Monday, June 03, 2013

  • Monday, June 03, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
CAMERA followed up on The Economist's article that stated, falsely, that "so far this year, Israel's army has evicted almost 400 Palestinians from the West Bank and dismantled over 200 homes, the fastest rate for two years, according to the UN." As I noted at the time, this - together with the tweet The Economist made of that sentence - was wrong, and should be corrected. Ialso noted that The Economist made apparently no effort to ask any Israeli officials their side of the story - the article was ridiculously biased.

The Economist sent emails to EoZ readers complaining about it by defending the article, but they did change the online version (without admitting a correction) because they seemed to realize that it could be "misinterpreted" to mean precisely what it says.

They never corrected the tweet, nor did they correct their online edition. Moreover, as I proved, the source for the statistics was not the UN but a large group of anti-Israel NGOs who were published on the UN website.

Now, when people continued to demand a full correction, The Economist's editors answer derisively:

I am sorry to disappoint you. We will be making no "correction" in our printed edition because there was nothing in our article that was factually wrong which we needed to correct. We have made a clarification online to remove the slightest ambiguity in the sentence to which you refer concerning evictions.

As we explained (below) in our comprehensive rebuttal of the various charges and unwarranted slurs in the letters we received that were orchestrated by a pro-settler group discomfited by our meticulously researched article, a reader would misunderstand that sentence only if it were taken out of context or wilfully misinterpreted.

Thus there will be no "correction" in our printed edition.

This correspondence is now closed.

With best wishes

John Micklethwait
Editor-in-Chief
The Economist

and

Xan Smiley
Middle East & Africa editor
The Economist
So my readers are now a "pro-settler group!" We really need a name. "Elderists"?  "The Elderati?" "Zekenim"? "Ziyonists"?

The British Editors' Code of Practice requires that media are "not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information," and if they do it "must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published."

As CAMERA notes:
What emerges from this response is not only the contempt the editors hold for their readers, but their clear violation of the British Editors' Code of Practice. Far from fulfilling their duty "to maintain highest professional standards," The Economist's editors have stooped to the lowest standards.
  • Monday, June 03, 2013
From Ian:

Professor Robbie Sabel:Manipulating International Law as Part of Anti-Israeli “Lawfare”
Israel has a strong record of complying with international law and its judicial system ensures that it will continue to do so. The essence of any legal system, however, is that law applies equally to all. This principle is being undermined by the attempts of Israel’s foes and detractors to manipulate international law as part of their lawfare against Israel. Devising tailor-made rules of international law for application only where Israel is concerned undermines international law and can have an insidious and corrosive effect on the rule of law in general.
CAMERA: Economist Editors Flout Their "Editors' Code of Practice"
What emerges from this response is not only the contempt the editors hold for their readers, but their clear violation the British Editors' Code of Practice. Far from fulfilling their duty "to maintain highest professional standards," The Economist's editors have stooped to the lowest standards.
PMW: Song misrepresents Israeli cities as "Palestine" at Fatah event


Boy sings song defining Be'er Sheva as part of "Palestine," on PA TV (VIDEO)

