Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

French appeals court rules Israel is not illegally occupying land

Dreuz reports that a French appeals court in Versailles has ruled that Israel was not acting illegally in building a light rail line across the Green Line.

The PLO must pay 30,000 euros separately to Alstom, Alstom Transport and Veolia Transport.

The PLO had argued that Israel was violating the Geneva Conventions by "transferring" citizens to the territories and destroying property, as well as a host of other claims.

The court ruled, however, Israel was acting within the Hague Regulations of how an occupier must act, "the authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country."

Going beyond that, the court ruled that the Geneva Conventions and Hague Regulations only apply to states, and to signatories, and the PLO is neither.

Google Translate does a good job - it is worth reading. The full ruling is also at the site, but in French.

(h/t EG)

Wednesday Links Part 2

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: The Honey-Trap of Moral Equivalence

As long as even Abbas takes such an attitude towards the murder of Israeli civilians, it is not just disingenuous but wrong to claim moral equivalence between the sides. It is precisely this realization that sits at the core of the Harper government's convictions. Convictions are not just opinions or oft-repeated talking points. They are principles which the holder is willing not only to be praised for, but to be criticised for and even suffer for. There is no reason why the Canadian government should suffer for supporting freedom and liberty at home and abroad. Just as there was no reason why Thatcher should be so criticized by some for defeating socialism at home and abroad. But even when politicians of conviction do suffer the odd buffeting by the winds of popular opinion, they should brave them as Thatcher did. For as she realized, as her death has shown and as Churchill -- her only peer among recent statesman -- said, it is the only way to ensure that "however the fates may play," they will "march always in the ranks of honor."

Hard to deny a Holocaust your father saved Jews from

Tackling a fractured relationship with London’s Muslims, the Anglo-Jewish leadership is staging a display honoring righteous Muslims during the Shoah
When the Gestapo ordered the Jews on the island of Rhodes to report to its headquarters in July 1944, Selahattin Ülkümen acted fast. As the Turkish consul, he demanded the release of all the Turkish citizens and their families, reminding the German commanding officer, General Ulrich Kleeman, that Turkey was neutral. He even invented a Turkish law that said that spouses of citizens were considered citizens themselves. Threatened with an international incident, Kleeman let 50 Jews go, of whom 13 were Turkish citizens; the other 1,700 were deported to concentration camps.

Just how anti-Semitic are British politicians?

Do the ramblings of a few minor figures without much influence really matter? The consensus is yes, because their vicious rhetoric normalizes extremism and encourages irresponsible discourse

UK soccer club probes fan abuse of Israeli player

Chelsea is investigating the alleged abuse of midfielder Yossi Benayoun by the club’s fans during recent games.
Benayoun wrote Monday on Twitter that there are “some … issues that the club is taking care and try to handle them in the right way.. .as sometimes people are crossing the limit.”

MKs say high time for recognition of Armenian genocide

Marking 98 years since the murders, legislators from across the political spectrum agree Israel should recognize massacre

CAMERA: CAMERA Prompts Ha'aretz Correction on Prisoner Samer Issawi

CAMERA's Israel staff has prompted a Ha'aretz correction regarding an article in yesterday's English edition which wrongly asserted that an Israeli judge and prosecutors agreed with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi when he compared his appearance to that of Holocaust victims. As noted in CAMERA's Snapshots blog yesterday, the original Hebrew article by Jack Khoury actually stated that the Israelis were shocked by the comparison -- a far cry from agreeing with it.

US steps in, stops PA going after Israel at UNESCO

In US-brokered deal, Israel will attend meetings to discuss Mugrabi bridge that leads to Temple Mount, allow UNESCO to survey sites.

Two life terms for Palestinian stone-thrower

Wa’al al-Araji hurled a rock at an Israeli car, causing it to crash and killing the driver and his infant son in 2011

A Ukrainian Christian who saved a dilapidated rural synagogue was honored at an interfaith forum in Kiev.

Boris Slobodnyuk of Satanov received the forum’s 2013 Crystal Noah Tolerance Award on Tuesday at the Kiev Interfaith Forum for guarding the 500-year-old Stanovskaya synagogue in western Ukraine and initiating renovation work there.

