Free Beacon reports on Pepsi sponsorship of Hamas soccer

Adam Kredo at the Washington Free Beacon has followed up on my scoops from this year and last about how Pepsi's Gaza bottler is using the Pepsi name and logo to sponsor Hamas-approved soccer games and to make anti-Israel political statements in Pepsi's name.

Excerpts:

A controversy is brewing in the Gaza Strip over the Pepsi Company’s controversial ties to Palestinian sports teams and a stadium that likely doubled as a launching pad for terrorist rockets.

...Bottling company Yazegi told the Washington Free Beacon that PepsiCo has no problem with its sponsorship of Al Yarmouk and the Beit Lahiya stadium where Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been seen playing soccer with Pepsi-backed players.

...While Yazegi claims that it holds no political views, the group has written about the so-called “Israeli occupation” on its Facebook page.

In a July 13 post on its Facebook page, Yazegi discussed the Pepsi advertisements displayed at Yarmouk, which was recently rebuilt by Hamas after Israeli airstrikes caused widespread damage.

“With this creative manner from the advertisement department in PepsiCo, the company was able to defy the Israeli occupation by embellishing the field which the occupation had destroyed with beautifully placed Pepsi advertisements on all sides of Al Yarmouk playground,” Yazegi wrote, according to a translation of the post.

PepsiCo spokesman Jeff Dahncke said Yazegi is given latitude in its promotional activities.

“PepsiCo does not sponsor any soccer teams in Gaza,” Dahncke told the Free Beacon when asked about Hamas’ Haniyeh playing soccer with players sporting a Pepsi logo.

“The photos depict a soccer league involving local community teams, and the local independent bottler producing Pepsi has a relationship with the league that allows for promotional activities to take place at the soccer venues,” Dahncke said. “Soccer is a global marketing platform for Pepsi and the brand is associated with the sport around the world.”

When asked if Pepsi objected to the use of its logo in a stadium where official Hamas activities are taking place, Dahncke did not respond.

Middle East experts and some on Capitol Hill have questioned Pepsi’s hands-off approach, warning that even the perception of sponsorship and use of the soda company’s logo harms its reputation.

“This is really outrageous,” said one senior Senate aide. “Pepsi should take immediate steps to disavow any further connection with Hamas.

“Can you imagine the next Coke-Pepsi challenge?” the source asked. “Hmmm, that one tastes like terror rocket fumes so that must be the Pepsi.”

Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department, said, “It sounds like Pepsi needs to clarify its relationship with the local Gaza bottler.”

A senior House GOP aide also expressed alarm.

“The fact that the Pepsi logo is at this facility is clearly concerning,” said the aide.

Read the whole thing.

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Pnina Tamano-Shata, Ethiopian MK, tells her story (video)

From IBSI - Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel:




(h/t Max)

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Another day, another anti-Israel conference

Yesterday was the conclusion of the "Conference on Supervisors of Palestinian Refugees Affairs in Arab Host Countries," held in Cairo.

It was the 90th such conference.

The conference, which was held at the Headquarters of the Arab League, discussed the condition of the Palestinian refugees, the financial crisis facing the UNRWA as well as recommendations of the previous conference.

The five-day conference was attended by representatives from Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Palestine, in addition to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The conference concluded with a number of statements, calling for support of so-called "refugees" in Syria and Lebanon, calling to support UNRWA (which gets practically nothing from the countries at the conference,) and of course a litany of condemnations of Israel - including supposedly planning to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount, for supposedly ethnically cleansing Arabs from the north of Jerusalem (speaking here of Bedouin,)

From what I can tell, this conference is staged twice a year.

Isn't it great when Arab countries who, without exception, discriminate against Palestinian Arabs in refugee camps, come together to complain about how Israel is acting?

Even better is this photo that accompanies Al Ahram's coverage, subtitled "Palestinian Refugees":

Look at the tents.  They don't say UNRWA, but UNHCR. These aren't Palestinian Arabs (who have not been in tents for decades) but Iraqi refugees!

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8/27 Links Part 2: Palestinian State in Jordan 'Inevitable', Falk Keynote Speaker at Aust. Hatefest

From Ian:

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An Open Letter From the AJC to Ban Ki-Moon

In fact, you yourself have acknowledged, publicly and privately in the past, that there is discrimination against Israel at the UN. And it is in violation of the noble UN Charter, which assures the equal rights of all member states, big and small.
Mr. Secretary-General, as an organization whose link to the UN began at the founding conference in San Francisco in 1945, we count on your voice, and your moral authority, to be heard in condemning the systemic singling out and unfair treatment of Israel, a UN member state in good standing since 1949.