Wikipedians most likely to war over ‘Israel,’ ‘God’
‘Israel” and “God,” along with “Adolf Hitler” and “Holocaust,” are among the most contested and controversial topics on Wikipedia, a new study has found.
A chapter in a book set for release in 2014, “The most controversial topics in Wikipedia: A multilingual and geographical analysis,” collates data on the number of edits each articles received on the user-written online encyclopedia across a variety of languages, according to a report in Wired.
Barry Rubin: Palestinian Authority Finds Perfect Prime Minister
Hamdullah is sort of the perfect compromise. He is a nobody, a technocrat, lacking all political experience so he won’t try to challenge the party bosses and cannot do so. Hamdullah will do what he is told.
But also Hamdullah, dean at al-Najah University, is a Fatah party member (plus 1), is British-educated (plus 2), and an English professor (plus 3). In other words, he knows how to deal with the West and will hopefully keep the money rolling in but cannot do anything and won’t try.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Why Abbas Chose This Prime Minister
As long as Fayyad was prime minister, it was almost impossible for Abbas and Fatah to lay their hands on the hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid. Unlike Fayyad, Hamdallah will serve as the obedient and faithful servant of Abbas, as well as the Fatah and PLO leadership. On the political arena, the appointment will have no impact whatsoever.
Why Iranian Elections Won’t Matter this Time (Thanks to Obama)
The only silver lining is that there will be no reformist candidate to serve as a fig leaf for Iranian nukes. Scholars may debate whether Mir Mousavi could have ultimately effected any serious change on the Iranian nuclear issue, but no candidate running this time will leave an already timid West confused about Iran’s nuclear intentions.
Irwin Cotler: Why I’m ‘Adopting’ an Iranian Prisoner
The week coincides with the fifth anniversary of the imprisonment of the Baha’i leadership in Iran, known as the Yaran; the 25th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of thousands of Iranian political dissidents; and a recent report of 2,600 political prisoners in Iran, including women, ethnic and religious leaders, journalists, bloggers, students, artists, and trade union leaders — simply put, the leadership of Iranian civil society. Indeed, the regime has only been ramping up its crackdown on dissent in advance of presidential elections next month, and many of those detained are under threat of execution.
The Dhimma Returns to Syria
In his report Janssen tells of his experience of a prayer walk in Amman, held on May 21 2013 for the two abducted Syrian clergy, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim. These Archbishops have been captured by Syrian rebels.
After the prayer walk Janssen had the opportunity to meet with Syrian Christian refugees, who told him how they came to flee their homes and villages. Their village was occupied by rebel forces, who proceeded to announce that they were now under an Islamic emirate, and were subject to sharia law.
Al-Qaeda Sets Up 'Complaints Department' in Syria
Al-Qaeda has set up a complaints department after taking control of parts of the civilian administration in northern Syria, The Telegraph reported on Monday.
The group’s Arabian Peninsula offshoot posted a public notice in the the north-eastern Syrian city of Raqqa this week stating that it was open to receiving public complaints.
Barry Rubin: Massive Demonstrations Shake Turkey
Erdogan is very arrogant, has a strong base of support, and enjoys the full support of the Obama Administration. The Turkish economy is generally considered to be strong. Erdogan will have to decide whether to slow down the Islamization process—he has been clever at being patient—or perhaps will, on the contrary, speed it up claiming his regime is facing sabotage.
Analysis: Arab uprising spirit comes to Turkey
Have the Arab uprisings made their way to Turkey? It seems the Turkish people took a page out of the Arab peoples’ playbook, with large numbers demonstrating in the streets in order to bring about political change. The protesters seem to be made up of more secular Turks affiliated with the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1924.
War-torn Syria issues travel warning for Turkey
‘Deteriorating security situation’ prompts Damascus to caution against visiting country where 370,000 Syrian refugees have found refuge
Egypt Seizes Explosives Meant for Sinai Smugglers
Egyptian authorities seized a ton of explosives destined for smugglers in the Sinai on Saturday, local police told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency.
The explosives were earmarked for the destruction of rocky mountains to facilitate building smuggling tunnels into Gaza, police said.
Red Sea ‘porn stars’ released
Ten Georgian nationals who were arrested in Egypt on suspicion that they were conducting a porn shoot near a Red Sea resort town have been released, with authorities saying the incident was due to a misunderstanding.
Accused ex-Hezbollah member referred to as “god of death”
In the defense's version, Wissam Allouche was a former linguist for the U.S. Army who ran a gas station in Northeast San Antonio as he became an American citizen.
But to counterterrorism officials, Allouche, 44, belonged to Hezbollah, falsely claimed to be a U.S. special forces officer during visits to Fort Sam Houston, and even tried to hook up with women at the post, possibly to gain access to sensitive information.
Boston Bombings: Al Qaeda Chief In New Warning
Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen has said the Boston blasts revealed America's fragile security and showed making bombs was within "everyone's reach".
Qassim al Rimi, the military chief of the group, urged Muslims in America to "carry on with this way" and defend their religion in an audio message posted online.
  • Monday, June 03, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
What is The Kimberley Process?
The Kimberley Process started when Southern African diamond-producing states met in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, to discuss ways to stop the trade in ‘conflict diamonds' and ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments.

In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution supporting the creation of an international certification scheme for rough diamonds. By November 2002, negotiations between governments, the international diamond industry and civil society organisations resulted in the creation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) . The KPCS document sets out the requirements for controlling rough diamond production and trade. The KPCS entered into force in 2003, when participating countries started to implement its rules.
...
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free' and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.... Participants can only legally trade with other participants who have also met the minimum requirements of the scheme, and international shipments of rough diamonds must be accompanied by a KP certificate guaranteeing that they are conflict-free.

