Egypt closes Rafah again, says it is for Gazans' own good

The inhumane Egyptian siege of Gaza continues:

Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing with Gaza on Saturday, officials said.

"Egypt is concerned about the security of Palestinian citizens as Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid continue to blaze with explosions occurring from time to time," an Egyptian security official told Ma'an.

The crossing had been operating at a reduced capacity since Monday, after being closed for seven days due to the security situation in Sinai.

Isn't it sweet of them to imprison Gazans for their own security?

Meanwhile, Israel issued 1,177 permits for people to cross the Erez crossing two weeks ago.

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Israel-hating organization creates curriculum for Irish students

Ma'an reports:

Iconic British musician Roger Waters launched an education resource on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Dublin this week, an Irish solidarity group said.

Mr Waters told a packed audience in Dublin that he "wholeheartedly endorsed" a teaching pack entitled 'Palestine & Israel – How will there be a Just Peace?', which was co-produced by Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance.

The resource is the first curriculum approved teaching module on Israel/Palestine in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and provides a critical analysis of the conflict in a context of human rights.

"I have studied the education pack... and it is extremely well laid out, extremely informative and eloquent in a way that kids will understand," Waters said.

Marie Crawley, chair of Sadaka, said that Waters' endorsement of the pack is "immeasurable in its importance and will be hugely influential with young people around the country as we encourage schools to use this resource."

The home page of Sadaka includes The Map That Lies, just so you know what Irish students are in for.

The curriculum itself pretends to be even-handed. It is pretty much what Israel haters would consider even-handed, without actually subjecting themselves to the opinions of mainstream Israelis.

Here is how the history of the land looks to Sadaka, and now to the Irish school system (p. 16). along with my notes about how literally every timeline event suffers from either huge bias or gigantic omissions.

1897: Growth of Zionist movement - the Basle Declaration (1897) which was agreed at the first Zionist Congress, declared that the main objective of Zionism was the “colonisation of Palestine by Jewish agricultural and industrial workers”.

Nothing about the ancient nations of Israel and Judea. Nothing about the Bible, the Patriarchs, King David, the Temple. Nothing about Jews longing to return to Zion for millennia. But they do take out one sentence of the Zionist Congress that uses the word "colonisation," which sounds a lot like "colonialism" even though they have completely different meanings.

1917: The Balfour Declaration in which Britain stated that they would support a homeland for Jewish people. At this time the population of Palestine was approximately 90% Palestinian and 10% Jewish

No, it was 90% Arab, not "Palestinian." Jews were called Palestinians then, more often than the Arabs were.  This curriculum doesn't mention that. So the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, the Palestine Post, the Palestine Exhibit at the World's Fair all sound, to these students, like they were run by Arabs. They weren't. They were all run by Palestinian Jews. 

1930s: Jewish immigration to Palestine increased greatly after WW1, especially in the 1930s. By the end of the 1930s, Jews made up nearly 30% of the population.

Arab immigration, especially illegal Arab immigration also increased dramatically because of the increased standards of living that the Jews brought. 

Not a word about the Arab rebellion that killed thousands in the 1930s. Nothing about the British methods to stop Arab disturbances, like executions and collective punishments that far exceed anything Israel could ever be accused of doing. In fact, the British Mandate itself is essentially ignored! So are the massacres of Jews by Arabs in 1929 and earlier. 

1942-1945: The Holocaust takes place in Europe: 6 million Jews and up to half a million Roma Gypsies were killed by the Nazis.

The mention of Gypsies seems deliberately included to minimize the goal of the Holocaust - to destroy all Jews in the world. After all, they don't mention homosexuals. 

The Holocaust began before 1942.

Nothing about the British White Paper that limited immigration (to appease Arabs after the 1936-39 revolt) and the hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives lost because they had no safe haven to escape to. This is critical background information and it is ignored.

1945: World War 2 ends

1945-47: Greatly increased Jewish immigration from Europe after WW 2 into Palestine

Immigration that was illegal because the British tried to prevent it, breaking their promises from the Balfour Declaration.

1947: UN partition plan - granting 56% of the area to a Jewish state, even though they only comprised 1/3 of the population and owned less than 6% of the land. Outbreak of war between Israelis and Palestinians.

The White Paper also limited the ability of Jews to buy land, which is why Jews owned so little.

Arabs also privately owned little, perhaps 20% of the land. The false implication is that Arabs owned 94%.

Most of the Jewish state under the UN partition plan was desert.

The Arabs didn't accept partition, and the Palestinian Arabs started massacring Jewish civilians literally hours after the partition plan passed.

For the most part, the war wasn't between Israelis and Palestinians, but between Jews and the Arab states. Most of the Palestinian Arabs fled before seeing any fighting as Arab armies attempted to destroy Israel.

1948: Proclamation of the State of Israel. 750,000 Palestinian refugees fled homes. West Bank and East Jerusalem came under Jordanian control. Gaza Strip came under Egyptian control.

Jordan expelled literally every Jew from its occupied lands, including Jerusalem, where Jews had lived continuously for well over a thousand years. Its annexation of the West Bank was considered illegal by virtually the entire world. 

1948-1951: In 1948 all restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine were lifted. Between 1948 -1951, 700,000 Jews arrived from Europe, including two thirds of the Jews displaced after World War 2.

Not a word about the 800,000 Jews who were expelled or forced to flee Arab countries, as this sham of a curriculum attempts to make Israel look like it is filled with only European Jews. 

Nothing about the founding of the PLO in 1964, about terror attacks before 1967, about the constant state of war between Israel and her neighbors, about the Arab League boycott of Jews (later Israel,) about daily Arab incitement to destroy Israel. 

1967: ‘Six-Day’ War - Israel occupies Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians in those areas living under military rule. Israel began to build settlements in Palestinian areas.

When exactly did those areas go from being Egyptian/Jordanian to "Palestinian"? A little sleight of hand here.

Nothing about the wave of Palestinian Arab terror against the world in the early 1970s.

Nothing about the Yom Kippur War. Nothing about peace between Israel and Egypt, including Israel giving back some 90% of the land controlled by Israel for peace. Nothing about how Judea and Samaria are the cradle of Jewish civilization. Nothing about how Jews were returning to areas that they lived in a mere 19 years before.

Nothing about the increase of life expectancy and decrease of infant mortality under "occupation." Nothing about how Jews and Arabs coexisted before the first intifada. 

1993: Oslo Accords – Palestinian Authority was created, with limited powers. Israel still occupying West Bank and Gaza.

Nothing about how Arafat spurned the Clinton parameters and chose instead to start a terror war that ended up killing thousands. Not a word about suicide bombings or terrorism - even before the second intifada.

2005: Withdrawal of Israeli settlers from Gaza strip. Israel still controlling all access to area.

Of course, Egypt shares a border with Gaza.

Nothing about rocket attacks from Gaza.

2009: A ban on new Israeli settlements in the West Bank was agreed

A ten month freeze on new construction that was never agreed to be permanent. It was meant to re-start negotiations, and the PLO refused to negotiate until the last minute so they could storm out when the deadline passed.

2010: The ban on Israeli settlements in the West Bank ends. Palestinians now only have access to less than one-third of the West Bank territory.

Nothing about how tens of thousands work in Israel - or in the Jewish communities in the territories.  Nothing about PLO intransigence. 

The rest of the curriculum is just as bad, with highlights of "good Jews" like Jeff Halper and nothing about any Israeli human rights.