Israeli leads international league to save the Med

Coastline development restrictions already exist in the rulebooks, but an Israeli legal eagle is determined to see to it that they are enforced.
Over the millennia, the Mediterranean Sea has become much more than a transport hub for empires that control the region: It links nations, feeds countries, and its shores hold some of the world’s most expensive real estate and natural beauty.

Qualcomm founder gives $133m. to Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute

The goal to turn New York into the next Silicon Valley by leveraging Israeli expertise is well on its way, thanks to a $133 million donation from Irwin Jacobs, founding chairman and CEO emeritus of Qualcomm, and his wife Joan Klein Jacobs. The generous gift will help fund the planned Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute, set to open on Roosevelt Island in 2017.
The state-of-the-art applied science and technology academy — to be jointly run by Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology – will now be called the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Innovation Institute (JTCII).

The Israeli sharing his mass casualty expertise in Boston

Israeli critical care specialist Dr. Pinchas Halpern is used to dealing with terror attacks. It’s not a familiarity that most doctors would wish to achieve, but as director of emergency medicine at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center since 1993, Halpern has had no choice but to become an expert on mass casualties.

Ahmad Maslamani, a popular Egyptian news personality, spoke at an Egyptian university yesterday, complaining about how the Muslim world is not performing according to its huge population.

He noted that 95% of the medicines consumed in Arab countries are manufactured by others, which he believes is unacceptable.

His most interesting statement, considering that he is apparently a relatively educated Egyptian, was that "14 million Jews control the fate of the world," as he wondered why can't 1.6 billion Muslims have as much influence as the paltry Jewish population does?

Maybe because even the educated Muslims believe that Jews control the world?

Israeli in Egyptian prison cries out for help

We have previously mentioned Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli Bedouin who has been held in Egypt on trumped-up espionage charges since 2000.

There were rumors of Tarabin's imminent release in in 2011 and 2012, but nothing ever materialized.

Egypt Independent reports that Tarabin is trying to shame everyone into letting him go:

Ouda Tarabin, an Israeli citizen imprisoned in Egypt since 2000 on espionage charges, accused his country of betraying its pledge to work for his release, claiming that Israeli officials know he is innocent.

In a letter to the Israeli ambassador in Cairo that was featured in a Voice of Israel Radio broadcast on Wednesday, Tarabin urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to file a complaint with the UN Security Council and a lawsuit with the UN's International Court of Justice for his release.

Addressing Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, he said that he was not given a fair trial and held the Israeli prime minister responsible for his life.

According to an Israeli television channel, a team from the United Nations Commission of Human Rights that investigated Tarabin’s case said in 2012 that he was subjected to arbitrary arrest and had not received a fair trial.

Tarabin is on hunger strike to highlight his plight. Political sources in Israel have warned that the strike may endanger his life and have called for his immediate release.

The issue had disgracefully not gotten much coverage in Israel. The government of Israel should be in the forefront of pushing for Tarabin's release.

My life on the D-list: The Algemeiner J100 Gala (updated)

As I mentioned yesterday, last night I attended the Algemeiner J100 Gala dinner to be anonymously honored as one of "the top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life."

This was a $500/plate dinner chock full of famous Jews. Unfortunately I am really bad at recognizing faces, but I did manage to say hi to a few. I felt a lot like a "D-lister" who happened to be accidentally thrown in with the A-list. Even worse, my not wanting to be outed quashed what little desire I have to engage in small talk with people.

I saw Ron Prosor when he walked in; I shook his hand but didn't introduce myself. I saw Alan Dershowitz, who I interviewed once, but didn't get a chance to say hi.

I did say hi to Malcolm Hoenlein, who I had briefly met once before and who had known of my blog. Rabbi Shmeley Boteach didn't seem too interested once I refused to say my real name. Elie Wiesel was there but I couldn't see any benefit to bugging him. But I did introduce myself to the Algemeiner's editor, Dovid Efune.