The Kimberley Process is chaired, on a rotating basis, by participating countries. So far, South Africa, Canada, Russia, Botswana, the European Union, India, Namibia, Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United States of America have chaired the KP, and South Africa is the Chair in 2013.
The KP has had some problems but it has gone a long way to ensure that the source of each rough diamond can be traced back to its origin to ensure that it wasn't used to fund terror groups.

Now, anti-Israel groups in South Africa are attempting to completely redefine the KP to destroy Israel's diamond polishing and cutting business.

Here is how the BDSM bizarrely tries to justify this initiative:
According to the UN based Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), only “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments” can be classed as conflict or blood diamonds.

The KPCS classifies all other diamonds as “conflict free” regardless of what human rights violations they may be funding. Israel is the world’s leading exporter of diamonds, where approximately 50% of all gem-quality diamonds in dollar terms are processed.

Israeli companies import rough diamonds from around the world, and then process them for cutting and polishing, adding significantly to their value. The diamonds are then exported globally via distribution hubs in Antwerp, London, Hong Kong, New York and Mumbai.

Israel is the world’s leading diamond exporter, with exports valued at nearly $20 billion in 2008, accounting for over 30% of Israel’s exports.

These de facto blood diamonds are sold worldwide as conflict free diamonds to unsuspecting consumers who are unaware that their purchase is funding gross human rights violations in Palestine.

Israel helps fund the atrocities and human rights abuses that Kimberly Process is supposed to prevent being funded by revenue from diamonds.
Of course, Israel is not a producer of rough diamonds, so their initiative would completely change the very foundation of the KP and effectively destroy any good it has done. If their initiative would succeed, many more lives would be lost in Africa.

But their hate for Israel is so all-consuming that to them, destroying the Jewish state justifies any number of human rights abuses.

(From their tweets, it is also apparent that South Africa wants a piece of the diamond cutting and polishing trade, so hurting Israel would have presumed economic benefits for SA. The free market doesn't work for inferior work, so a pretense to care about human rights is the next best thing.)

Beyond that, this initiative reveals how sick the minds of anti-Israel activists are. If existing rules (or crazed misinterpretations of existing rules)  do not do enough to marginalize Israel for their tastes, then they must change the rules.

But only for Israel!

The logic, that somehow Israel's diamond industry funds the IDF and therefore must be destroyed, would also mean that any service or product from any country that does anything that can be construed as unpalatable must be stopped.

Let's pretend for a moment that someone would start a campaign to stop Gaza exports of strawberries to Europe, because taxes paid for the product helps fund Hamas human rights violations (which they undoubtedly do.)

These same BDSMers would be the first to say that this is "collective punishment" against all Gazans.

However, there is no such thing as "collective punishment" for Israelis. They all deserve punishment, when you are an Israel-hater. The rules for Israel are unique and cannot apply to any other country or entity.

That's how twisted the haters of Israel are.

Israel-hatred is truly a psychosis. And when it is this single-minded, this divorced from reality, it resembles nothing so much as traditional antisemitism.

(h/t Steven Z)
  • Monday, June 03, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Hurriyet Daily News:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the microblogging website Twitter as “trouble” in a television interview today, daily Radikal has reported.

“There is a trouble called Twitter. Unmitigated lies are there [on Twitter],” Erdoğan said. “The thing that is called social media is a troublemaker in societies today.”
Erdoğan knows a thing or two about how easy it is to lie on Twitter. After all, he posts often to his own Twitter account.

Meanwhile, as riots in Turkey continue for the fourth day, Erdogan is blaming foreign spies:
Turkish intelligence is looking into possible links between the incidents in Taksim Square and foreign powers, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a press conference today before leaving for Morocco, accusing internal and foreign actors of supporting the Gezi Park protests.

“Our intelligence work is ongoing [to determine the foreign actors behind the protests]. It is not possible to reveal their names. But we will have meetings with their heads,” said Erdoğan.

“Those who advise us to be moderate must themselves first come to moderation,” he said, referring to the international reactions to the use of force against protests that have erupted in all corners of the country.
See? You should listen to Erdogan instead of to silly rumors on social media!
Yesterday, everyone's favorite "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas pushed some more crazed conspiracy theories
which are perfectly acceptable in mainstream Arabic discourse and that are rarely reported in the West.

In an interview with Saudi Arabia's Al Watan, Abbas spoke of the "imminent danger faced by the Al-Aqsa Mosque," claiming that excavations carried out by Israel on the courtyard and under the foundations threatens the mosque with collapse. Abbas bitterly complained about the "fanatic Jewish extremists" being allowed to enter the Temple Mount "to practice their religion," explaining that it is all part of "an evil and dangerous scheme to destroy [Al Aqsa] and establish the alleged Temple."

