member of the terror cell, Benyamin Yosuf, managed to escape.

The spokeswoman of the Nigerian police said Wednesday that the cell was planning to carry out an attack on the offices of USAID, as well as on the offices of the Israeli container shipping company ZIM, and on the Chabad house in the city of Lagos, which is considered the financial capital of Nigeria.

According to the police spokeswoman, the members of the cell were scouting and collecting information for a future attack. She said that the leader of the cell photographed the Chabad house in Lagos himself and sent the photos to his Iranian handlers.

The investigation by Nigerian security forces revealed that Berende traveled to Iran for the first time in 2006 to study in the university. He returned to Iran in 2011 and underwent training there in assembling explosive devices. Berende received $30 thousand from his Iranian handlers in order to carry out the attacks.

Berende admitted in his interrogation to traveling to Iran on several occasions, in order to meet with Iranians known for their involvement in a worldwide terror network.

Given that Hezbollah is simply one of Iran's military wings, what more does the EU need to know to outlaw the group?

(h/t YM, Benny)

"Settlements are an expression of our connection to this land" - EoZ interview with Yossi Kuperwasser pt. 1

Yossi Kuperwasser, the Director of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs in the Prime Minister's Office, says that Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria "are an expression of our connection to this land."

In part one of an exclusive interview with EoZ, Kuperwasser discussed the purpose of his ministry and the importance of fighting attempts to delegitimize Israel.

He described his office as working on topics such as explaining Israel's position to politicians and pundits, and to try to get world leaders to pressure the Palestinian leadership to return to the negotiating table, to give only a couple of examples.

Kuperwasser stated that the top priorities of his ministry are the Iranian threat, the Palestinian issue, and to develop a "national security concept" that extends the idea of national security beyond the old paradigm of military defense to include social aspects of Israel's security.

When asked about how Israel's settlement policy fits in with strategic affairs, Kuperwasser defended them as "another expression of the Jewish people coming back to their ancestral homeland." He also defended them on security grounds, while admitting that not all of the communities help security.

On the other hand, Kuperwasser did admit that there are other people who claim the land and that Israel has shown time and time again a willingness to compromise for peace. Unfortunately, the Palestinian Arab side has not embraced the idea of two states for two peoples living side by side in peace.

I followed up by asking him how to answer the European claim that Israel has no right to continue building homes in the area. He answered that, firstly, the new homes are only being built on land that is already within defined Jewish communities. Secondly, there is a need for natural growth.

"Once we reach an agreement with the Palestinians...the settlements are one of the topics" to be discussed in a final status agreement, he noted, but until then there is no reason to stop building within them - only the legal ones.

Furthermore, during years of negotiations with the Palestinian Arabs, the idea of a settlement freeze was never a requirement.

Beyond that, Kuperwasser asserts, what he wants to convince the Europeans and other Westerners is that without a Palestinian Arab culture of peace there is nothing to talk about. Peace is not being held up by settlements, but by the inability of Palestinian Arabs to accept the right of Jews to their own land and their continuous incitement against Israel. This is what he wants the world to understand.

Hamantashen - by Pillsbury

Only in Israel:

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Human rights group adopts Hamas' version of Gaza offensive, claims Israel

A total of 14 missile strikes, some seemingly delivered by drones and, including four, according to HRW, that “appeared to involve fixed-wing aircraft dropping aerial bombs,” have been highlighted in the investigation as being of concern. But looking at Israel’s operation as a whole, the questions still remaining over the 14 strikes -- into one of the most crowded civilian zones on the planet -- suggest that in not less than 1,486 cases Israel did seek to ensure that the overwhelming majority of targets – equating, according to HRW’s own figures, to more than 99 percent -- were indeed carefully selected. They suggest, too, that the selection of targets was to ensure there was a minimal loss of Palestinian civilian casualties.

Honest Reporting: PLO Wants to Roll Back the Clock
Good grief: Everything Areikat’s asking for now was on the table at Taba 2001.