The gala was hosed by Heather Nauert, a Fox News morning host and self-described "shiksa." But, she pointed out, you don't have to be Jewish to show love for Israel.

Oddly, the National Anthem was sung by Tony Orlando - the 1970s pop star. We were told that he had turned down singing the national anthem many times, including at Dodger Stadium, but he felt it important to do it here. The bad news - he made a few mistakes in the lyrics. Oh, well.

During the speeches I managed to find Emet from CiFWatch, whom I have met before, and he introduced me to some of the Algemeiner writers who know my stuff (including Zach Pontz, who has linked to me numerous times.)

The 100 names were listed in a special print edition of the Algemeiner that everyone received, but Heather announced the names of those who were at the gala itself - maybe 25 of us - asking them to stand when their names were read. She even announced me as an anonymous blogger. (No, I didn't stand.)

I tweeted to some other honorees who are also active in the cyber-world - Avi Mayer (winner of the 2013 Hasby award for tweeting), William Daroff (Vice President for Public Policy for The Jewish Federations of North America), Itamar Marcus (founder of Palestinian Media Watch) and Andrea Levin (founder of CAMERA.)

I did get one video interview with a fellow honoree who spoke as well, but that will have to wait...

UPDATE: My blurb is finally up on the Algemeiner site.

Wednesday Links Part 1

From Ian:

US: It's time for UN's Richard Falk to go

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Wednesday said that it was "past time" for the U.N.'s Human Rights Council special rapporteur for the Palestinians to be relieved of his position.
On her twitter account, Rice said, "Outraged by Richard Falk's highly offensive Boston comments. Someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the U.N. Past time for him to go."

Flap over Kerry flotilla remarks

I asked the State Department if Kerry wished to clarify and/or if he was making a moral comparison between flotilla participants and innocent Boston victims. A State Department official authorized only to speak on background retreated but stopped short of apologizing for his boss’s gaffe: “In light of the recent events in his hometown of Boston, Secretary Kerry was expressing his own personal connection to the impact of tragedy on a community and was not comparing the two events — only the pain caused by violence. He has long said that both Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Netanyahu deserve a great deal of credit and he welcomes the restoration of positive relations.”

Douglas Murray: America, like Europe, is dishonest about Islamic extremism

I think of this as ‘Toulouse syndrome.’ Much of the reaction to Boston is very reminiscent of what we saw last year after the shooting of seven people in France. From the first attacks on French soldiers until after the third shootings at a Jewish school, both national and international news focussed on the possibility that the lone gunman had been a far-right extremist. This led to claims that various right wing politicians – including then President Sarkozy – bore at least some degree of responsibility for the attacks. Alleged trails of culpability were sniffed out and fingers pointed.
However, once the gunman turned out to be a radical Muslim called Mohammed Merah, the speculation ceased. Nothing much to see here. Please move along.

IsraellyCool: Lauren Booth Endorses Boston Bombing Trooferism

On her Facebook page, antisemitic convert to Islam Lauren Booth endorses a blog post claiming the Boston bombing was staged.

Norway: Muslims praise Boston jihadis

"The Islamic group Prophet's Ummah has repeatedly and publicly praised terrorist acts carried out abroad. Also the terrorist attack in Boston on Monday is hailed by the leader of the extreme Norwegian group. On his facebook page Ubaydullah Hussain writes, 'To hell with Boston and the U.S., and may Allah destroy America.'
The leader of Prophet's Ummah has also posted pictures of the terrorists on their profile and calls the brothers a pair of 'real lions.'"

Barry Rubin: When Terrorists Fall Out You Know Jihad is Doomed

One of the reasons why the Middle East situation is less fearsome than it might seem is that the radicals and terrorists are not united at all but battle among themselves for tactical, doctrinal, ethnic, and ambition-related reasons.
Despite their daily, bloodthirsty howls for Israel’s destruction, for example, three groups are at odds:

The Indy’s Alistair Dawber whitewashes terrorist crimes of Samer Issawi

Issawi didn’t play merely a ‘supporting role’ in terror attacks, but, rather, was directly responsible for firing an automatic weapon at innocent Israeli civilians with the hope of murdering as many of them as possible – and was responsible for ordering additional lethal attacks on other Israelis.