This is not the first time Abbas has pushed nutty conspiracy theories. In no less a venue than the UN, Abbas claimed that Jews are training wild dogs to attack Arabs and releasing wild pigs to wreak havoc on their fields.

Then, as now, the Western media ignored Abbas' lunatic rants. They are emotionally invested in Abbas as a reasonable peacemaker fighting stoically against the extremist Netanyahu government. Noting that Abbas embraces the most insane anti-Israel conspiracy theories simply does not fit that narrative, so it is not reported.

After all, no sane person can insist Israel give up more concessions and sign agreements with someone who does not have a basic grasp of reality.

Abbas' insanity must be hush-hushed, for the good of the Middle East.

Sunday, June 02, 2013

  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
If anyone still thought that wearing a burqa protects women from sexual harassment or that Islamist influence would result in men respecting women more...sorry to disappoint you:
Sexual violence against women in Egypt has increased in the post-revolutionary Islamist rule, according to official reports and rights activists.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality said in a report published on May 23 that 99.3 percent of Egyptian women have experienced some form of sexual violence.

Nearly 50 percent of women reported more harassment after the revolution; 44 percent said the level of harassment remained the same before and after the revolution. Meanwhile, more than 58 percent of men surveyed said harassment increased after the revolution.

Egypt's general directorate of moral police at the ministry of interior reported that 9,468 cases of harassment, 329 sexual assaults and 112 cases of rape took place in 2012.

Activists say the figures released by the government are smaller than the actual ones because many women do not report cases of harassment against them to the police in fear of shame.

The U.N. study found that only 19 percent of women actually report sexual violence against them to the police. It said 32.2 percent keep quiet and move away from the scene, while 26.9 choose to insult or hit back the assailant.

“What is different now [post-revolution], and why this has been brought to public and international attention, is that we’re witnessing a number of very violent assaults and rape,” Diana Eltahawy, a researcher at Amnesty International Egypt, told Al Arabiya English.

Manal Abdul Aziz Ali, a Cairo-based journalist said, “Today, neither a foreigner nor an Egyptian can enjoy a sense of safety... because of the noticeable rise in the rate of crime and harassment against women.”

The reported rise of sexual violence against women is often attributed to security deterioration and the rise of radical Islamists who seek to frighten women away from public places where anti-Islamist protests take place.

Salafist preacher Ahmad Mahmoud Abdullah said earlier this year that women protesting in Tahrir Square are “no red line” because they “have no shame and want to be raped,” a statement which was perceived as a sanctioning of violence against women.

Egyptian women now “have to think twice” before attending demonstrations, Abdul Aziz Ali said, “not because [women] fear tear gas or even bullets, but because of the harassment being practiced by some thugs and parties to discourage revolutionaries from participating in such events.”
The report itself includes some truly horrific statistics, such as 8% of women who are continuously harassed have attempted suicide as a result. 93.4% of the harassed women didn't even bother to tell police.

75.7% of the women who were abused say they were wearing conservative clothing and no makeup at the time of the attacks.

A commenter recently wrote about her experience in Egypt:
I am a 27 yr old female having just returned from a 9 day trip to Egypt. It was was honestly the worst holiday of my life. 90% of the men were sleazy and intimidating, and I got hassled at least every half an hour, even at the hotel (Hilton sharks bay). One of the house keepers (room service) staff even groped my boob. I chose to ignore it on the day as I did not trust the management of the hotel. A few days later when checking out, I made a formal complaint to the management at Hilton and burst out crying in the reception. I will be making a formal complaint. I can't imagine what the women of Egypt have to go through on a daily basis, and I really hope the mentality of these people changes and they learn to respect women. Absolutely unacceptable and I will certainly NOT be returning to this otherwise beautiful country unless things change.

  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Al Ahram has another interview with someone involved in the upcoming antisemitic TV series "Khaybar," and as usual the Jew-hatred that the series will exhibit is being displayed in all its ugliness. See below for what you can do about it.

The screenwriter, Yusri Al-Jindi, describes how he means for the miniseries to show the deceit of Jews from the time of Moses until today, concentrating on the interactions between the Jewish community of Khaybar and the early Muslims who ended up massacring them.

Al Jindi says that for thousands of years, Jews have been winning not because of their strength but because of the weakness of others, so they have always been working on working on the fragmentation and weakening of the Arab societies in all forms, since the era of Mohammed until now.