The entire coursework is filled with one-sided pseduo-facts and startling omissions that shows it to be simple propaganda masquerading as a school curriculum.

The fact that the Irish school system accepts this sham as legitimate shows how ignorant Europeans are about the facts and how willing they are to accept any anti-Israel narrative.

UPDATE: I made a poster about this, pointing out the irony that a songwriter who rails against "thought control" in the classroom is guilty of exactly that.

UPDATE 2: Israellycool also looked at the curriculum. Besides not mentioning terrorism, the entire pack doesn't mention Hamas once - except in the glossary, which no one would see because it isn't mentioned in the text!

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Gaza exported Lulavim to Israel

Two years ago, Hamas blocked the exports of lulavim (palm fronds used during the current Jewish holiday of Sukkot) to Israel - and Gaza farmers lost roughly a million dollars.

As far as I can tell, there were no Gaza exports of lulavim last year, but this year - according to COGAT - at least one truckload of palm fronds were exported in August to Israel:

 Exports of lulavim from Gaza and etrogim from Morocco? What would the BDS movement think?

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"Sex jihad" (updated x2 - a skeptical view)

From AFP:

Tunisia's women's ministry said Saturday it would come up with a plan to counter the growing number of women traveling to Syria to wage so-called "sex jihad" by comforting militants.

Interior Minister Lotfi ben Jeddou told the National Constituent Assembly on Thursday that Tunisian women had gone to Syria where "they have sexual relations with 20, 30, 100" militants.

"After the sexual liaisons they have there in the name of 'jihad al-nikah' – [sexual holy war, in Arabic] -- they come home pregnant," he told MPs.

Ben Jeddou did not elaborate on how many Tunisian women had returned to the country pregnant with the children of jihadist fighters.

On Saturday, the health ministry statement said it had noted "an increase in the number of young women leaving for so-called jihad al-nikah", although it did not give any figures.

Jihad al-nikah, permitting extramarital sexual relations with multiple partners, is considered by some hardline Sunni Muslim Salafists as a legitimate form of holy war.

Media reports have said hundreds of Tunisian women have gone to Syria for this purpose, in addition to hundreds of Tunisian men joining jihadists battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Earlier rumors of "sex jihad" in other contexts have been bitterly disputed and called hoaxes, but Tunisia's government seems to be confirming it in this case.

It is not hard to imagine that single Muslim women who have already lost their virginity might be interested in turning their statuses from potential outcasts to heroic jihadists.

UPDATE: MEMRI has the video of Jeddou's speech:



UPDATE 2: This post casts doubt on the story, and notes that no corroborating evidence has been found yet.  (h/t Gidon)

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Video: French diplomat punching IDF soldier in the face (updated)

Over the weekend, there have been accusations that the IDF "manhandled" NGOs and diplomats trying to build an illegal Bedouin village in Area C.

Here is the IDF version of the events:

Yesterday, following an illegal attempt by Palestinians and foreign activists to erect tents in Samaria’s Hemdat area, in the northern Jordan Valley, security personnel responded to the site with the intent to implement a standing Supreme Court Decision. At the site, Palestinian and foreign activists violently objected, throwing stones and striking Israeli security forces. The security personnel contained the violence with riot dispersal means, seized the tents and detained three Palestinians who were the main instigators, forcefully objecting to the activity. Reports that foreign diplomats abused their diplomatic privileges are currently being reviewed and, if required, complaints will be filed with the relevant authorities.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Paul Hirschson, said a formal complaint might be filed with the French over the involvement of French diplomat, Marion Castaing. “If she did participate then a formal complaint will be filed because that is not the way diplomats behave,” he said.

The IDF notes that a PressTV video shows that the French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing actually punching an IDF soldier (0:52) of this video. (UPDATE: Video is gone; excerpt is here.) A colleague actually tries to hold her back.

I turned it into an animated GIF:

This video of the incident, lightly edited, shows that the IDF only acted when it was provoked. Soldiers politely shooed away the activists until they kept pushing past them. It also shows some activists smiling after getting "manhandled" because they wanted it to be caught on camera.



Castaing is seen on the ground (2:45) apparently lying there voluntarily, or as part of a protest; she certainly doesn't appear to be trying to get up and no one is forcing her on the ground. She is seen smiling at around 3:15 after her supposedly terrifying ordeal. Similarly, an activist who ignored IDF orders to stay away from the truck and who was pushed away is grinning at 2:17.

It is all a play, where the Israel-haters know that the IDF won't do anything serious to them and they are hamming it up for the cameras.

UPDATE:  Here's another angle, showing Castaing getting out of the truck at 6:05. It looks like she is hanging onto the IDF and then dropping to the ground; the soldiers seem to be ignoring her as they are looking at the other activists. If the soldiers grabbed her and dragged her out, it was not a very tense scene. Then a minute later, she simply gets up.

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9/21 Links: IDF Soldier Murdered in WB, Anti-Israel vote fails at IAEA, Rouhani the 'moderate'

From Ian:

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IDF soldier Tomer Hazan, kidnapped and killed in West Bank

An IDF soldier was murdered by a Palestinian acquaintance who lured him to a village near Qalqilya in the West Bank, Israeli authorities said Saturday. The soldier was named Saturday night as 20-year-old Bat Yam native Sgt. Tomer Hazan.
Hazan was lured on Friday to the village of Beit Amin, south of Qalqilya, by a 42-year-old Palestinian resident of the village, Nidal Amar. Amar worked at an Israeli restaurant, in Bat Yam, where Hazan also worked part-time. (h/t Jewess)

UN shoots down Arab push to condemn Israeli nuclear policy

The bid, against which the US spoke out this week, reflects mounting frustration in the Arab world over the deferment of an international conference on the banning of atomic arms in the region, Reuters reported Friday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency rejected the initiative by a vote of 51 to 43 at its annual meeting in Vienna. 32 nations abstained.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Does Jordan Want Palestinians In Control of The Border?

Although the Jordanians are not part of the ongoing peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, they are hoping that Israel will not rush to abandon security control over its long border with the kingdom. Understandably, the Jordanian monarchy cannot go public with its stance for fear of being accused by Arabs and Muslims of treason and collaboration with the "Zionist enemy."
The Egyptians today know what the Jordanians have been aware of for a long time -- that a shared border with Fatah or Hamas or any other Palestinian group is a recipe for instability and anarchy. The Egyptians surely miss the days when the Israel Defense Forces were sitting along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Europe: Anti-Israel or Anti-Semitic?

Member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home Party, Ayelet Shaked, told the European politicians attending the conference that she feared the evacuation of West Bank settlements and the creation of a Palestinian state would only lead to increased missile attacks against Israel:

Europe's forcing us to cede land, in order to achieve the type of agreement it sees fit for the Middle East, will only mean that these missiles will continue to rain down on Israel not only from Gaza, but from Qalqilya and Ramallah [Palestinian cities in the West Bank] as well.
If Europe thinks Jews will return to the days where we were forced to mark our products, you can forget it. Delegitimization of parts of Israel by Europe is the new anti-Semitism. The old anti-Semitism led to the destruction of our people in gas chambers. We will not allow the new anti-Semitism to hurt us.

Caroline Glick: Syria, Iran and the North Korean model

Like North Korea, Iran will negotiate until it is ready to vacate its signature on the NPT and test its first nuclear weapon.
The critics are correct. And the danger posed by Obama’s decision to seek a false compromise rather than accept an unwanted confrontation following Syria’s use of chemical weapons will only be removed when the US recognizes the folly of seeking to wish away the dangers of weapons of mass destruction through negotiations. Those talks lead only to the diminishment of US power and the endangerment of US national security as more US enemies develop and deploy weapons of mass destruction with the sure knowledge that the US would rather negotiate fecklessly than contend responsibly with the dangers they pose.