And what’s the progress Areikat refers to? The Palestinians broke off the Taba talks, the second intifada raged on, Yasser Arafat was replaced by Mahmoud Abbas and his do-nothing doctrine. Israel withdrew from Gaza and Hamas simply took over and continued firing rockets. The PLO all but bailed out of Oslo with its unilateral statehood bid.
Progess? What progress?
If Taba is good enough for the Palestinians now, why wasn’t it good enough then?

Is territorial discontinuity a real obstacle?
Territorial division between Gaza and the West Bank is not an obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state.

GEOGRAPHICALLY, THERE are five kinds of states: contiguous, with a homogeneous territory (such as Germany and Brazil); prolonged, with an extended territory in latitude or longitude (like Chile or Mozambique); irregular (like Greece); perforated, with sovereign states within its territory (like Italy with San Marino and South Africa with Lesotho and Swaziland); and fragmented, with a discontinuous territory interrupted by seas or by other states.
Among fragmented states are Russia (with Kaliningrad in European territory), the US (with Alaska), Denmark, Philippines and Japan (with archipelagos), Malaysia and Oman.

Douglas Murray: A model of diversity
There’s nothing quite like diversity. Take Manchester. It has a large Muslim population and a lot of gays. What could possibly go wrong?

Last week Manchester University’s Student Union played host to the ‘Global Aspirations of Women Society’. This appears to be a front group of the extremists of Hizb ut-Tahrir and therefore by no means does what it says on the tin.
Anyhow – as the university’s student newspaper puts it:
‘A speaker at a Students’ Union affiliated society workshop said that homosexuals would be executed in an ideal Islamic state, describing the practice of two men kissing as an “atrocity.”
1st year Middle Eastern studies student Colin Cortbus attended a public meeting at the Students’ Union last Wednesday 13th February organised by Global Aspirations and asked the chairperson of the meeting whether “in the Islamic society in which you strive for,” they would “feel comfortable, personally and morally, to kill a gay man.”

Daphne Anson: Demonstration In Melbourne Against Geert Wilders (video)

Organised by Students For Palestine, and with the comrades from Socialist Alliance inevitably participating, here's a demo in the Melbourne suburb of Somerton on 19 February against the appearance of anti-Islamist campaigner Geert Wilders at a public meeting organised by the Q Society.

BBC Watch: “Significant strands of thought” at the BBC

As we have noted here before, Abdel Bari Atwan – the Gaza-born editor of the London-based Arabic language newspaper ‘Al Quds Al Arabi’- is a regular guest on several BBC programmes on both radio and television, despite his frequent voicing of often frankly offensive opinions.
Readers will probably not be surprised to learn that Atwan is now promoting the notion that:
“… the French military intervention in Mali is designed not only to protect its own interests in the region but to benefit Israel.”

Kerry to bypass Israel in first Middle East trip
Newly instated US secretary of state to visit key American regional allies, but will wait to accompany Obama to Jerusalem

Secretary of State John Kerry will make his first official trip overseas next week, a jam-packed travel agenda that includes meetings in nine nations across Europe and the Middle East.

Report: Hagel Said Israel Headed Toward Apartheid, Netanyahu a ‘Radical’

“I am sitting in a lecture by Chuck Hagel at Rutgers,” Wagner wrote in the email. “He basically said that Israel has violated every UN resolution since 1967, that Israel has violated its agreements with the quartet, that it was risking becoming an apartheid state if it didn’t allow the Palestinians to form a state. He said that the settlements were getting close to the point where a contiguous Palestinian state would be impossible.”
“He said that he [thought] that Netanyahu was a radical and that even [former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi] Livni, who was hard nosed thought he was too radical and so wouldn’t join in a coalition [government] with him. … He said that Hamas has to be brought in to any peace negotiation,” Wagner wrote.

Supporter of Iranian dictatorship brought Chuck Hagel to Rutgers University for 2007 speech

A pro-Hezbollah, pro-Hamas candidate for the Iranian presidency, a man linked to Iranian-controlled front groups, brought former Republican Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to speak at Rutgers University in 2007, according to another professor on campus.
Hooshang Amirahmadi, who led Rutgers’ Center for Middle Eastern Studies when Hagel came to campus, is the founder and president of the American-Iranian Council. He arranged for Hagel’s speech on March 2, 2007, the faculty source told The Daily Caller.