Back to the future

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have resumed – but over time it will, once again, become clear that a full resolution to the conflict, including Palestinian statehood, is not in the cards. The reasons are plentiful and self-evident; not only is the very concept of separate Palestinian nationhood, (as historians of the Palestinian national movement themselves have admitted) largely contrived and recent Palestinian Arabs are a fundamentally tribal and clannish society whose separate parts often have closer ties with Arab societies and families in other countries than with their supposed compatriots.
Nor has the record since the Oslo agreements 20 years ago relating to Palestinian governance been very encouraging. To be fair, the Palestinian Authority has faced numerous, not easily surmountable obstacles – both from the outside and self-made – but on the whole, it is hard to be very sanguine about the chances of such an artificial, demographically challenged, economically, politically and territorially constrained entity to become anything but another failed Middle East state (especially if it will have to absorb hundreds of thousands of “returning” refugees).

Palestinian State in Jordan 'Inevitable'

Zahran did not pull any punches Sunday afternoon, speaking at a conference entitled "Two States for Two People, on Two Sides of the Jordan River." Deriding the Jordanian ruling elite as "Armani-wearing, English-speaking autocrats" he called on all parties to consider a radically different track to the current peace initiatives based off of a "Two State Solution" which would see a Palestinian Authority-run state in Judea and Samaria.
The conference was held at Jerusalem's Menachem Begin Heritage Center, and organized by Professors for a Strong Israel, with the goal of fostering debate over alternatives to the "Two State Solution" which is currently on the table.
Zahran was the sole Palestinian Arab representative, but claimed to represent the "secular Palestinian majority" in Jordan, where between 60-80% identify as Palestinian, and which he believes hold the key to ending his people's conflict with Israel.

Palestinians don’t care if ‘soldiers felt threatened’

The sense that one gets from this, and from the official denial by the State Department that negotiations were canceled, is that somebody on the Palestinian side wanted to create the impression that the PA called off a session of negotiations that never existed. However, both sides were extremely careful not to divulge any information as to when the next round of talks would take place, while acknowledging that negotiations would, in fact, continue.
The real issue isn’t whether or not the talks will continue. The real issue is that there has been a Palestinian reawakening “on the ground.” The number of current terror alerts from the West Bank attests to this — the figures have recently risen dramatically, after a period of relative quiet. On the one hand, the IDF and Shin Bet have stepped up their efforts to prevent terror attacks from being carried out; on the other hand, it should be noted that when operations take place in areas such as the refugee camps, there is significant risk of a larger-than-usual flare-up.

The Real West Bank Terror War

The prevailing narrative of the incidents alluded to in the preceding paragraph follow this line in which the presence of Israeli forces in Palestinian areas is not merely a provocation but a standing argument for the need to force the Jewish state to pull back to the 1967 lines. But the problem with this narrative is that it is based on a lie. Incidents like the one that occurred today in Qalandia that resulted in three Palestinian deaths and last week’s confrontation in Jenin do illustrate the problem with the peace process, but it is not the one that the liberal mainstream media and the international press think it is. The idea that Israel is staging these attacks to undermine the talks is false. The fact that the IDF is forced to enter built-up areas in order to track down terrorist suspects shows just how unreliable the Palestinian Authority is as a peace partner. Moreover, the willingness of mobs in these towns to rally to defend suspects and attack the IDF with gunfire and rocks is testimony to how deeply rooted support for terror operations is in a Palestinian population that we are told is ready for an end to the conflict.

IDF Backs Soldiers in Kalandiya Incident

The IDF said Monday evening that it was backing the soldiers who were involved in an incident in Kalandiya, north of Jerusalem, on Monday morning, in which three Palestinian Authority Arabs were shot dead.
An investigation into the incident found that during the late night hours on Sunday night, a Border Police force entered Kalanidya for the purpose of arresting a wanted Tanzim terrorist who deals with weapons trading.

Kalandia Rioter Previously Released in Shalit Deal

Yunis Jahjouh, 22, was killed along with Rubeen Abed Fares and Jihad Aslan. He was 19 at the time of the "Shalit Deal," which saw more than 1,000 terrorists released from Israeli prisons.
Border Police had entered Kalandia to an individual for suspected terrorist activities. Over a thousand Palestinian Arabs started rioting, and throwing rocks and stones at the Israeli personnel.

UNWRA reports worker, Rubin Zayed, was one of three Palestinians killed in Kalandiya clashes

It reported that a second UNRWA state member, a sanitation laborer, was shot in the leg during the clashes.