EU diplomats say IDF manhandled them in West Bank, violated humanitarian law

IDF soldiers clashed with Palestinians and foreign activists attempting to raise a makeshift tent encampment near Hamdat in the northern Jordan Valley in the West Bank on Friday.
The IDF called the incident a "disturbance of the peace," and a provocation," while European diplomats said they were "manhandled" and illegally prevented from delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians by the IDF. (h/t Jewess)

Israel to Double Supply of Water to Thirsty Gaza Strip

Israel will build a pipeline that doubles the amount of water sold to the Palestinian Authority for Gaza Strip residents, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
The new pipeline will increase supplies to the Gaza Strip to 10 million cubic meters, spokesman Guy Inbar said today in a phone interview. The West Bank water allotment will rise by 4 million cubic meters to 57 million.(h/t Zvi)

U.N. Nominee Given 72 Hours to Confess Lies on Qaddafi Prize

Controversial U.N. Human Rights Council nominee Jean Ziegler was today given a 72-hour ultimatum to confess that for the past month he has been engaged in a massive cover-up by lying to the Swiss media over his ties to the Qaddafi Prize, and to withdraw his nomination for the election to be held next week. See below the UN Watch letter sent today to Jean Ziegler.

CNN Update: Some Errors Fixed, Some Remain in “10 Things” Feature

Still, factual errors and distortions remain, including the false claim that the Western Wall is "the last structure remaining from the Jewish Temple," the anachronistic claim that the Al Aqsa mosque, a structure that was built after the Quran was written, is mentioned in the Quran, the reference to "biblical Palestine," and the assertion that "the international community deems Israel's presence in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as an illegal occupation."

Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown - Jerusalem" Serves up Palestinian Propaganda

Did Bourdain and his producers intend the show to transform into Palestinian grievance theater? It’s possible that Bourdain was easily manipulated in an unfamiliar environment. But it is more likely that Bourdain felt compelled to play to the perceived political orientation and pro-Palestinian sympathies of his audience. It is an approach that can’t be bothered with the facts, especially when they don’t support emotion-laden preconceptions. Bourdain should apologize to his audience for allowing his show to be hijacked by a political agenda. But don’t hold your breath. As he said at the outset, "Here goes nothing."

Assad calm, comfortable and clearly delusional in Fox News interview

Assad’s performance was chilling considering he so easily and comfortably lied about his government’s actions and intentions. And yet, his demeanor was so measured that he appeared to be anything but angry about the chaos around him. He is clearly feeling empowered by the Russians’ diplomatic success.

Syria's Real Threat: Biological Weapons

Chemical weapons are calculated, while biological weapons are living organisms and do not distinguish national boundaries. Monitoring Assad's chemical-weapons stockpiles is far more transparent than locating biological programs, which are run out of both military and civilian facilities, in Syria's veterinary labs, its pharmaceutical industry, agroindustries and public-health institutes.

Key facts link Assad regime to chemical attacks

The trajectory of the rockets that delivered the nerve agent sarin in last month’s deadly attack is among the key evidence linking elite Syrian troops based in the mountains overlooking Damascus to the strike that killed hundreds of people, diplomats and human rights officials said Wednesday.

McCain answers Putin’s New York Times broadside

Republican Sen. John McCain is accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for Pravda that answers the Russian leader’s broadside published last week in an American newspaper.

Putin: I’m not 100% sure Syria will comply with US-Russia deal

Russian president says Damascus WMD cache built in response to ‘Israel’s nuclear capabilities,’ calls Aug. 21 attack ‘sly rebel provocation’

UN Hits Back at Russia on Syria's Chemical Weapons

"The terrible facts speak for themselves," AFP quoted UN spokesman Martin Nesirky as having told reporters.

Syria Confident UN Won't Adopt Chapter VII Resolution

Syria is confident the United Nations will not adopt a resolution on its chemical weapons under Chapter VII, which could allow the use of force, its deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.

Military option on Syria must remain open: NATO chief

Anders Rasmussen welcomed a U.S.-Russian agreement on the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons, but said it was essential for keeping momentum in the diplomatic and political process that the military option remained on the table.

Germany Admits Exporting Chemicals to Syria

Germany said on Wednesday that it exported 111 tons of chemicals to Syria between 2002 and 2006 that could be used in the production of sarin gas, according to a government document cited by Reuters.

Egyptian General killed as Army Retakes Islamist-Held Town

The raid on the town follows the killing of 11 police officers in Kerdassa last month. Police said that 55 suspected terrorists were arrested in today's raid.
According to local reports, General Nabeel Farrag was killed when gunmen opened fire from the rooftops of schools and mosques they had seized.Forces were then drawn into a gunfight within a built up area of the town.

Netanyahu: Iran continues to deceive while centrifuges spin

“The Iranians are continuing to deceive so that the centrifuges continue spinning. The real test lies in the Iranian regime’s actions, not words,” said Netanyahu in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office...
In response to Rouhani’s vague answer to his interviewer about Holocaust denial, in which he said he was “not a historian, but a politician,” Netanyahu said that Rouhani, “like Ahmadinejad, was not prepared to recognize the existence of the Holocaust. You don’t have to be a historian to recognize the existence of the Holocaust; you have to be human.”

Iranian president brags about deceiving the West VIDEO

Despite the recent charm offensive in the American media, a recently revealed video of an interview prior to the June Iranian election shows him bragging how he, in his role as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, deceived the West during negotiations on Iran’s illicit nuclear program even as Iran expanded its nuclear power. At the same time, Rouhani managed to relieve pressure by the West, especially in convincing the Europeans to avert possible military aggression by the Bush administration.

Rouhani: Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon

In NBC interview, Iranian president says he has full authority to make deal with West; cites ‘positive’ letter from Obama

‘Israel brought instability to the region,’ says Iranian president

In second portion of NBC interview, Rouhani accuses Jewish state of ‘war-mongering policies’ but says he ‘does not seek war with any country’

Rouhani casts “moderate” degree of doubt on whether the Holocaust happened

The journalist’s omission isn’t an isolated mistake but, rather, part of a broader pattern at the Guardian (which we’ve posted about previously) of running interference for the Iranian leadership, and attempting to impute moderation to a regime which is among the world’s leaders in exporting terrorism, and has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction.
Would a genuine political “moderate” ever deny or in any manner cast doubt upon the Nazis’ extermination of six million Jews?

Iranian President Dodges Questions on Whether Holocaust Happened

Sukkah City Film Captures Competition that Explored New Twists on an Ancient Structure

When author Joshua Foer conjured up the idea to hold the world’s first international Sukkah design competition, Sukkah City, in 2010, the prospect of 650 people from more than 40 countries, many of them non-Jews, jumping at the chance to enter, or real luminaries in the field of architecture and design, people such as Thom Mayne and Ron Arad, eagerly joining the jury responsible for picking the participants, seemed as equally preposterous as the contest itself.