Hamas’ Drug Lords
Hamas has brought misery, pain and destruction to Gaza, so Hamas’s alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking should not come as a shock to anyone.

A Palestinian news website, Yabous Press reported that the drug trade in Gaza was controlled by Hamas’s Police Counter-Drug Unit, which is supposed to fight drugs. Yabous Press reported Hamas police would arrest drug dealers who don’t work for them, confiscating their drug supplies, and then selling it in the market for themselves.

US Treasury takes action against Hezbollah funders

Lebanese exchange houses accused of scheme involving money from used car dealerships, drug trade going to terror group.

Iranian Minister: Sanctions Are 'Causing a Lot of Trouble'

Iran's Finance Minister says international pushed inflation above 30%, but stresses that nuclear program will continue.

Al-Qaeda Toddlers Filmed Firing Guns At Weapons Training Camp (VIDEO)

A video making the rounds on the internet shows children as young as five shooting weapons at an Al-Qaeda training camp.
The boys stand, sit and lie in rows while taking target practice. The weapons of choice appear to be AK-47s, pistols and, ironically, Israeli-made Negev machine guns.

Tennessee textbooks downplay terrorism, classify Hamas et. al. as "political parties"

From Washington Times:

Several Tennessee parents are outraged over a textbook distributed in their children’s high school “human geography” class that suggest Hamas, Hezbollah and the PLO are political parties.

One statement from the 10th edition of “The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography” textbook was most alarming to one of the parents, Hugh Nemets, who is Jewish.

“If a Palestinian suicide bomber kills several dozen Israeli teenagers in a Jerusalem restaurant, is that an act of terrorism or wartime retaliation against Israeli government policies and army actions?” the book asks.

Nemets said, “It smells of anti-Semitism to me. It opened the door to legitimizing terror,” Mr. Nemets told Nashville’s News 2.

He is one of 10 Williamson County parents who voiced their concerns at a board meeting earlier last week.

A Williamson County school district spokesperson told the station that the book was selected from a list given to them by the State Department of Education.

Parents concerned about the textbooks can submit a formal written complaint. The school district told Nashville’s News 2 it has not yet received any such complaint.

WKRN, Nashville News, Nashville Weather and Sports

Glancing at an online version of sections from the book, I see other issues. It has a ton of information about Islam but very little about Judaism.

It includes a few problematic questions:

The Western Wall in Jerusalem remains an effective boundary between:

	Jews and Muslims
	Armenians and Jews
	Christians and Jews
	Muslims and Christians

Two problems: it doesn't describe the Kotel at all as to its importance, and it implies that Jews have no business on their holiest site.

Another:

Using this diffusion map of religion, the hearths of the three religions illustrated in this map are

	Palestine, Syria, and Japan.
	Palestine, Mecca, and China.
	Mecca, Palestine, and India.
	none of the above.

"Palestine"? Is that where Judaism and Christianity came from? Funny, I don't think Jesus ever used that term.

I wish that full textbooks were online - I'm sure that there is a ton of bias that is evident, but it takes a lot of effort to find it.

(h/t Einfal)

Sudanese cleric blames Jews for Boston bombing, Texas explosion, Iran earthquake

And 9/11. And the tsunami.

I can't wait for the next hurricane season.

Following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Sheik Abd Al-Jalil Al-Karouri, which aired on April 19, 2013:

Abd Al-Jalil Al-Karouri: The most important political events of the week were the Boston earthquake and the Texas earthquake, which joined it yesterday… Or rather, the bombings in Boston and in Texas, as well as the Iran earthquake. In short, the peculiar thing is that no one knows who is behind these events. Even President Obama said: "We do not know who did this or why." Iran, too, does not know who caused the earthquake.

[…]
People know who is responsible for earthquakes. It is God. But now there are allegations that this earthquake was artificial. The so-called "earthquake-war" has begun. The industrialized countries have the capacity to make bombs that impact the Earth’s crust and core, causing earthquakes. It is even said that the tsunami that raised the waves, causing thousands of deaths, was, in fact, an experiment in that weapon.