Rioters attack Israeli security forces, BBC reports ‘confrontation’

That “large crowd” apparently numbered around fifteen hundred rioters - as was noted in earlier versions of the BBC report but omitted in later ones. Some idea of the type of “rocks” used to attack the Border Policemen who – as BBC readers only learn in the eighth paragraph – were in the process of trying to arrest a terror suspect, can be gained from this video apparently filmed by onlookers.

The banality of Lisa Goldman’s Israel-bashing

Peter Beinart’s Open Zion website claims to “foster an open and unafraid conversation about Israel, Palestine, and the Jewish future.” The “unafraid” apparently reflects the popular canard that it is somehow dangerous to criticize Israel, but the site’s offerings tend to prove that most Open Zion contributors – among them avowed anti-Zionists like Yousef Munayyer – are indeed “unafraid” to depict the Jewish state in the worst possible light.
There is no doubt that Open Zion’s incoming senior editor Lisa Goldman also qualifies as absolutely “unafraid.” Indeed, her writings prove that she is not only “unafraid” to make a living by criticizing Israel, but that she is also completely “unafraid” to openly promote glaring double standards.

Daphne Anson: Falk Down Under: A Stern Warning

The Israel-bashing crowd Down Under are evidently delighted at the prospect of having the notorious Israel-demonising Richard Falk among them.
As this page shows, Professor Falk is coming to Canberra as a keynote speaker at the "Human Rights in Palestine" conference scheduled for 11-12 September, which is sponsored by the Australian National University and the British Academy.
Also set to address the conference are Professors Hanan Ashrawi and Jeff Halper, and Dr Sara Roy. Master of ceremoniies will be Sydney Morning Herald journalist Paul McGeogh,

British Academy Supporting Racist Lecturer Condemned by UK

Sept. 11 Canberra conference to feature top 9/11 conspiracy theorist, UN Watch urges British Academy to pull support for Richard Falk's Australia event.

Richard Falk: Egyptians supporting Sisi are Islamophobes, may even be thinking genocide

Now even Muslims can be Islamphobes!

Israel backers hit by web ‘witch hunt’

Antisemitic abuse aimed at Israel advocates should receive the same level of public scrutiny as high-profile Twitter incidents, experts and victims have said.
The use of email and social media sites to propagate abuse has become so severe that pro-Israel campaigners have feared for their safety and been forced to call police.
One victim this week likened the campaign against pro-Israel voices to a “McCarthyite witch hunt” and said a “network of abusers” operated on social media.
A spokesman for the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism, compared the abuse to the threats to rape and bomb women on Twitter last month. He confirmed that CST had provided a number of victims with specific protection measures and safety advice.

New Oil Field Could Yield Rich Returns for Israel

A newly discovered field off Israel's coast may have a significant amount of light crude oil – the kind of oil that international producers use to make most of the world's gasoline. The Shemen company informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Monday that the Yam 3 field, where drilling has been going on for several months, shows signs of light crude under the sea bed, at a depth of about 5,500 meters.

Israel’s ‘Irreversible’ acquired by ABC

The pilot episode will be developed by series co-creator Segahl Avin, a co-executive producer of the US series, along with Peter Tolan, according to the Deadline Hollywood website. The cast has yet to be announced. “Bilti Hafich,” which has been on since January, was renewed for a second season.
It is about a young couple and the changes that occur after the birth of their first daughter.

IDF Blog: How the IDF Prepares Israeli Schools for Emergencies

The Home Front Command prepares schools and businesses across the country from all of Israel’s communities for emergency situations
Cpl. Nestia Golubovsky finds herself in a different part of Israel every week. This Civil Emergency Instructor travels around the country to teach schoolchildren how to prepare for an emergency, and how to stay safe if they find themselves in an emergency situation. Today, she’s at a local elementary school in Kfar Qara, an Israeli Arab village in the north.

Israeli designer creates 'bomb-proof' backpack for kids

The backpack, according to the Daily Mail, has been designed to act as a basic personal shelter in the event of an emergency or terror strike.
One simply has to pull the side straps and yellow strings from the hood if they hear an air raid siren, and lie flat on the floor.
The backpack, which costs around £300 (1,683 shekels), is then supposed to fully protect the brain, heart, liver and kidneys from the impact and fallout of an explosion, with 19-layer Kevlar fabric at its core.

Promise of psoriasis cure on the horizon

About four million Americans suffer from psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune skin disease that causes patches of inflamed, silvery-white scabs. There is no cure for the condition, but Israeli researchers believe they may be on the road to formulating a groundbreaking drug candidate that could finally do the job.
As described in the journal Chemistry and Biology by the team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), their study in collaboration with Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries showed that inhibiting the immune system protein Interleukin 17 (IL-17) could be the key to controlling the skin disease.