Israel Daily Picture: Celebrating Sukkot in Jerusalem 100 Years Ago

The photographers of the American Colony Photographic Department took photos of sukkot structures over a 40 year period, preserving pictures of Bukharan, Yemenite and Ashkenazi sukkot.
Even though the sukka is a temporary structure, some families moved their furniture and finery into the sukka, as is evident in some of the pictures.
Bukhari Jews, shown in pictures from around 1900, were part of an ancient community from what is today the Central Asian country Uzbekistan. They started moving to the Holy Land in the mid-1800s.

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Chag Sukkot Sameach!

Wishing my Jewish readers a wonderful Sukkot!

Ushpizin wall hanging from here.

I'm spending part of the afternoon printing cool artwork to decorate my Sukkah (I was looking through some artists from Tzfat/Safed; I like this guy) and I just decided to make something original. So here it is:

I will not be posting again until Saturday night. Have a great Yom Tov!

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9/18 Links Part 2: Pro-Judea and Samaria Conference at the EU!, Persians in Space

From Ian:

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Historic Pro-Judea and Samaria Conference at EU

A historic conference in support of the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria took place Tuesday inside one of the bastions of opposition to the Jewish presence in the region – the European Parliament.
The conference was organized by the Deputy Chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr. Fiorello Provera of Italy, who became a supporter of the Jewish communities after touring Samaria (Shomron), and by senior MEP Bastiaan Belder of Holland, who has also become a friend of Samaria in recent years.

US pans Arab push to single out Israel for alleged nuclear arsenal

The United States said on Tuesday an Arab push to single out Israel for criticism over its assumed nuclear arsenal would hurt diplomatic efforts to ban weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
Frustrated over the postponement of an international conference on ridding the region of atomic arms, Arab states have proposed a resolution at a UN nuclear agency meeting expressing concern about "Israeli nuclear capabilities".
The non-binding text submitted for the first time since 2010 to this week's member meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency calls on Israel to join a global anti-nuclear weapons pact and place its atomic facilities under IAEA monitoring.
Israel is widely believed to possess the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, drawing frequent Arab and Iranian condemnation. It has never acknowledged having atomic weapons.

Joe Biden to address J Street conference

Biden is not the only representative of the administration to come to talk up the current peace talks in front of what is considered to be a receptive audience. Martin Indyk, the US special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, will also address the conference, serving as the keynote speaker for the gala dinner to be held on the same day as Biden’s address.
J Street has repeatedly emphasized that it views this year’s conference as unprecedented in the number and diversity of its participants, among whom are a number of members of Congress as well as representatives of six Knesset parties.

Hamas To Produce Film on Gilad Shalit Kidnapping

According to a report from Mohammed Al-Ar'ir of the ministry of culture, the Hamas movement has allocated $100, 000 to produce the film, set to take place in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The film will be produced by Al-Wataniya, a local media company.
The movie will not focus on or reveal any new details about how Hamas held Shalit for more than five years in Gaza since his capture in 2006. Rather, it will focus on "violent resistance," which Hamas says is "the best option and only hope to free Palestinian lands and over 8,000 Palestinian prisoners still captive in the Israeli occupier's prisons."

After 6-Week Suspension From Party, UK MP David Ward Resumes Anti-Israel Tweeting

Following a six-week suspension from his party for remarks deemed insensitive to Jews and the Jewish state, it took UK Liberal Democrat MP David Ward little time to resume his attacks against Israel after being restored to his position.
In a post to his Twitter account on Tuesday, MP Ward wrote that he was “looking forward” to a Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel’s conference event “on hideous weapons used by Israel in Gaza.”
The Tweet was taken down seconds later and replaced with the more impartial: “Looking forward to #LDFI event tonight on use of sensitive language.”

BBC removes claim of ‘pre-emptive’ Yom Kippur strike

On September 15th we highlighted the fact that the BBC’s ‘Learning Zone’ website – a resource for teachers – claimed that Egypt and Syria “acted pre-emptively” when they launched the surprise attacks which began the Yom Kippur war forty years ago.
Via the JTA we learn that the erroneous claim has been removed from the website after the JTA approached the BBC’s Head of Communications.

Mubarak: ‘I started the Yom Kippur War’

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak says he personally started the Yom Kippur War in October, 1973, by attacking an Israeli communications base in his fighter jet six minutes before the rest of the Arab armies’ surprise attack on the Jewish state began.
In most accounts, the war began at 2:00 pm on October 6, when at least 200 Egyptian fighter planes simultaneously hit three Israeli airbases, Israel’s missile batteries, command centers, numerous artillery positions, and radar installations, to devastating effect.

Have your say: the BBC Trust wants to know what you think

The consultation will run from September 16th to December 13th 2013 and there are various ways to take part. It covers television and radio programmes available in the UK as well as BBC Online and social media – in other words, the consultation does not include the BBC World Service.
An opportunity definitely not to be wasted.

BBC WS ‘Fifth Floor’ version of the 1993 Rabin-Arafat handshake

Issam Ikirmawi: “Yes. There was a big rumour at the time that Arafat was told by American officials that under no circumstances should he attempt to kiss Rabin or kiss anyone.”
DA: “What was the protocol – the reasoning behind that protocol though – that American officials would say that?”
II: “But I mean in the West it’s not customary for men to kiss when they meet each other, while in the Middle East they do, and Arafat was renowned for his fondness of kissing people when he meets them.”

Of course Ikirmawi’s suggestion that American officials sought to protect Rabin’s ‘Western’ sensibilities from Arafat’s ‘Middle Eastern’ customs conceals the fact that Jerusalem-born Rabin was no less Middle Eastern than Cairo-born Arafat. But it also plays into pernicious stereotypes of ‘authentic’ Palestinians and ‘foreign’ Israelis.

Saudis use Hitler in action TV promo

A Saudi-owned TV network is taking flak for featuring Adolf Hitler in its ads to promote what it says is its action movie channel’s unbeatable September film lineup.
The Middle East Broadcasting Center, a Dubai-based and Saudi-owned television network, has aired ads which show snippets from the Quentin Tarantino movie Inglorious Basterds in order to push its latest and greatest films on offer. Arabic subtitles have Hitler’s character from the film laud MBC Action’s “September to Remember,” saying “they will control the entire region.”

It’s Time to Stop Whitewashing Tarek Loubani and John Greyson

“They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Cecilia Greyson, John’s sister, is quoted as saying. She has also claimed that their detention “is completely arbitrary.” A Global news article noted that both “have a history of supporting human rights in Gaza.”
What is not mentioned in these sanitized accounts is that Loubani has been a long-time member of the International Solidarity Movement, a radical pro-Palestinian activist group with ties to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The ISM, founded in 2001, calls itself a peace group but has avowed the necessity of violence and stated its belief that Israel is “an illegal entity that should not exist.” Loubani was arrested a decade ago for entering a military area in the West Bank and interfering with the work of Israeli soldiers, a key tactic of the ISM and precisely what got American Rachel Corrie (also an ISM member) accidentally killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003.

Facebook Under Fire for Allowing Hate Speech Against Jews to Proliferate Online

Facebook, Inc. came under fire on Tuesday for allowing hate speech against Jews to proliferate in its online community.
A group called “Remove Hate From FB” said the online site has gone far in blocking pages denigrating other minority groups, but attacks against Jews are allowed to linger online.
“Why is Facebook routinely and automatically removing hate group pages which target African Americans and the Gay Community, but when it comes to hate group pages that target Jews, they seem to turn an anti-Semitic blind eye?” asks organizer Michael Mendelson.
Remove Hate From FB has called for an”offline” protest at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on October 14.