Study finds sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks in France
614 incidents in 2012 represent a 58 percent increase over the previous year says SPCJ report

“2012 has been a year of unprecedented violence against Jews in France,” according to the report, which referenced the shooting murders of a rabbi and three Jewish children on March 19 by an Islamist radical at a Jewish school in Toulouse.

Why Jews should stand against Christian oppression
Of all the countries in the Middle East, only in Israel is the Christian population growing and flourishing.

So why should I as a Jew care about the fate of Christians? Firstly, having been victims for thousands of years it is our obligation to care and reach out to victims of discrimination, religious intolerance and extremism. Secondly, it is our responsibility to stand up for religious freedom and specially for those moderate and tolerant values promoted by most of these Christian minority groups. Moreover, Christians are rediscovering their Hebraic roots and are strong supporters of Israel, as they see its rebirth as the actualization of the biblical prophesies and of their divine mission to assist with the return of Jews to their promised land.
It is incumbent on my people to ensure that at least in the area where there is Jewish suzerainty, discrimination against Christians does not occur, and I have satisfied myself that of all the countries in the Middle East, only in Israel is the Christian population growing and flourishing.
(The writer is the chairman of the South African Zionist Foundation)

American superstar Alicia Keys to make Israel debut
One of the leading musical artists of the last 10 years will arrive in Israel for the 1st time on the birthday of her country.

American superstar Alicia Keys, one of the leading musical artists of the last 10 years, will be arriving in Israel for the first time on the birthday of her country – July 4th.
The winner of 14 Grammys will perform at the Nokia Center as part of her Set the World on Fire tour in support of her new album, Girl on Fire. Keys most recent highprofile appearances were at last month’s Super Bowl where she sang the National Anthem, and at this month’s Grammy Awards where she performed a duet with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

Michael Oren blasts 60 Minutes' Iron Dome segment
On his personal Facebook page, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, blasted the segment.

60 Minutes was right: The Iron Dome missile defense system does not take lives, it saves lives. But 60 Minutes missed the true connection between Iron Dome and settlements: Israel was compelled to build Iron Dome after it uprooted 21 Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip and Hamas took over Gaza and used it to launch thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Israel and the Obama Administration, together, call for the immediate resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians, without preconditions, to discuss all the core issues–borders, security, mutual recognition – leading to a solution based on two states for two peoples. We deeply appreciate American support for the Iron Dome system, which gives Israel the time and space to make peace, if the Palestinians wish to do so.

The Truth About Hamas’ Smuggling Tunnels
A senior Israeli Defense Force officer, speaking exclusively to the Investigative Project on Terrorism on condition of anonymity, explained why that continues.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson suggested that the idea that the tunnels were kept open for tax collection doesn’t necessarily make sense. “Hamas runs the Gaza Strip,” he said. “They could quite easily impose a tax system on goods coming across the border with Egypt. If Hamas were to get a deal with the Egyptians to pass goods on top of the border rather than under it, they could tax the goods as much as they want. But there are things going through the tunnels that wouldn’t be allowed by the Egyptians anyway, such as drugs trafficking, human trafficking, and of course, arms trafficking.”
Gerald Steinberg, president of the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor and a professor of political studies at Israel’s Bar Ilan University is the author of ‘NGOs, Human Rights, and Political Warfare in the Arab-Israel Conflict.’ Steinberg has no doubt as to what is behind Hamas’ tunnel strategy.
“The Hamas leadership thrives on conflict and of portraying the situation in Gaza as one of Palestinian suffering. It is created for the Palestinian leadership by playing the victim card strongly and has been assisted in that by the NGO network and by the UN human rights frameworks all working together. They will always exaggerate claims that they cannot import basic materials, while at the same time seeking to downplay changes that will actually benefit the population. There is always a careful play off that Hamas does between allowing materials in [to Gaza] and playing the victim card.”