Israel ranks 4th globally in health care efficiency

In a new ranking of countries with the most efficient health care, Israel came in fourth, while the US ranked — behind Iran — in 46th position.
The data was compiled by Bloomberg, and countries were ranked based on three criteria: life expectancy; relative per capita cost of health care (percentage of GDP per capita); and the absolute per capita cost of health care.

Syria's wounded treated in Israel

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PA kills bystander in Nablus during arrest (updated)

Ma'an reported this morning:

The Palestinian Authority on Monday called for the formation of an international committee to investigate the killing of three Palestinians in Qalandia refugee camp.

PA spokesman Ihab Bsaiso told Ma'an that the international community has to put more pressure on Israel to stop violating the rights of the Palestinian people.

"The international community should not stay silent about the Israeli crimes against our people, and an inquiry committee should be formatted to investigate what happened in Qalandia refugee camp," the PA official said.

The Israeli government acts in a reckless manner without accountability, and the international community must take a strict position to stop these violations, Bsaiso said.

If killing in a police action warrants an international inquiry, then I suppose the PA will be happy to volunteer for such an inquiry itself:

Palestinian security forces killed a man in a Nablus-area refugee camp late Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.

Amjad Odeh, 37, died in what Palestinian officials described as an exchange of fire between the security forces and a wanted man in Askar refugee camp.

Odeh was taken to Rafidia hospital were he was pronounced dead. There were reports of other injuries.

Witnesses told Ma’an that dozens of Palestinians attacked security forces with rocks after the incident.

In Al-Fara refugee camp, angry residents managed to shut off the main street connecting Nablus and Tubas and set tires on fire to protest the shooting.

Sounds like they acted in a "reckless manner without accountability," doesn't it?

But the PA - the same PA that says Israel acts irresponsibly - claims that they entered the camp to arrest Odeh on suspicion of having illegal arms. They were surprised when they were fired upon, and when stones were thrown at them. They say that they fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd. And they said that they were surprised that anyone was killed by their bullets.

Which means they are saying pretty much what the Israeli Border Police said yesterday - except that they weren't attacked by hundreds of people with Molotov cocktails and 50 lb. boulders being dropped from the roofs nearby.

Residents in Nablus are no happier with the PA than they were with Israel, though.

Here's video of the man after he was fatally shot (warning: graphic)



Here are angry Arabs destroying what is evidently a PA security car:



And here are some fires set by Nablus residents tonight:




UPDATE: I assumed the man killed was the man who was wanted; he wasn't. Headline changed.

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Fatah terrorists dominate Qalandiya funerals

Most media didn't mention this, but this sentence in the Washington Post about the funeral procession in Qalandiya yesterday pretty much says it all:

As members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fired automatic weapons in the air, a local Muslim cleric told the mourners that “the Israelis don’t want peace. They want to shed our blood.”

In fact, raw video of the procession shows a large masked Al Aqsa Brigades contingent, firing lots of weapons and trying to look tough:



The end of this video shows how reporters love to take romantic shots of the gunmen, with one of the terrorists even doing a sort of pirouette, fashion-model style, to ensure that the footage looks more dramatic:



Remember, this Fatah terror group was supposedly dismantled in 2008.

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8/27 Links Part 1: In Syria, America Loses if Either Side Wins, Iran Increases Enrichment Capacity

From Ian:

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In Syria, America Loses if Either Side Wins

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the use of chemical weapons in attacks on civilians in Syria last week was undeniable and that the Obama administration would hold the Syrian government accountable for a “moral obscenity” that has shocked the world’s conscience.
In some of the most aggressive language used yet by the administration, Mr. Kerry accused the Syrian government of the “indiscriminate slaughter of civilians” and of cynical efforts to cover up its responsibility for a “cowardly crime.”
Mr. Kerry’s remarks at the State Department reinforced the administration’s toughening stance on the Syria conflict, which is now well into its third year, and indicated that the White House was moving closer to a military response in consultation with America’s allies.

Tony Blair: military intervention in Syria vital to prevent 'breeding ground for extremism'

''People wince at the thought of intervention. But contemplate the future consequence of inaction and shudder: Syria mired in carnage between the brutality of Assad and various affiliates of al Qaida, a breeding ground of extremism infinitely more dangerous than Afghanistan in the 1990s; Egypt in chaos, with the West, however unfairly, looking as if it is giving succour to those who would turn it into a Sunni version of Iran."
He added: ''Iran still - despite its new president - a theocratic dictatorship, with a nuclear bomb. Our allies dismayed. Our enemies emboldened. Ourselves in confusion. This is a nightmare scenario but it is not far-fetched.''