UK Prime Minister: Let Tottenham Hotspur Fans Call Themselves ‘Yids’

British Prime Minister David Cameron waded into a row involving fans of London football club Tottenham Hotspur and Britain’s ruling football body, the Football Association, with his own contention that fans should not be prosecuted for using the word ‘Yid’ in a non-threatening context.
“You have to think of the mens rea. There’s a difference between Spurs fans self-describing themselves as ‘Yids’ and someone calling someone a ‘Yid’ as an insult,” Cameron told the UK’s Jewish Chronicle.
“You have to be motivated by hate,” the prime minister said. “Hate speech should be prosecuted — but only when it’s motivated by hate.”

Palestinian Telecom Entrepreneur Pays $10.5 Million for Israel’s Alvarion

According to Israeli business website Calcalist, Alami is a Palestinian telecommunications entrepreneur who currently lives in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. Alami has established a number of telecommunications companies — the most prominent being Coolnet, an Internet service provider (ISP) that operates high-speed Internet services.
“I don’t care whether Alvarion is an Israeli or a Palestinian company. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just business. I know the company. And I worked with it for long years. I am interested in running the company, and eager to bring it to success. As a native of Jerusalem, I can tell you that if each of us does his own share, as best he can, we may yet achieve peace,” he told Calcalist.

Britain’s MyCurrencyTransfer.com opens in Tel Aviv

“The most important thing I’ve learned about Israeli talent is its fearlessness,” says Daniel Abrahams, co-founder of MyCurrencyTransfer.com. “It is no surprise to me that Israel has more companies listed on the NASDAQ than all of Europe combined, and that it is startup capital of the world.”
This is why Abrahams, 26, has opened a branch of his London-based office in Tel Aviv.
It was a natural fit for the English entrepreneur, whose mother is Israeli.
“We came here as part of a talent-acquisition strategy,” he admits. “But then we fell in love with the atmosphere and spirit of the place – perfect for innovation and momentum.”

Teva forms R&D alliance with UK’s Cancer Research Technology

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and the UK’s Cancer Research Technology (CRT) have signed a multi-project alliance agreement to research and develop first-in-class cancer drugs that modulate DNA damage and repair response (DDR) processes in cancer cells.
DDR plays a key role in protecting cancer cells from the damaging effect of chemotherapy – creating an in-built antidote to the toxic effects of the anti-tumor drug. As the cancer cells that are best able to repair the DNA damage caused by the cancer treatments survive, they replicate, naturally selecting for the mutation with the enhanced repair capability – leading to recurrence and resistance to treatment.

Birds without borders: Diplomacy takes wing in the Middle East

For Yossi Leshem, the story is all too familiar: A white stork, tagged last month in Hungary for a migration study, was captured and turned over to police in Egypt after a journey of 3,700 kilometres.
The GPS transmitter on its back has aroused suspicions that it was being used for espionage. The bird was finally released Sept. 2, after officials were assured it was not a foreign spy. Days later it was killed by a hunter.
In a region where political tensions and guns abound, the stork’s bizarre and abbreviated journey illustrates a massive problem faced by conservationists: how to protect the roughly half a billion birds that pass through the Middle East – many of them this month – while they fly from breeding grounds in Europe and Asia to winter havens in Africa.

Iran may send cat blasting into space

Iran’s hunt for its next animal astronaut may turn to the distinctive and locally named Persian cat, an official said Monday, in another possible step by the country’s ambitious aerospace program that has also raised Western concerns about spillover military applications. The report by the official IRNA news agency comes seven months after Iran claimed it launched a monkey out of earth’s atmosphere and successfully returned it home. The account, however, faced international questions after photos appeared to show different monkeys in pre- and post-launch images.

3 Yom Kippur War Heroes Whose Stories You’ve Never Heard

Every war has its heroes. When Syria and Egypt surprise attacked Israel on Yom Kippur 40 years ago today according to the Jewish calendar, it took a whole nation of heroes to push back the invading armies and snatch a miraculous victory. Here, we honor a few whose stories you have probably never heard.

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World media still ignoring Egypt navy killing two Palestinians in cold blood

Yesterday I reported about the Egyptian navy firing at a boat filled with Syrians and Palestinian Syrians trying to reach Europe, killing two of the Palestinians.

I noted then that the Western media coverage of the event was nonexistent, while there was heavy coverage of the IDF killing an admitted Islamic Jihad terrorist while being attacked with firebombs.

How about today? Are any media reporting on the cold-blooded murder of two Arab civilians of Palestinian ancestry?

This isn't Syria, where the 1500 or so Palestinian Arabs killed pale next to the hundred thousand total dead so far. There were no other major violent attacks in Egypt yesterday.

So what English language media outlets have covered this?

Al Ahram English has the story - and no one else. 

The story has drama - people desperately trying to flee Syria and make a better life. It has politics - Egypt not allowing Palestinian Syrians to seek asylum there. It has violence. It has irony, that those fleeing Syrian bombs get felled by Egyptian bullets.

It has all the ingredients for a great news story.

But it is apparently missing an essential component: It doesn't fit the mainstream media narrative of Palestinian Arabs being oppressed by Israel and only Israel.

That makes it messy, and harder to explain, and it reveals shades of grey that the media prefers not to get into because they would then have to be more careful not to report other stories based on a template but based on real reporting.

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Too funny: Arab accuses Jews of falsifying history

Jihad el-Khazen, writing in pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, publishes one of the best examples of Arab projection I've ever seen.

The title of his article? "Israel And The Falsification Of History."

Let's see who falsifies history.

El-Khazen starts off fuming at a full-page ad in the Financial Times on Monday by the European Jewish Congress:

The European Jewish Congress paid to run a full-page ad in the London-based The Financial Times, protesting against the European Union's recent decision to suspend funding for any Israel institutions working beyond the Green Line - ie in the West Bank.

The ad, which was titled "Last chance for Europe to place peace above politics," claimed that the position of the European Union is "ultimately detrimental to Europeans, Israelis, and Palestinians, and above all, serve [s] to minimize the chances for lasting peace. "

But this is all a lie that only a pro-Israeli organization is capable of.

Personally, I do not recognize any green or red lines, and all I know is that Palestine is the land from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. This land is entirely under occupation by the state of Israel. Also personally, I accepted with the Palestinians a state on 22 percent of their land, but the successive Israeli governments, including those that had war criminals and terrorists in their ranks, did not accept this.

While I oppose all war, and do not want any Palestinian or Jew to be harmed, I insist that peace is not possible with the current Israeli government, a fascist government leading the last apartheid state in the world, and a government that kills, destroys , and steals Palestinian homes every day. I challenge the European Jewish Congress to prove me wrong in the future.

OK, how many lies has el-Khazen given us so far?

He pretends that there was a nation called Palestine. He pretends that its historic borders happen to coincide with the borders of the British Mandate, with not a square inch on the other side of the Jordan. He pretends that Israel has no right to exist in any way, shape or form (a position he has made many times before.)

Now he gets to show his ignorance:

The second paragraph of the ad claimed that the EU does not implement the same funding policy on other countries, of which the ad named Turkey, Morocco, and China.

I don't know what the accusation against these countries is, but I know that the Turks or the Chinese do not live in a country to which they had immigrated, and which they then occupied by force of arms, dispossessing or murdering its native people . Furthermore, one mistake does not justify another, and if Turkey or China (Morocco took in the Jews of Spain and protected them after the fall of Andalusia, and alluding to it is ingratitude) has indeed made mistakes, then this does not justify the sins that Israel commits every day against the Palestinians.