The writer goes on to say that the Jewish community from the outset has been based on fraud and deceit and foul traits, ideas and styles, from the days of Moses until the present time. The Jews do not want peace in the world, and this has been their approach for three thousand years old; the Jews have not changed since the Old Testament, according to al-Jindi. He continued on that the Jews are known for breaking promises and ignoring agreements, as they are today in the Sinai.

Al-Jindu adds that Jews do not know how to live in a society of peace, and they have been behind every calamity that has ever occurred in the Arab and Islamic world. Unfortunately there are those who consider them peace partners, but this is a lie - the Jews want to exclude all others so that they can live on this earth alone.

Arab projection of their own traits onto Jews (Elder's First Rule of Arab and Islamic Projection) is rarely this obvious.

The Khaybar mini-series is scheduled to air in mid-July - less than six weeks away. This upcoming incitement against the Jewish people that will be seen by perhaps hundreds of millions of Arabs.

While it was condemned by the Middle East Foundation of Peace and Justice, still not a single major "human rights" NGO has condemned this upcoming hatefest on Arab TV.

If NGOs, governments in the EU and others who say they want peace in the Middle East cannot bring themselves to unequivocally condemn this blatant example of Jew-hatred that will be broadcast to so many, how can Israel expect any of them to treat it honestly and fairly?

Indeed, how can Israel be expected to treat these NGOs with any respect when they refuse to condemn even the most vicious examples of Arab and Islamic Jew-hatred?


I just started a Change.Org petition to convince Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to condemn this mini-series. Please visit and sign, and tell your friends to do it as well. If HRW and Amnesty must be shamed into doing what their own mandates require, so be it.
  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Saeb Erekat, in the middle of one of his many bizarre anti-Israel interviews filled with lies, mentioned in passing that some 1400 Palestinian Arabs have been killed in Syria since the uprising began.

In an interview on a Dubai TV show Erekat also said that Israel wanted to assassinate Abbas, that Fatah was ready for a new era of responsible and transparent government without corruption, and that Israel killed Yassir Arafat because of his "attachment to Jerusalem and the refugee issue and Palestinian rights."

I think that the statistic of 1400 Palestinian Arabs killed in Syria is pretty accurate, proving the adage that even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
From Ian:

Sarah Honig: The light from London
Already then, in Israel’s scariest neonatal hours, Britain played a proactive role in Arab plans to throw us into the sea.
The best-trained Arab army, the Jordanian Arab Legion, was established and organized on official orders from London by Maj.-Gen. Frederick G. Peake (a.k.a. Peake Pasha). In 1939, Peake was replaced by Lancashire-born Lt.-Gen. John Bagot Glubb (a.k.a. Glubb Pasha), who remained the legion’s commander until 1956. Glubb led the 1948 Arab Legion’s invasion of Israel and engineered the legion’s conquest of east Jerusalem, in direct contravention of the UN Partition Resolution.
British aircraft bombed and strafed Israel’s underdog fledgling forces. We won’t mention Britain’s pre-state refusal of asylum to desperate Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Europe nor Britain’s hunt on the high seas postwar for Holocaust survivors and their incarceration for years under appalling conditions in Cyprus prison camps.
A story the BBC will not tell
On June 10th 1948 Mishmar HaYarden finally fell to the Syrian army. Fourteen of its defenders had been killed and the twenty-nine men and women who remained were taken prisoner by the Syrians. They remained prisoners of war for thirteen months until the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1949. Once released, they found that they had nowhere to return to: their village of 58 years had been razed to the ground by the Syrians.
Mishmar HaYarden was eventually re-established as a moshav, some 2 km to the south-west of its original site. Tens of other communities were also depopulated during the War of Independence due to attacks by the invading armies from surrounding Arab countries, including those in Gush Etzion, some in the Negev and the Jordan Valley and several Jerusalem neighbourhoods. That aspect of the War of Independence is not mentioned in the BBC’s narrative of events.
Saudis, Gulf states ‘unnerved by US pivot away from Middle East’
The concern: America’s regional allies are reading clear signs of the superpower’s desire to disentangle itself from the region. Despite criticism, the US has done little to affect the course of battle in the Syrian civil war. And despite repeated requests from allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Obama administration has declined to order military action to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, instead opting for continued diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. Middle Eastern allies have also noted the administration’s much-discussed strategic “pivot” away from what many administration officials view as the distractions of the Middle East to the more geopolitically weighty issues related to the growing influence of China.
Iran's Arak reactor looms in Israeli, Western view
Iran aims to start a reactor next year which the West fears could arm an atomic bomb. Israel, which has bombed such construction sites around the Middle East before, may try to stop the plant being completed.
Boston, London, Paris attacks highlight al Qaeda shift in tactics
Intelligence agencies that have succeeded in thwarting many of al Qaeda's plans for spectacular attacks are struggling to combat the terror network's strategy of encouraging followers to keep to themselves, use off-the-shelf weapons and strike when they see an opportunity.
In recent weeks — at the Boston marathon, in the streets of London and in the shadow of one of Paris' most recognizable monuments — young men allegedly carried out attacks with little help, using inexpensive, widely available knives and explosives from everyday ingredients. In each of the attacks, suspects had previously been flagged to law enforcement and deemed not to be a priority.
Iraq uncovers al-Qaeda 'chemical weapons plot'
The authorities in Iraq say they have uncovered an al-Qaeda plot to use chemical weapons, as well as to smuggle them to Europe and North America.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said five men had been arrested after military intelligence monitored their activities for three months.
PMW: Israeli cities misrepresented as "Palestine" in song on Arab Idol