Barry Rubin: America's Impending Defeat in Syria

The administration has trapped itself with two problems. One is that the rebels who are being supported in Syria are extreme radicals who may set off blood baths and regional instability if they win. The other is that a challenge has been given to very reckless forces: Iran, Syria, and Hizballah. When the United States threatens these three players the response is “make my day!”
So this is the situation. The United States is bluffing, it does not want to exert force and probably won’t. In other words, Iran and Syria would be quite willing to fight a war but the United States and its government doesn’t have the will to do so.

Here’s How Kerry, Hillary and Obama Let Assad Get Away with Murder

Even seven years ago Kerry knew better than President Bush’s advisers and stated that the Bush administration’s refusal to talk to Syria and Iran is “a mistake” and “the kind of policy that’s got us into trouble” in the region.
Anyone living in the Middle East knows that once a leading senator comes for friendly talks with one of the wicked men on earth, that means the United States does not have a strong will to isolate and weaken him.

Expert: US-led attack on Syria may lead to increased Russian cooperation with Iran

Russia warned Western powers on Monday against any military intervention in Syria, saying the use of force without a United Nations mandate would violate international law. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had no plans to be drawn into a military conflict over the civil war in Syria and that Washington and its allies would be repeating “past mistakes” if they intervened in Syria.
Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at the US think tank the Heritage Foundation, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday that in response to an attack on their Syrian ally, Russia could “expand supply of dual use nuclear technology” to Iran as its nuclear energy company, Rosatom, is anxious to sell more reactors.

US to present evidence Tuesday ahead of Syria strike

Unlike the invasion of Iraq, however, US-led military action in Syria will likely be brief and limited in scope, a punishment for chemical attacks and a deterrent against future use of nonconventional weapons, administration officials told the Washington Post on Monday, stressing that the United States had no desire to become embroiled in the civil war there.
Two administration officials said the US was expected to make public a more formal determination of chemical weapons use on Tuesday, with an announcement of Obama’s response likely to follow quickly.

Israeli intelligence seen as central to US case against Syria

This time, too, Israeli military intelligence has reportedly played a key role in providing evidence of Assad’s chemical weapons use. On Friday, Israel’s Channel 2 reported that the weapons were fired by the 155th Brigade of the 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Army, a division under the command of the Syrian president’s brother, Maher Assad. The nerve gas shells were fired from a military base in a mountain range to the west of Damascus, the TV report said.
The report did not state the source of its information. But subsequently, Germany’s Focus magazine reported that an IDF intelligence unit was listening in on senior Syrian officials when they discussed the chemical attack. According to the Focus report Saturday, a squad specializing in wire-tapping within the IDF’s prestigious 8200 intelligence unit intercepted a conversation between high-ranking regime officials regarding the use of chemical agents at the time of the attack. The report, which cited an ex-Mossad official who insisted on remaining anonymous, said the intercepted conversation proved that Assad’s regime was responsible for the use of nonconventional weapons.

Assad wants Assad dead

In my best estimation, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad wants his brother Maher dead. Also, in my best estimation, it was Maher who unleashed the gas attack without any warnings or orders from anyone, which is why Russia has issued a statement saying a US military intervention will not cause it to start a war. The Russians are happy if this surgical US approach means Bashar can survive.
From day one Maher al-Assad, one of the most violent men in the region, if not the world, has been the ignored elephant in the room. Bashar cannot contain him because Maher trained his 4th army to turn its guns on his own family if necessary. Killing him will ease the tensions all around and may yield a political solution that will stop the deadly spiral of violence.

Israel readies homefront for possible Syrian attack

Patriot anti-missile batteries in Haifa put on alert - Netanyahu convenes security cabinet - IDF announces major drill on Golan Heights - Education Minister Shay Piron: School system ready for any deterioration of security situation.

New Details of Jewish-American Photojournalist Held, Tortured by Syrian Jihadists for Seven Months

Schrier is one of at least 15 Westerners, mostly journalists, abducted so far this year. The New York Times noted that his experience reflects an overall decline in security, and a spike in extremism.
The Times account neglected to comment on Schrier’s Jewishness, or on whether it was relevant to the behavior and motives of his Islamist captors. The Anti-Defamation League has emphasized that anti-Semitism “is intrinsic to Al Qaeda’s ideology and motivation,” and extremist opposition fighters in Syria have threatened to attack Israel.