He never heard of the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus or the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, but he is certain that they don't occupy anyone. And if they do, well, it is no big deal.

Nice!

But it gets better:

The Palestinians alone can claim the land as their own, and yet, they and I with them have accepted a state on less than a quarter of their land. Historically, Israel never existed in Palestine, not 3,000 years ago, and not 2,000 years ago, or at any other time. There are no Jewish antiquities in Palestine, and the prophets of the Torah never existed, and were 'invented' hundreds of years after the alleged era during which they lived. Moreover, Al-Haram Al-Sharif is not the so-called Temple Mount, which never existed, and there are no traces in the mosque complex of any First or Second Temple. To be sure, the Temple is just another myth of the Torah.

Ignorance is one thing, but taking such pride in one's ignorance is breathtaking. Does he think that the Kotel was built by a Muslim sultan? (One must also wonder if he believes that the prophets mentioned in the Koran existed - since most of them are also in the Torah.)

The ad then moves from outright lies to sheer obscenity, claiming that the EU is abrogating the Oslo Accords which stipulate "that the current status of the territories and its residents will not be changed ahead of final status negotiations, to which the parties have now recently returned, "and that" the territories, captured during a defensive war, from Jordan, itself an occupier, were never an independent sovereign entity. "

Every word and every sentence in the above is a lie. The Oslo Accords did not stipulate that territories and residents should remain unchanged for a thousand years, as the terrorist governments in Israel want. Furthermore, the Palestinians are the native inhabitants of the land, and each of them has a known name and comes from a known city, town, or village. Jordan and Palestine, meanwhile, are one and the same, and Jordan cannot be an occupier because the Jordanians are Arabs in their own land, and not European Ashkenazi Jews.

El-Khazen, of course, is the only liar here. The EJC correctly stated that during the Oslo process the status of the territories should not be unilaterally changed. Jordan was of course an occupier of the West Bank, and the idea that Arabs cannot occupy other Arab territory is a rule that Khazen just made up.

Khazen is a known entity, having spouted antisemitism for years in the pages of Al Hayat. But this article shows not only that he has no idea what he is talking about, but he tries to make up in stridency what he lacks in basic knowledge of history and religion.

What is sad is that there are apparently no Arabs in the world who are willing to call him on his idiocy, because while they might know he is an inveterate liar, his lies are politically correct in that universe. Instead of being disparaged as the joke he is, el-Khazen maintains a large readership and respect within the bubble of anti-intellectualism that is the Arab world, and no newspaper would dare contradict him by saying, for example, that there really was a Temple in Jerusalem.

That inability for Arabs to even consider thinking critically when Israel is involved is the real issue here. And that problem shows no sign of being solved any time soon.

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9/18 Links Part 1: IMF Says PA Economy Not Sustainable, Russia and China Dispute UN Report

From Ian:

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Israel removes last significant ban on Gaza imports

An Israeli source told The Times of Israel that 350 trucks carrying building materials will now be allowed to enter the Hamas-controlled territory every week, an increase of 250 truck loads, in a bid “to increase employment and strengthen the private sector in the Gaza Strip.”
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the change in Israeli policy followed talks with the Palestinians “in cooperation with the international community,” and had “no connection” to the peace negotiations underway between the sides.

Palestinian Govt Endangered By Economic and Political Double-Bind

The IMF specifically called on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to cut the wages, pensions, and benefits of public employees.
The recommendation risks trapping the PA in a double-bind, forced to choose between floating the West Bank economy or sustaining the Palestinian government’s political institutions.
Building and sustaining the economy will require, per the IMF report, cuts in employee compensation. But PA government employees are already going on strike – 95% of them walked out this weekend – over insufficient compensation. Further cuts could endanger the viability of the Palestinian government.

Jerusalem police arrest Islamic Movement leaders for allegedly disturbing the peace

Jerusalem policemen were attacked this morning near the Temple Mount in the old city, by Palestinian stone throwers.
Three men were arrested as a result, including the two Islamic Movement leaders, while two policemen were injured after being hit by rocks.

Arab Youths Carrying Molotov Cocktails Arrested at Tapuach Jct

Israeli Border Police have arrested two Arab men at the Tapuach junction after being alerted by suspicious-looking bags the pair were carrying.
The two men, aged 18 and 20, both residents of the Raas el Ayn refugee camp near Shechem, arrived at the checkpoint at the junction on Tuesday afternoon carrying plastic bags.
After border police stationed at the junction approached the two to check the contents of the bags they discovered four Molotov cocktails ready for use.

Terror attack thwarted in West Bank

A terror attack was prevented Wednesday when Israeli security forces in the West Bank caught a Palestinian youth carrying a pistol and knife.
The suspect was arrested by police and Givati soldiers at the Tapuah Junction in the northern West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. He tried reaching for an improvised knife hidden in his belt when security forces grabbed him.

UN Security Council faces reform calls following inaction on Syria

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Ban said he also endorsed reforming the Security Council, and that "almost all member states are in agreement that the Security Council should be reformed, but how to reform, how to change, the member states have not been able to agree."
"Sadly, the international community has not been able to help the Syrian people enjoy security and peace for the last two-and-a-half years," Ban said.
"The Security Council should be united at this time. The findings [in the UN chemical weapons report] by Dr. Selltröm and his team were indisputable and overwhelming."
Ban did walk back remarks that he made over the weekend in which he accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of crimes against humanity, maintaining that he was not assigning blame for the chemical weapons attacks.

Lebanese MP Echoes Claims Hezbollah Received Chemical Arms

A claim made Monday by Syrian National Coalition member Kamal al-Labwani, that Syria has transferred chemical weapons to Hezbollah, was echoed Tuesday by another politician.
MP Khaled el Daher, a member of Lebanon's Al Mustakbal party, asked the United Nations to send international inspectors to Lebanon, to inspect Hezbollah's weapons stores. He claims that he has “well founded” information, according to which Hezbollah recently received chemical weapons from Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.

UN Envoy: Golan Fighting Could Draw Israel into Syrian War

The Associated Press quoted the envoy, Robert Serry, as having told the Security Council the fighting could "jeopardize the ceasefire" between Israel and Syria that has been in place since 1974, monitored by UN peacekeepers.
Serry said that during "heavy clashes" last Thursday between Syrian troops and the opposition, five artillery shells and one tank shell landed on the Israeli side of the truce line.
He noted that the Israelis did not retaliate.

Syrian defector: I was told to use chemical weapons

In an interview with Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, Brigadier General Zaher Saket, a commander in the military’s 5th division who defected from President Bashar Assad’s army in March, claimed he had been instructed to attack rebels with poison gas on numerous occasions.
“I am a witness and received orders three times to use chemical gas last year,” Saket said.

Syria Hands Russia 'Proof' of Rebel Chemical Weapons Use

A Russian official has claimed to have received evidence of the use of chemical weapons by Syrian rebels, and dismissed a UN report suggesting the Syrian regime used poison gas as unreliable.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also slammed a UN report on an August 21 chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital Damascus, which killed over 1,000 people, as "politicized and one-sided." The report - which concluded that Sarin gas had been used in the attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb - did not explicitly apportion blame for the attack, but western leaders claimed it was proof that the Assad regime was indeed behind the deadly attack.

China: 'UN Report on Syria Not Impartial'

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing that Beijing would have a “serious look” at the report, but did not say whether China thought that government forces were responsible when asked.
“The relevant investigation should be carried out by the U.N. investigation team on an impartial, professional and independent basis,” he said.