Cities in Israel misrepresented as "Palestine" in PA TV - VIDEO

Iran Slashing Hamas Funding
The British Daily Telegraph reports that Hamas, which rules Gaza, is paying a heavy price in lost aid over its assistance to the rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Iran has made a meaningful cut in its aid to Hamas, which had previously reached amounts as large as 15 million Australian dollars per month.
Russia Blocks Security Council Statement on Syria
Russia on Saturday blocked a United Nations Security Council declaration of alarm over the bloody siege of the Syrian town of al-Qusayr by Syrian troops and Hizbullah terrorists.
Radical Qaradawi Calls for 'Jihad' Against Syria and Hizbullah
Radical Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi has called on Sunni Muslims to join the rebels fighting the Syrian regime, AFP reported on Saturday.
Qaradawi lashed out at the Shiite terror group Hizbullah for sending its men to fight the mostly-Sunni insurgents in Syria.
MEMRI: Deputy Leader of Hizbullah Naim Qassem: Hizbullah Is Ready to Participate in Fighting in Golan VIDEO

Lawlessness, Blackouts Roil Egypt As U.S. Warns Against Pyramids Tourism
Lawlessness has become so endemic in Egypt that the U.S. Embassy this week warned Americans away from visiting the country’s famed pyramids. A academic teaching at the American University in Cairo received an email from the embassy warning of “aggressiveness [that] in some cases is closer to criminal conduct… with angry groups of individuals surrounding and pounding on [vehicles]… and in some cases attempting to open the vehicle’s doors.” The warning lined up with the professor’s observations:
Egyptian legislature illegally elected, court rules
Egypt’s highest court ruled on Sunday that the nation’s Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected, dealing a serious blow to the legal basis of the Islamists’ hold on power.
Unprovoked Attack on Jews in Lyon
Anti-Semitism continues to plague France. According to local media outlets in Lyon, two Jewish residents of the city were attacked Saturday as they walked to a local synagogue.
The two were attacked by three men of Arab origin in an unprovoked, sudden assault.
Netafim Wins 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award
Netafim, the pioneer and global leader in drip and micro-irrigation technology and the world’s largest irrigation company, announced today it has been named the 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award laureate. Netafim will receive the prestigious award at a World Water Week ceremony in Stockholm on September 3.
The Israeli “Old Macdonald” carrot starring in Moscow markets
Russians fell in love with the Israeli big carrot “Uncle Moses”, which is the Hebrew term “Old Macdonald” the old farmer figure from the Israeli western Negev.
  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From the Qassam Brigades (Hamas) website:
Military Communiqué

Al Qassam Brigades mourns the death of Mohammed Ishtaiwi

As Al Aqsa Intifada against the occupation assault on the Gaza Strip continues, Ezzeddeen Al-Qassam Brigades has its best men to be in the playground of death to defend their people from any attack by the enemy ... Today, Al-Qassam Brigades mourn the death of the mujahed:

Mohammed Faisal Ishtaiwi [23 years old]

Gaza City – Gaza Strip

The mujahid passed away After heart attack on Friday 31/05/2013. He was martyred after a long bright path of jihad, hard work, struggle and sacrifice.
I remember the good old days where you had to be killed by an infidel to become a martyr. Now you can earn the 72 virgins after merely dying of a heart attack! Perhaps this is a special Quranic dispensation for Hamas members.