Syrian FM decries US lies on chemical weapons, says military intervention would serve Israel

The Syrian foreign minister said that a US strike against Syria would serve the interests of Israel and al-Qaida linked groups.
He stated that the Syrian government was "honoring all pledges and commitments" by allowing UN inspectors access to the site of last week's alleged chemical attack in the eastern suburbs of Damascus which reportedly killed more than a thousand people.
Moualem said that the Syrian government was committed to maintaining protection for the UN inspectors and the opposition was behind sniper fire directed at the delegation on Monday.

Syrian FM Threatens 'Surprises' for Western Forces

Muallem said that his country had defenses that would "surprise" the world, and that any such action against it would serve the interests of Israel and Al-Qaeda.
"Syria is not an easy case. We have defenses which will surprise others," he said.
"The war effort lead by the United States and their allies will serve the interests of Israel and secondly Al-Nusra Front," an Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Syria, said Muallem.

Report: Hezbollah Fighters Receive Treatment for Exposure to Chemical Agents

At least four Hezbollah fighters came into contact with chemical agents in Syria and are receiving treatment in Beirut, a security source told Lebanon’s The Daily Star on Monday.
According to the anonymous source, four or five members of the Shiite terror organization came into contact with the chemical toxins in tunnels in and around the Damascus suburb of Jobar over the weekend.

At IDF’s Faux Hezbollah Village, Israeli Troops Prepare for a Third Lebanon War

Israeli officials say Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 60,000 Iranian-made rockets, some capable of reaching Tel Aviv. In 2006, Hezbollah fired roughly 4,000 rockets at Israel during a month-long war. Next time around, Hezbollah could fire that many missiles every two days. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an IDF spokesman, said at least some of the missiles would probably make it past the Iron Dome air-defense systems Israel has had in place since March 2011. “The volume of rockets would challenge the capabilities of the Iron Dome,” Lerner told me. “It would not be able to stop all of them.”
While Hezbollah is currently preoccupied with helping prop up Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, sending thousands of battle-hardened Hezbollah fighters to help Assad reverse rebel gains and regain the upper hand in the bloody civil war there, Lerner and other Israeli officials warn that Israel remains the group’s top target. “Those rockets won’t be used against the Syrian rebels,” Lerner said. “We know where they’ll be aimed if Iran gives the directive.”

Gaza in a state of shock after Egypt upheaval

"For Hamas, Morsi's ouster has been like a political tsunami," says Palestinian political expert Omar Shaban, who lives in Gaza City. "For the past year, they've had every imaginable support - both economic and political - and suddenly, it's all changed," he explains.
While some allies in the region distanced themselves from Hamas, the Morsi-led government in Egypt provided ideological support. Qatar had promised millions in financial aid.
The change of leadership in Egypt has forced Hamas to rethink their situation. Many believe it will crack down even harder to be able to control the Gaza strip and its residents.

Why is Crushing the Muslim Brotherhood a Bad Thing?

Here’s a wacky, outside-the-envelope idea that we just might want to give a shot – let’s try defeating our enemies. It’s bound to work out better than protecting and empowering them.
The Egyptian Army is taking tough stand against the Muslim Brotherhood. It is backed up by an Egyptian people who rapidly tired of the Islamofascist freak show a minority of them elected. The Army, while losing many of their own, killed a lot of the insurgent Brothers. For some reason we’re supposed to be upset.
I just can’t work up a lot of caring because a pack of murderous subversives whose declared goal is returning the globe to a permanent state of Seventh Century Bedouin theocracy tried to fight it out with a tough, well-armed and patriotic Egyptian military and got their teeth kicked in.

Washington Post lobby locked down during Egyptian anti-Morsi protest

The protest appeared to include, among others, a large number of Coptic Christians, who make up about one-tenth of Egypt’s population and many of whom live in the District and neighboring suburbs. Some complained that the Post had not sufficiently covered the rash of mob violence against churches and Christian-owned businesses in Egypt since the July 3 military coup that removed President Mohamed Morsi.
“You have very skewed coverage of the news in Egypt. You have not been covering all that is happening,” said Iris Soliman of Bethesda. She objected to the Post referring to Morsi’s ouster as a coup and said it should instead recognize that it was the “second wave of the revolution.” She chided the paper for not covering what she said were Muslim Brotherhood supporters stockpiling mosques with guns.

UN report: Iran increasing enrichment capacity

In its upcoming report, the UN nuclear watchdog is expected to reveal that Iran is continuing to move forward with its nuclear program, Reuters reported on Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency will cite diplomats who said that Tehran has increased its capacity to enrich uranium, and has begun to produce fuel for a plutonium reactor in Arak, the report said.
At the same time, the IAEA inspectors are expected to confirm that Iran maintains limited production of uranium gas.