[…]

This earthquake had two goals: first, to [prevent] the Russians from officially handing over the Bushehr nuclear plant to Iran within a month’s time. The West does not want this to happen.

[…]
They wanted to destroy the new gas pipeline [from Iran to Pakistan], along with the [Bushehr] nuclear plant. There is also the issue of promoting the sale of gas masks. These expired gas masks, meant to protect people from nuclear gases, have recently been sold in the Gulf. The fourth goal is to sow fear in the Gulf region, where the earthquakes were heard. They want to make these people scared of the Iranian nuclear plant, and to ignite a regional Sunni-Shiite war, a war between Iran and its neighbors.

[…]

To this we should add the bombings in America. Now they are saying that the bombs were placed in "primitive" pots. Why would anyone in the U.S. need to resort to nails and pressure cookers to make a bomb? You can find any type of weapon there and simply buy it. Why did they say "primitive"? I don’t have time to read you the quotation. They said that the bomb was "primitive," in order to direct the blame at one of us in the Third World.

[…]

When North Korea stopped manufacturing buses, it started making nuclear warheads. Today, North Korea poses a threat to America. America might be drawn into an historic war, a war between Communism and capitalism. This is precisely what Israel does not want. Israel wants the war to be between America and the "primitive" Arabs, and that is why the bombs were "primitive."

I have said that the [9/11] Manhattan bombings were meant to transform America from a country to an empire, and that it is, indeed, what happened. Now, they do not want this empire to expand, and to revive the Cold War – this time with North Korea and the Asian countries. No, they want America to continue to defend Israel.

In Saudi Arabia, there have been moves in the Shura Council to change the current weekend, Thursday and Friday, to Friday and Saturday in order to better sync with world economies.

This has been creating a backlash among clerics, who say that giving Saturdays or Sundays as days off would be forbidden.

Sheikh Saleh Fawzan, a senior cleric in Saudi Arabia, said that such a move would "invoke Allah's wrath" because this is a custom of Jews and Christians, the Jews taking off on Saturdays and the Christians on Sundays.

In his written fatwa, he said that Islam must be practiced uniquely, and that while it is forbidden for Muslims to imitate non-Muslims in general, it is especially bad to imitate Christians and Jews. Giving people vacations on Saturdays and Sundays is one of the forbidden imitations.

It is difficult to read this without recalling the saying that has reportedly been seen in graffiti and heard in the Muslim world - "first the Saturday people, then the Sunday people," as targets within Muslim-dominated countries.

Al Aqsa University bans offensive words - like "women" and "Jews"

From Al Monitor:

“I was completely bereft when he pulled me by my hand and embraced me. … I felt warmth emanating from his chest.” This sentence in a short story titled “Love in War” was enough for Gaza's Al-Aqsa University to launch an investigation into faculty member Dr. Khoder Mahjez. Mahjez teaches a course titled “Literature and Modern Criticism” at the Faculty of Arts in Al-Aqsa University. The investigations began following a complaint filed by a female student, who claimed that the professor used obscene words during the lecture.

In an interview over the phone with Al-Monitor, Mahjez said that the obscene words — which he was accused of using by the investigation commission during the interrogation attended by the dean of the Faculty of Arts and a legal advisor — were present in a story he had used as an example in his book, which carries the same name as the course. He added that there had been objections to the use of certain words — such as "women," "sons of a bitch" and "Jews" — as opposed to using terms with ideological connotations that are preferable to the university, such as sons of "monkeys" and "pigs."

"They hate poetry, literature and all that has to do with creativity and life," he said.

Mahjez added that although he retired last year, it is customary for retired teachers to continue to be allocated a few hours of teaching. Yet he was blackmailed, he said, by the University Board of Directors, who threatened to publish a statement that would tarnish his reputation if he did not leave the university. Thus, he resigned.

He explained that his story spread when a journalist friend published it in the local newspaper. This started a war not only with the university administration, but also with the Hamas movement that has been managing the university for years.