Female Drivers Escape Arab Ambush
Jewish women escape PA gang’s carjacking attempts.

Palestinian Authority resident criminal gangs continue to target Israeli drivers for theft, and women travelling alone in particular. Two women escaped attempted carjackings at the last minute on Monday evening.

Man suspected of throwing acid on 15-year-old girl
Nazareth resident charged with attacking teen, who refused a relative’s marriage proposal

The Nazareth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday remanded into custody a 50-year-old resident of the northern city who is suspected of throwing acid in the face of a 15-year-old girl.

Fatah official warns of violence if prisoners aren’t freed
Kadoura Fares says no one wants a third intifada, but events may ‘get out of hand’ if a Palestinian held in Israeli jail dies

IDF trains for potential clashes with Hezbollah
Engineering Corps reconnaissance soldiers train in subterranean warfare as preparation for possible clash with Hezbollah.

Reconnaissance soldiers from the the IDF’s Engineering Corps recently completed an intensive series of subterranean warfare drills to prepare them for a potential clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has placed its command and control centers in underground bunkers, and dug a maze of tunnels where commanders, fighters and weaponry can be placed out of sight of the Israel Air Force.
Soldiers from the reconnaissance platoon of the Assaf Engineering Brigade underwent month-long exercises simulating complex terrain fighting, much of which involved dense forests. A week of training was dedicated to combat in tunnels.

The Triple Threat to Egyptian Press Freedom
The Muslim Brotherhood, an intrusive state bureaucracy, and a dangerously deflated economy all endanger the country's newly-open media environment.

As the Arab uprisings continue, war and state repression aren't the only threats to free expression. Egypt in the last week saw two other factors impinging on the independent media: bad finances and malignant bureaucracy. They pose a potent threat that could drastically worsen the dimming prospects for a transition away from authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, the dismal values of the Muslim Brotherhood's media commissioners have driven out the editor of Al Ahram Online, an odd bright spot of breaking news and dissenting journalism that thrived, in English, within the otherwise moribund state publishing conglomerate. Ahram Online's editor Hani Shukrallah is a secular leftist with Christian origins. He was forced into early retirement by the new Ahram supervisors put in place by the Muslim Brotherhood. Shukrallah believes it's a purely political decision, and spoke out only after his salary was cut and his chosen successor passed over. "The object of course is humiliation," he wrote in a Facebook note. "Fools! I have something immeasurably more precious: my dignity and self-respect. What do you have?" So far, his successor hasn't been named and his staff continues its impressive work. A Muslim Brotherhood loyalist has already been put in charge of Ahram's daily Arabic edition, and prospects don't look good for the independent editorial line of Ahram Online in English.

99% of Americans consider Iranian nukes a threat
North Korean nuclear program also widely preceived as ‘critical threat,’ poll finds; Republicans fear Islamism more than do Democrats

The Gallup poll found that 99 percent of Americans believe the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is a threat “to the vital interests of the United States in the next 10 years,” with 83% saying it was a “critical threat” and another 16% saying it was an “important, [but] not critical” one. Just 1% declined to say it was at least an important threat.

Ahmadinejad threat to cancel Iranian poll

IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that he could scrap this year's presidential election, threatening to drag the Islamic Republic into a constitutional crisis as he attempts to retain power.
With months to go until Iranians vote for his successor in June, Mr Ahmadinejad has reignited his bitter power struggle with Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader.

Syria ‘mulled killing Vatican ambassador’
Intelligence chief said to have proposed assassination after Archbishop Zenari criticized international silence on civil war

A top Syrian intelligence official planned to assassinate the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria following his outspoken criticism of the Bashar Assad regime late last week, a Saudi news website reported on Tuesday.
Archbishop Mario Zenari told Vatican radio on February 15 that he was saddened by the silence of the international community in the face of the bloodshed in Syria.
“We are walking over the blood of the victims,” said Zenari, while the international community has “washed its hands of the Syrian conflict.”