Sentenced to death for a sip of water

...though I’m kept in a tiny, windowless cell, I want my voice and my anger to be heard. I want the whole world to know that I’m going to be hanged for helping my neighbor. I’m guilty of having shown someone sympathy. What did I do wrong? I drank water from a well belonging to Muslim women, using “their” cup, in the burning heat of the midday sun.
I, Asia Bibi, have been sentenced to death because I was thirsty. I’m a prisoner because I used the same cup as those Muslim women, because water served by a Christian woman was regarded as unclean by my stupid fellow fruit-pickers.

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What part of "Iran's Supreme Leader" doesn't the NYT understand?

Today the New York Times has its latest of a series of articles fawning over Iran's supposed new direction. This one concentrates on its new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Until this summer, Mohammad Javad Zarif, one of Iran’s most accomplished diplomats, was an outcast, exiled from the government by ultraconservatives for working too closely with the West. Rather than presenting the Iranian case to the world, as he had done so effectively throughout a 35-year diplomatic career, he was spending his days teaching at the Foreign Ministry’s training center on a quiet, leafy campus in North Tehran.

That changed with the election of the moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, in June. Now, Mr. Zarif is the country’s new foreign minister and seems virtually certain to lead Iran’s delegation in nuclear negotiations with the West — further indications, analysts say, that Mr. Rouhani is serious about reducing tensions with the United States and other Western countries.

“Mr. Zarif is the new face of a new policy,” said Davoud Hermidas-Bavand, a professor of international relations at Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran, who knows Mr. Zarif personally. “Our former foreign policy obviously did not yield any results and was clearly doomed. We need to revise our former methods and soften our stances in order to find a solution to the nuclear problem and reduce the sanctions.”

..His English is fluent, and both Western diplomats and journalists laud him as one of the rare Iranian officials who actually talk clearly to them.

Maybe Zarif is a wonderful person. Maybe he secretly eats turkey on Thanksgiving and watches Real Housewives of Atlanta.

But Zarif, like the new "moderate" Iranian president Rouhani, cannot make any real decisions on policy.

Because Iran is a dictatorship under Ayatollah Khamanei. Khamanei is not just a mere dictator, but also the religious leader of the nation. His word is divine law. 

His freaking title is "Supreme Leader."

Literally nothing can be done in Iran's government or official media without Khamanei's tacit approval. The person that allows Rouhani and Zarif to put a moderate face on Iran in the New York Times is the same person that allows the most crazed antisemitic and anti-Western conspiracy theories to be published in Iran's official media.

Yet the New York Times, and other newspapers, barely mention Khamanei any more as they fall over themselves praising Iran's new, supposedly moderate leadership.

Rouhani and Zarif are nothing more than smiling faces on an autocratic regime that supports terrorism, seeks to become a world power using nuclear weapons and is dedicated to destroying Israel. They are doing their jobs under Khamanei's hardline control, not in spite of it.

Remember, Rouhani was hand-picked as one of the candidates of the Iranian election - by Khamanei. This seemingly new "policy" is nothing more than Iran's implementation of "good cop, bad cop."

How can any serious article by a mainstream newspaper ignore these facts? How can the Times report that a puppet of a dictator, one who cannot do anything without his approval, will change anything in reality?

Now, I'm not saying anything that the NYT doesn't already know. Which means that, effectively, to the Times, style is more important than substance.

Iran's nuclear program isn't the problem - the problem is that the West is alarmed by it. If only an Iranian diplomat can ease those tensions, and let Iran cross the nuclear threshold without interference, then the NYT will be happy.

This is not journalism. This is advocacy. And it is not just wrong, but dangerous.

(h/t EBoZ)

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Clashes between Islamic Jihad and Hamas on Sunday

According to Arabic media, on Sunday there were clashes between Islamic Jihad Al Quds Brigades terrorists and Hamas Al Qassam Brigades terrorist forces in Gaza.

Residents of the Bureij camp woke up to the sounds of fighting as the two groups exchanged fire.

Reports say that Islamic Jihad wanted to fire rockets into Israel, but the Hamas forces stopped them. The fighting moved then inside the camp.

One Islamic Jihad terrorist was arrested by Hamas, but he was released quickly to avoid an escalation.

Two weeks ago, when the prisoners released by Israel went to Gaza, another skirmish between the two groups erupted with small arms fire.