(Of course, it seems more likely that this was a work accident, or Hamas had a reason to kill this guy but to keep it quiet. Heart attacks in 23-year olds aren't too common.)
  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From YNet:
Israeli wrestler Ilana Kartysh won a gold medal Saturday in the Golden Grand Prix tournament in Italy, but her historical achievement was marred by a very unpleasant incident, when she was attacked by her Egyptian rival during the semi-final.

Kartysh, 22, who competed in the 67-kilogram weight category, made it to the semi-final after beating opponents from Hungary and Kazakhstan. There, she experienced a violent incident she won't be able forget for quite a long time.

In the semi-final, Kartysh met the African champion, Anas Mostafa of Egypt. At the beginning of the match, Mostafa refused to shake hands with her. During the fight, she broke two of the Israeli's fingers and bit her in the back – causing her to bleed. At the end of the match, unsurprisingly, she refused to shake hands with her again.

"I can't remember such dirty behavior in sports," Kartysh told Ynet after the fight. "In wrestling you must shake hands at the beginning of a match and at the end of a match. But not only did she refuse to shake my hand, she even broke my fingers and bit me until I began bleeding.

"On the ground, when she was on top of me, she just bit me. I have her teeth marks on my back, and I began bleeding too," the Israeli wrestler adds. "Because of her dirty behavior my desire to beat her grew stronger."

"From the beginning of the match, when she didn't come over to shake my hand – I knew something was wrong. I felt some kind of hatred towards me and I don’t know why, maybe it has to do with politics and maybe not, but it's never happened to me before. She really attacked me.
On her Facebook page, Kartysh says she cannot believe that the judges did not intervene during the attack.


But, she says, hearing the Hatikvah in the end made it all worthwhile.

Will there be a backlash in Egypt over Mostafa's not forfeiting the match?

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)
  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
The PFLP, one of the many terror groups operating in Gaza, has warned Hamas that its policies may result in a "popular explosion" against the ruling Islamist regime.

The organization cited Hamas' increasing violence in collecting taxes, as well as an increase in murders, suicides, robberies and drugs in Gaza.

On Friday alone, there were reports of a 60-year old shop owner in Khan Younis was stabbed to death, a man in Rafah set himself on fire, killing himself, and an unidentified body, showing signs of torture, was found dumped near the port of Gaza.

The PFLP also cited the actions Hamas has instigated against "offensive" hairstyles and clothing as well as its intolerance for popular demonstrations.

The PFLP is a secular/socialist organization.

It will be interesting to see how Hamas reacts to this.


  • Sunday, June 02, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
I translated this excellent chart from a Norwegian blog:


This is the best way to demolish UNRWA's tired arguments that Palestinian Arab "refugees" are treated the same as every other refugee population worldwide. 

(h/t Ruchie/BDY)

Saturday, June 01, 2013

  • Saturday, June 01, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last week I noted that the Al Aqsa Foundation, a virulently antisemitic and anti-Israel organization that routinely lies to further its agenda, purportedly discovered a mass grave in Jaffa. Without any evidence, it accused Israel of being behind a massacre in 1948 that caused the deaths.

I noted that it is very possible that the dead were killed by other Arabs, or the British. As was pointed out in the comments, the British bulldozed many houses in Jaffa itself during the Arab revolt.

I ended off by saying:
We can expect that the Al Aqsa Foundation will continue to claim that the apparent Arab victims purportedly discovered in Jaffa could only have been killed by Jews. History shows that this is far from obvious, and when this story gets into the more mainstream media, lets hope that the reporters are smart enough not to swallow the lies from an organization that routinely lies to further its agenda.
Sure enough, the media swallowed the Al Aqsa Foundation's unsupported claims. From The Daily Mail:


It is possible that these were victims of Zionist forces, of course - but it is irresponsible to report it as undisputed fact without any evidence.

(AFP quotes an Arab as saying that he buried people killed in Jaffa over a number of months in the cemetery. It is possible, as people are killed during a war, but this is not a "massacre" as the Al aqsa Foundation claims.)
  • Saturday, June 01, 2013
From Ian:

Palestinian refugees burn Hezbollah aid
Lebanon: Angry Palestinians set fire Thursday to humanitarian aid donated by Hezbollah in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, citing the party’s role alongside the regime in Syria’s civil war.
A number of refugees gathered in front of the Kifah School in the camp and held banners explaining their decision to burn the boxes of aid, which Hezbollah is distributing in a number of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
“We don’t want assistance soaked in the blood of the Syrian people,” read one of the signs.
U.S. warned Europe of Hezbollah operations before terror attacks last year
The United States warned European governments about an “increased operational tempo” by Hezbollah there months before a wave of global terror attacks by the Lebanese extremist group last year, a senior administration official said Friday.
“We were already in the spring of 2012 having numerous conversations with European governments about the danger that Hezbollah was posing, and that was on the basis of information we were aware of that indicated an increased operational tempo in Europe,” the official said, requiring anonymity even though he was speaking on a conference call for reporters organized by administration press officers.
Hamas's Mashaal: Assad Refused to Accept Political Solution
The Hamas terrorist group left Syria because President Bashar Al-Assad refused to consider a political solution to the conflict in the country, its leader Khaled Mashaal said. !!
British Inaction on Threats Risks the Rise of Anti-Semitism, Israelis Say
Israel is becoming a bit fed up with Britain’s inaction when it comes to combating threats against its officials and other pro-Israel entities, and the Jewish state is beginning to voice its discontent in the public sphere.
“You have to wonder at what point does inaction become anti-Semitism,” one Israeli official told the Daily Telegraph. “If Israelis of an Argentinian background threatened the British ambassor in Israel to the point that he could not make speeches, we would be getting demands from the Foreign Office to step in. Yet the government has done nothing to prevent the threats we face since it took office.”
David Cameron backed organisation had Woolwich suspect as speaker
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron is a founding signatory of the far-left, extremist Unite Against Fascism (UAF) organisation, which has previously attacked political opponents with darts and clawhammers and has been involved in many violent confrontations with the British police.
In the video footage, Michael Adebolajo, can be seen whipping up a largely young Muslim crowd attending a UAF demonstration outside Harrow mosque on the eighth anniversary of 9/11 before they violently attacked the British police. The purple banners of UAF can clearly be seen at the demonstration.
French Media Embraces Film that Promotes ‘Zionist Conspiracy’ Theory
A new French film being promoted in French media claims of a worldwide conspiracy by “oligarchs” to claim a “new world order,” and the Jews are at the center of the story.
Advertisements for the film, “Oligarchy and Zionism,” directed by Beatrice Pignede, have even been accepted by respected French media outlets such as Le Figaro, Le Nouvel Observateur, and Liberation.
ADL to Create Global Anti-Semitism Index with $7.5 Million, 3-Year Grant
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said it has received a three-year, $7.5 million grant to create a Global Anti-Semitism Index, an annual barometer of anti-Semitic attitudes around the world.
The new index will measure anti-Semitic attitudes in 50 countries around the world, with additional countries being added in each subsequent year. The project builds on ADL’s past polling efforts, first introduced in 1964. Its polls have been conducted regularly in the United States and in as many as 12 countries in Europe since 2002.
Pro-Israel New Yorkers Protest 92nd St Y’s anti-Israel Speaker
Richard Allen of JCC Watch said, "There has been a pattern - first with [BDS activist] Roger Waters and now with Alice Walker. All of our efforts to speak with the 92nd Street Y administrators have been met with closed doors, closed ears and closed minds."
Istanbul residents accuse police of ‘massacre’ at protest against park demolition
Turkish riot police used tear gas and water cannons Friday to end a peaceful sit-in by hundreds of people trying to prevent trees from being uprooted in an Istanbul park. The dawn raid ignited a furious anti-government protest that took over the city’s main square and spread to other cities, culminating in what Turkish Facebook users described as a “massacre” which unfolded amid clouds of tear gas.
Protests Show Turks Can't Tolerate Erdogan Anymore
Despite having its genesis in the Gezi Park movement, the dynamics of the protests now reflect many of the fundamental antagonisms in Turkey's imperfect democracy. Erdogan's divisive rhetoric and his penchant for authoritarian rule have steadily eroded the party's support from small constituencies that it could once count on.
IDF Blog: Chief of Staff and Soldiers Congratulate the IDF on its 65th Birthday


Strong US Support for Israel is Deeply Rooted
The special ties between the US and the Jewish State are uniquely driven by people-to-people, bottom-up relationship, shaped by the American public more than by the American government. US ties with the Jewish state have been exceptionally-forged by shared Judeo-Christian values.
Alicia Keys to perform in Israel despite boycott calls
Pop star Alicia Keys announced Friday that she plans to go ahead with her scheduled July 4 concert in Tel Aviv, despite calls to cancel the show for political reasons.
“I look forward to my first visit to Israel. Music is a universal language that is meant to unify audiences in peace and love, and that is the spirit of our show,” Keys said in a statement to the New York Times.

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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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