MEMRI: In Egypt, Public Campaign Against Obama, U.S.; Calls For Intensified Cooperation With Russia, China

The Egyptian pro-regime and -army press published articles notable in their vilification of President Obama himself – insulting his mother, calling him mentally deficient and his administration "the Adolf Obama Reich," and even going so far as to offer a prayer that he would die in agony. Many articles contended that Obama and his administration supported terror by virtue of their support for the MB; columnists also opposed U.S. intervention in Egypt's internal affairs, and, in response to American threats to cut off aid, argued that Egypt was better off without it.

Egypt Freezes Brotherhood's Assets, Arrests its Spokesman

Among those facing sanctions are Brotherhood general guide Mohammad Badie, his two deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi, as well as Salafist leader Hazem Abu Ismail and preacher Safwat Higazy, reported AFP.
Since August, Egypt's authorities have rounded up dozens of senior leaders of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, including Badie, who was caught in a building in Cairo’s Nasr City district near Rabaa El-Adaweya.
Last week, authorities began investigating former President Mohammed Morsi’s family wealth and assets, reported Al Arabiya.

Analysis: Following US-Russian agreement, Iran will aim for a deal of its own

Meanwhile, Iran’s new nuclear energy chief has pledged increased cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency ahead of upcoming talks later this month.
Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that he believes in “heroic flexibility,” according to a report by the Iranian Fars News Agency on Tuesday.
“I agree with the issue that I called ‘heroic flexibility’ some years ago, since this move is highly good and necessary on certain occasions, but with commitment to one main condition,” he said. Khamenei added, “A technical wrestler also shows flexibility for technical reasons sometimes, but he would never forget who his rival is and what his main goal is.”
So it seems “tactical flexibility” means to serve the strategic goal of achieving nuclear weapons

Iran Denies Willingness to Make Nuclear Concession, Nixes Possibility of “Fresh Proposal”

Even if Iran did close Fordo, the country’s stockpile of low- and medium-enriched uranium and the 18,000 centrifuges installed at another enrichment plant near Natanz would allow it to make highly enriched fuel for nuclear weapons, said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.
Yuval Steinitz – Israel’s Minister of Intelligence, International Relations, and Strategic Affairs – explained to Israeli Army Radio that “most of the centrifuges are not there; without Fordo they might be able to produce six, not seven, nuclear bombs.”
Iranian media is flatly denying the details of a Der Spiegel report published yesterday describing Iranian president Hassan Rouhani as ready to decommission the country’s uranium enrichment facility at Fordo in exchange for the West easing economic sanctions.

Startling Revelations From an Iranian Smuggling Case in Hamburg

I rarely attend trials, but this one is special. On July 24, 2013, the main hearing in the case of German businessman Rudolf M. and Iranian-Germans Gholamali K., Kianzad K., and Hamid Kh. opened at Hamburg’s Higher Regional Court. The defendants are charged with exporting 92 German-produced specialized valves for use in Iran’s Arak plutonium reactor and arranging the shipment of 856 nuclear-usable valves from India to Iran in 2010 and 2011.
The reasons why the UN Security Council has ordered Iran to halt the construction of the Arak reactor are compelling. If this nuclear plant comes online in 2014, as the Iranians anticipate, it could produce enough weapons-grade plutonium for two bombs a year. The smuggling of nuclear valves from Germany is therefore of exceptional significance and tops the latest UN list of reported alleged violations of the sanction regime against Iran.
Recently, an important detail of this smuggling operation was revealed on the German public television current affairs program, Fakt: “German officials clearly (knew) about this illegal trade since 2009 and did nothing about it for years.” How so? Did such an explosive shipment really take place before the very eyes of the German security services?

Human Rights Group Urges Facebook to Boycott Iranian Regime

The Israeli organization, which represents victims of terrorism in courtrooms around the world, sent a formal letter to Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, in an attempt to dissuade the multibillion dollar company from violating a U.S. law.
It was recently reported that 15 Iranian government ministers launched a new account on the popular social network even though Facebook is supposedly closed to the citizens of Iran. Ministers have made the new accounts by using proxy servers. The fact that Facebook is an American company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, makes it subject to U.S. laws.

Technical Glitch Momentarily Restores Social Media Access in Iran

A technical glitch briefly restored access to social media sites Twitter and Facebook Monday in Iran.
The social media sites have been blocked since 2009 after they were used to organize protests against the reigning regime.
Iranians reacted with cautious optimism when they realized the sites were accessible.
“If it is true, I think they have to register today in calendar as a day of Free Filtering,” user Abbas Farokhi told BBC Persian.

Thailand Jails Hezbollah Bomb Suspect

A 49 year-old Swedish national has been jailed over an alleged Hezbollah bomb plot in Thailand.
Atris Hussein was arrested in January after Israeli intelligence services tipped off their Thai counterparts over a planned terrorist attack during the New Year.
He was sentenced to four years for "illegal armament possession," but will only have to serve two years and eight months after the prosecution failed to convince judges of his connection to the Hezbollah terrorist group.
Instead, the conviction relates to Hussein's possession of 2,800 kilos (2.8 tons) of ammonium nitrate, which is used in the manufacturing of explosives, and the possession of which is banned in Thailand without a permit - which Hussein did not have.

Part Iran-Owned NYC 5th Avenue Office Tower Worth Up to $700 Million Cleared for Seizure by U.S. Government

A 36-story Manhattan office tower, partially-owned by a shell company controlled by Iran, has been cleared for forfeiture to the U.S. government by a federal judge, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. The building is expected to fetch between $500 million and $700 million, the New York Daily News said.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest made the forfeiture finding in a case first brought by the U.S. government in 2008, ruling that the building is subject to forfeiture because revenue from it was secretly funneled to a state-owned Iranian bank, in violation of a U.S. trade embargo.

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Report: Hamas prevented Gazan students from going to Egypt

From the PA's official WAFA news agency, confirmed by Palestine Press Agency:

Hamas police Wednesday prevented Gaza students seeking to travel to Egypt through Rafah crossing to reach their colleges abroad from leaving the Strip, according to the students.

They said that around 200 students gathered at Rafah crossing after Egypt has decided to open it for a couple of days to allow students and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza.

However, Hamas members attacked the students with clubs and pushed them back with their jeeps to prevent them from leaving Gaza.

Students said that Hamas did this because they coordinated their travel with the Palestinian embassy in Cairo, as requested by the Egyptian authority to facilitate their travel.

The Palestinian embassy in Cairo had asked students who want to leave Gaza to attend colleges abroad to coordinate their travel through it due to the closure of the Rafah crossing since last week following an attack on Egyptian security personnel in Sinai.

Egypt agreed to open the crossing briefly on Wednesday and Thursday for special cases after President Mahmoud Abbas Monday called the head of the Egyptian intelligence, Mohammed Tohami, and requested that Egypt allows students, the sick and humanitarian cases to leave Gaza.

The siege of Gaza by Hamas continues!

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Video of the Temple Mount this morning and musings on leftist racism

This video, from the Al Aqsa Foundation, shows Muslims throwing stones at Israeli soldiers  (starting around 0:45) from inside their "third holiest shrine". The police do nothing at all until they are attacked.

Out of the dozens of videos I've seen made and edited by Arabs on the Temple Mount, I have yet to see a single provocative action by Israeli police or by Jewish visitors to the area. Not once. The violence is invariably started by Muslims.