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Tamarod Gaza notes that Israel-PLO talks have been more successful than Hamas-Fatah

The Tamarod Gaza movement, meant to topple Hamas, now has 45,000 Facebook fans and has been getting more media coverage lately.

A message they released today is refreshing in its honesty.

The PLO has negotiated with the Zionist enemy at some length (twenty years) and the negotiations did not reach the desired goal, but it has made ​​some achievements in the political field and there are those who see it and there are those who do not want to see ... a piece of land called Gaza and more the West Bank [are under Palestinian control] and [many countries and the UN] recognize the State of Palestine on paper, etc....

Here, a question arises: over seven years now of the obnoxious division between Fatah and Hamas, they have been negotiating to end the division and they did not achieve anything tangible! How many years they need to negotiate to end the division???

While Tamarod is as anti-Israel as anyone, this is the first time I have seen any Arab, let alone a Palestinian, admit that the Oslo process has helped the PLO achieve enormous gains both politically and in concrete terms. Even the Western media portrays the "peace process" as something that has been at a deadlock forever with Israel often being the party blamed for no progress - but here, in Arabic, at least one group acknowledges (in a backhanded manner) that the PLO has gained a great deal through the process.

Which means that Israel has conceded a great deal during the process.

The PLO? They have given up nothing tangible. Their major party Fatah still says, today, that they have not abandoned "armed struggle" and terror - and it is still part of their platform.

It is interesting that it takes an Arab group to point out what so few Westerners are willing to admit as they continue to blame Israel for everything.

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Syria has a twist on 9/11 conspiracy theories

The Syrian Radio and TV site has an article that asks a very simple question: Why are all these revolutions happening in the Arab world but not in the West? Why are only Arabs suffering from all this infighting and regime changes?

The answer, of course, is that it's a vast conspiracy.

All of the Arab world's problems started with the invasion of Iraq. Up until then the Arab world was a place of "safety and security." Yes, the article really says that.

Then came 9/11, a CIA-led attack to provide an excuse to attack the Arab world and to fragment it and cause infighting in the heretofore peaceful area.

Jews were involved as well, of course, because most of them didn't come to work on 9/11, proving foreknowledge.

The execution of Saddam Hussein was orchestrated to humiliate Arab leaders so they would be obedient to the wishes of the US.

The US attacked Iraq because of Israel, naturally, since Saddam was the only Arab leader willing to challenge Israel. (Does this mean that Syrian Radio and TV considers the Assad family to be wimps?)

So going back to the original question, of why there is no uprising in the US or France or whatever, it is because Western countries are the sponsors and manufacturers of terrorism in the Arab world to keep the Arab countries fragmented and weak so they cannot threaten Western nations and Israel.

See? It all makes perfect sense!

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Off-topic: Rhomboid beach patterns

I took a mini-break Sunday and went to the beach.

I noticed something I had never seen before, and it was driving me crazy. When the ocean waves retreated (backwash), they left consistent diamond-shaped patterns in the sand behind. The lines were never perpendicular to the shore, but rather perhaps at 80 degree and 100 degree angles facing the shoreline.

Here is the pattern being left behind on dry sand as the water (upper left) retreats:

Here is it while the sand is still wet from the backwash, contrast added to make it more obvious:

So I did a little Internet sleuthing. While I couldn't find many photos of similar patterns, apparently they are common. Here is an abstract from an article in the The Encyclopedia of Beaches and Coastal Environments:

Rhombohedral ripples are so common on the lower foreshore of a beach that Johnson (1919) called them backwash marks . The flow of the backwash down a beach often results in diamond-shaped rhombohedral ripples of low height that are best recognized by the criss-crossed pattern of intersecting lines of the lee slopes of the ripples. Generally there is a well-developed scour on the seaward side of the ripple rhombs, whereas the landward side of the diamond shape is more gentle.

Rhombohedral ripples seem to have been first described by Williamson (1887), who viewed them as resembling "the overlapping scale leaves of some cycadean stems." Observations by Woodford (1935) and Demarest (1947) show that rhomboid ripples form as a lee wave, radiating seaward from coarser than usual grains or more compact sand or from centers of escaping interstitial water. Rhomboid ripples form only in the water-saturated lower part of beaches that slope between 2 and 10 degrees (Emery, 1960). ...

I found a couple of other papers which went into math that is way beyond me. Also some claim that these patterns come from things like seashells sticking out of the sand, but the pattern was way too regular.

Apparently, there is no definitive answer as to why these patterns get generated, although there are some people who have worked very hard at figuring this out. (My initial guess was resonance patterns from the sound of the surf, but then the slope of the beach shouldn't matter.)

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