Greece's Golden Dawn: Holocaust Memorial Day 'Unacceptable'
Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has denounced the country's decision to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, calling it “unacceptable.”

Golden Dawn MP Ioannis Lagos lashed out at the country's education and interior ministers over new regulations requiring state institutions and schools to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, in commemoration of the over six million murdered at the hands of the Nazis.

Swiss mayoral candidate ‘pro-Hamas, pro-Iran’
Media in Switzerland accuse Green Party politician of anti-Semitism, denying Israel's right to exist.

Swiss Jewish leaders and the Simon Wiesenthal Center sharply criticized MP Geri Müller, a Green Party politician running for mayor of Baden, because he supports close ties with Hamas and engages in pro-Iranian regime activities.

The importance of the lexicographic war (Zvi)

From Zvi, commenting on my post about the bizarre word "spacio-cide" where I wrote that "Creating a ridiculous anti-Israel word (much like "pinkwashing" or "homonationalism") is apparently the newest trend among pseudo-academics":

In each of these areas, Israelis have actually made a compelling case, and these attempts to create buzzwords are part of a frantic defensive play by Israel-haters. The latter are "throwing things against the wall in the hope that something will stick."

On the other hand, advocates for Israel need to understand what these people are doing. Terminology is important. Simply giving something a name can make it appear real, even if it's 100% nonsense. "Pinkwashing" is 100% crap, but the fact that a name has been created allows Israel-haters to talk about it as though it were a real phenomenon. This is one of the reasons why it is very important to stop blindly using the terminology created by Israel's enemies; that terminology was created in order to instill hatred.

On the other hand, very real phenomena that have no name are hard to talk about, requiring lots and lots of words. It is important to name concepts so that they can be more readily communicated.< br />

It is also important to prevent anti-Semites from hijacking terminology (such as "anti-Semitism") and trying to either destroy its meaning or hijack its emotional impact for their own malicious purposes.

Terminology matters. If a person is a terrorist, call them a terrorist, not a militant or an activist. If a person publishes anti-Semitic screeds, call him an anti-Semite and be prepared to defend your claim vigorously. If nonsense terms are made up ("pinkwashing", "spacio-cide"), then respond with mocking derision (but always be 100% truthful). When bigoted morons write pseudoacademic papers that wrap ludicrous claims in pseudoacademic terminology, they should be exposed as the third-rate hacks and frauds that they are.

90 days since the last rocket from Gaza to Israel

It has now been 90 days since any rocket has been shot from Gaza into Israel,which is unprecedented.

Guess what happens to the lives of Gazans when Hamas prevents rocket fire?

From Ma'an:

Israel has informed the Palestinian borders and crossings department in Ramallah that more improvements will be introduced on Gaza borders, says official.

Nathmi Muhanna, chief of the borders and crossings department told Ma’an Tuesday that Israel decided to allow entry of new empty domestic gas cylinders into the Gaza Strip. He highlighted that since several years shipping new gas cylinders to Gaza was banned. He also mentioned that 125 new cars would be allowed every week instead of 100.

The Israeli authorities agreed as well to install a new phone and internet line from Israel to the Gaza Strip.

According to Muhanna, four new fuel trucks and two new gas trucks will be shipped to Gaza.

The European Union will fund expansion of Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing increasing its capacity to 500 truckloads per day, chief of the Palestinian borders and crossings department Nathmi Muhanna said Tuesday.

Speaking to a Ma’an, Muhanna explained that new gates, new roads would be built as well as a waiting parking near the crossing.

I'm sure that the two stories are completely unrelated. After all, we know from the media and NGOs that Israel is only interested in collective punishment against poor starving Gazans, and the Palestinian Arab media has told us for years that "resistance" is the only way for anything to be accomplished.

It must be one of those evil Zionist plots.

By the way, Egypt had announced it would be expanding the Rafah crossing to permanently allow imports and exports to Gaza a while back. I haven't heard anything about that lately. Weird how the Islamist allies of Hamas have been so reluctant to help out their fellow Islamists.