The good news is that, assuming the scenes in the video are shown in order, that Jews managed to visit the Mount shortly thereafter (1:36) without further incident.




Only an antisemite can view this video and conclude that the Jews are the provocateurs, the violators of the sanctity of the Mount, while the Muslims are reacting normally.

I can't stop thinking about the stupid Guardian article by Giles Frasier I noted yesterday where this supposedly liberal priest, who should be sensitive to freedom of religion, claims that the Jews walking peacefully in the area are the ones who are provoking "unimaginable violence."

Like many European liberals, he is a racist.

To him, violence is expected of Muslims when they don't get 100% of their demands. That's just the way they are. It is genetic, according to the subtext of articles and arguments like that. Enlightened Westerners and Jews are the ones who must modify their behavior to accommodate inherent Muslim insanity.

The idea of denouncing the Muslims is simply unacceptable, for the same reasons one doesn't denounce the mentally handicapped. Because that is how they are.

This racism is not anomalous, but mainstream.

A sane viewing of this video would consider the Israeli police heroes for allowing  Jews to visit their holiest spot unmolested, for consistently trying to uphold their freedoms and for not giving in to Muslim blackmail and threats of violence. This is the proper response - and it works.

Is there are real difference between Jews wanting to assert their right to visit and pray at their holiest site, and blacks in the 1960s wanting to assert their right to go to formerly segregated schools? In both cases law enforcement must help assure that no harm comes to them and that the rioters do not gain a victory by succeeding in their own racist agendas. Yet Giles Fraser identifies with, and supports, the Muslim rioters - not out of conviction, but simply because he thinks it's the most expeditious way to mute Islamist hate. And he is exactly wrong.

This leftist racism is not only morally wrong, but it also encourages Muslims to continue to act like spoiled children. Without the world denouncing unprovoked Muslim violence, without any consequences, the Muslims who riot and those who incite them to violence have no incentive to change. On the contrary, accidental racists like Fraser are giving Muslims carte blanche to continue to riot at the slightest discomfort. The fruits of this mindset can be seen in European cities as well as in Jerusalem.

One day, when they are on the receiving end of a hail of rocks from their Muslim neighbors that they pretend to be defending, maybe some of these leftist racists will see the light.

Others will just keep on blaming Jews and the "settler mentality" for all the problems.

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Now the Jews are "tampering with roofs." Will the depravity never end?

From Jordan Times:

Jordan on Tuesday sent a letter to the Israeli government voicing its condemnation of the recent seizure of shop rooftops in Jerusalem by a company developing the Old City.

In the letter, delivered through Israeli ambassador in Jordan, the Kingdom requested the Israeli government to “take all the necessary measures to prevent the tampering of Islamic waqfs [religious endowment] in Jerusalem”, according to Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani.

He added that Jordan also demanded the Israeli side to prevent the company in question and other similar entities, including the Israeli municipality, from making any changes to Jerusalem’s Old City that would alter its Arab and Islamic identity, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Momani noted that the letter deemed any Israeli attempt to tamper with any Islamic sites in Jerusalem as “an infringement against Article 9 of the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty”, Petra said.

The Jordanian government received a tip that the Jerusalem Development Company had notified Jerusalem traders on the need to “renovate their shops’ roofs” in preparation for a huge project the company is planning to establish on these roofs, according to Petra.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with sending a memo to the Israeli government, expressing the Kingdom’s position and reminding the Israeli side of its international obligations.

Now, I have no idea what sort of development can be done on top of Arab roofs, although I do know that the Jewish Quarter in the Old City extends directly above the Arab souk.

Did Israel agree not to let any Jews develop parts of the Old City in its peace treaty with Jordan?

Let's look at Article 9, as seen on the Jordanian King Hussein website:

Article 9 - Places of Historical and Religious Significance and Interfaith Relations
1. Each Party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.
2. In this regard, in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.
3. The Parties will act together to promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, with the aim of working towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace.

There is nothing there about rooftops or about non-religious buildings in Jerusalem.

It sounds like Jordan is claiming that practically all Arab areas of the Old City are part of the Islamic Waqf, and therefore are holy. But that's not the definition of "holy places" - if it was, then every square centimeter of the Old City is considered a Jewish holy place far more than an Islamic holy place.

Essentially, Israel's peace partner Jordan is trying to twist their agreement to stop Israel from doing anything at all in Jerusalem.

But maybe the Jews want the roofs, to, you know...

(h/t IranAware)

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Jesus and international law

From Irene, who recently gave us a brilliant letter to Catherine Ashton, here is another:

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His Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Città del Vaticano

Your Holiness:

Because we met some years ago when my Mercedes broke down in Assisi while you were visiting on pilgrimage, I feel emboldened to write directly to you. You may recall that I had just left my position as tenured Professor of Sharia Law and Bioethics at King Abdulaziz University Law School in Riyadh to become Senior Advisor in International Law for the European Union.

It was in the course of preparing a detailed analysis of the many legal issues related to the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, that it came to my attention that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ would be a grave violation of international law.

Although no mortal can truly foresee the time, the place, or the nature of the Second Coming, the sophisticated algorithms of modern prediction modeling software indicate that the Second Coming, like the First Coming, will be far more complex than the simple blaze of glory that some predict. Christ will most likely return to the places where He lived, worked, and preached, i.e., East Jerusalem and the West Bank (which was called Judea and Samaria until Abdullah, first king of the judenrein nation of Jordan, changed its name).

As you may recall, Abdullah successfully cleansed all Jews from those areas during the 1947-1949 Palestinian Arab and Arab League War, which attempted to annihilate the new state of Israel and expel any Jews not yet dead when the fighting stopped. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha, clarified Arab intent: "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre that will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades."

Ever since 1967, when Jews returned to live in the places from which they had been driven, such as Hebron, international law has strenuously prohibited Jews from living in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

With respect to the rule of international law, Hebron is especially significant because that is where Arabs massacred the Jews in 1929. As you know, The Book of Genesis records Abraham’s purchase of land in Hebron and the subsequent burial there of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as their wives Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. Hebron is where David was anointed King, and it served as his capital until he relocated to East Jerusalem.

If the Prince of Peace returned to Jacob’s well in the West Bank and asked a Samaritan woman to draw water for him, this would constitute Jewish theft of Palestinian water, an international felony. Such action by Jesus would interfere disastrously with the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. Even Pax Christi, the international Catholic peace movement, is opposed to the presence of Jews in the land on which Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior, walked.

Jesus will surely attempt to return to Jerusalem’s oldest neighborhoods and to Temple Mount, where He last preached. If He retraced His footsteps on East Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa, this would be an impediment to world peace, as well as an affront to Palestinian sovereignty. In addition, it would violate the 1907 Hague Convention respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, numerous United Nations resolutions, and the fourth Geneva Convention.

Your Holiness, this calls for the same kind of religious courage and international acumen that you exhibited this May when you canonized the Martyrs of Otranto, the 800 Christians slaughtered in 1480 by Ottoman Turks, while remaining silent on the plight of Christians in Turkish occupied Northern Cyprus.

I look forward to your encyclical exhorting the faithful to pray for a postponement of the Second Coming, as least until the European Union and the United Nations have ethnically cleansed the area and Hamas has established sharia law.

I have the honor to profess myself with the most profound respect, your Holiness' most obedient and humble servant.

Yours profoundly,

حسین بن علی
Hussein bin Ali, GCB
Senior Advisor in International Human Rights Law for the European Union

cc: Lady Catherine Ashton

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