Later in the article we learn that "nightgown" is also an obscene word in Hamastan.

An interesting historical note at the end of the article:

However, it appears that monitoring academic freedoms at Palestinian universities has existed ever since their inception in the 1980s. According to a study by Asta, in one of the West Bank Universities the father of a female student filed a complaint against an Arabic literature teacher for discussing the famous novel "Season of Migration to the North" by Sudanese author Tayeb Salih, which contains sexual expressions. Moreover, academic Ghazi Fallah has resigned from his post due to pressure at the same university for describing the West Bank as "Judea and Samaria."

This sounds startlingly like Orwell's "1984" - in "Palestine," if you do not use the modern equivalent of "newspeak," you are charged with a "thoughtcrime." And this applies both under Hamas and Fatah rule, although at the moment Hamas is clearly the innovators in quashing any original thinking in Gaza.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

Is EoZ one of the "top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life"?

From The Algemeiner:

In honor of our forthcoming 40th Anniversary Gala, The Algemeiner set out to establish an annual list ... entitled the JEWISH 100, of the top 100 people positively influencing Jewish life.

Throughout millennia of tumultuous Jewish history, our people have been inspired and led by a select few. Icons revered by the Jewish community have included powerful military leaders, prophets, visionaries, scholars, innovators, pioneers, kings, saints, politicians and righteous gentiles. What they all share in common, is their appreciation of the unique contributions of the Jewish people in serving as a voice of moral conscience for mankind and their willingness to make sacrifices for its continuity.

Our list aims to capture a glimpse of the top 100 people alive today that embody this spirit. For some it may come through their role in a position of influence or power. For others, it is through serving as a role model embodying Jewish values or qualities. Others will be listed for serving as a source of Jewish pride, or for bringing new and innovative ideas to Jewish expression; others yet may have stuck out their necks to advocate for Jews and Israel at great personal sacrifice. Some who will be listed, though rarely heard from in public, nonetheless have a significant influence on the important Jewish or Israel related events of our time.

If that isn't over the top enough, here is their video describing the Jewish 100:

Notice the photo used when they say the word "scholars."

Does this mean that I am one of the honorees?

Well, it is possible they are referring to Rashi, not me.

Maybe. Or maybe not.

Because at the very moment this is being posted, I am attending the Jewish 100 Gala dinner - incognito - to be there when Elder of Ziyon is announced as one of the "Jewish 100" for the year.

No joke! I received this in the mail last week:

This may be one of the few times that an anonymous person has received such an honor.

To put it mildly, I was blown away when I found out I was an awardee. I mean, they have a real red carpet for the awardees to walk on (an honor which I am skipping, thank you.)

And I thought being ranked #1 in Technorati was a big deal.

This is an amazing honor, and since I can't do it at the dinner, I'd like to thank the Algemeiner Journal for giving it to me.

A report on the gala will be forthcoming!

Jordanian MP visits Israel - gets expelled from his party

From Ammon News (Jordan):

The Islamist Centrist Party (ICP) decided on Monday to expel Member of Parliament Mohammad Asha Al-Dawaymeh from both the political party and its parliamentary bloc following a probe into his reported recent visit to Israel.

An ICP source told Ammon News that the deputy was subjected to questioning by the party regarding his recent visit to Israel, and attending a reception held by Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrating Israel's so-called "Independence Day," marking 65 years of the founding of Israel, considered the Palestinian Nakba of 1948.
...
Al-Dawaymeh told Ammon News earlier this week that...the purpose of his visit was to defend the cause of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque.

ICP issued a statement on Monday stating that the party's parliamentary bloc met with ICP's political committee and decided unanimously to expel Al-Dawaymeh, citing his visit to the "Zionist entity" and his attendance of a reception and shaking hands with the "criminal" Peres, according to the statement.

"The Bloc and Political Committee voted unanimously to expel him considering that such acts violate the party's principles and foundations that reject all forms of normalization with the Zionist entity," the statement added.

Last I checked, Jordan still had a peace treaty with Israel.

This is the best kind of "peace" Israel could ever realistically hope to see with its Arab neighbors.