Long lost 1913 film of Jews in Israel restored (updated)

Haaretz reports:

For 80 years, the movie “The Life of the Jews in the Land of Israel: 1913” was thought to be lost. The film, shot in prestate Israel in 1913, disappeared during World War I. In 1975, a copy was found in a private collection in the United States. However, when the cases were opened, it transpired that the film reels had disintegrated.

For years, Yaakov Gross – a documentary film director and researcher of Israeli films – searched for the missing film, but was left with a feeling of disappointment. Nevertheless, he never stopped believing that another copy would some day be found, “a copy that would shed light on the mystery of the lost film,” he said.

In 1997 his dream came true, and a copy was found in the archives of the French National Center of Cinematography (CNC). Four boxes containing 170 reels were found in the archives of the CNC, an agency of the French Ministry of Culture. But there were no identifying marks or documentation for the films.

Gross was called in to aid with identifying the films. Armed with the program of the movie from 1913, which he had found in the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, he immediately understood that the missing movie had been found.

Now, on the centenary of the making of the movie, the Israel Film Archive at the Jerusalem Cinematheque has produced a digital version of the original using today’s most advanced technology, improving the quality of the soundtrack and images. The completely restored film will be screened next week as part of the 15th Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival (on Tuesday December 3 at 6 P.M.).

Here is film of the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel:   UPDATE: Here is an hour of it (h/t Bob Knot):

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Here's another word missing from the Iran nuclear deal: Parchin

Yes, Parchin.

As Reuters reported some 18 months ago:

Six world powers demanded Iran keep its promise to let international inspectors visit a military installation where the U.N. nuclear watchdog believes explosives tests geared to developing atomic bombs may have taken place.

The joint call was an unusual show of unity among the powers on Iran before a planned revival of high-level talks as well as widening disquiet about the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions, with Israel threatening last-ditch military action.

Heaping pressure on Iran to come clean, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany used a U.N. nuclear watchdog governors' meeting on Thursday to urge Tehran to grant prompt access to its Parchin military facility.

They voiced concern that no deal was reached between Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors at talks in January and February, "including on the access to relevant sites in Iran, requested by the agency ... We urge Iran to fulfil its undertaking to grant access to Parchin."

The message was reinforced by a remarkably blunt statement from IAEA director Yukiya Amano accusing Tehran of seeking to "tie our hands" and restrict inspectors during their last two rounds of meetings.

His deputy Herman Nackaerts told Thursday's closed session of the IAEA board of governors session, according to one participant: "Due to major differences between Iran and the agency, agreement could not be reached."

Nackaerts, the IAEA's chief safeguards inspector, said it had information from satellite pictures showing "the precise location where we believe an explosive chamber is situated".

The word "Parchin" is not mentioned at all in the actual published deal.

As bad as we already know the deal to be, it is astonishing that the US-led alliance did not consider inspections at Parchin to be of paramount importance. Remember, Parchin is where evidence of a weaponization program was clearly being actively hidden by Iran, even to the point that they built large pink tarps to cover the complex to stymie satellite intel.

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Simple explanation of what's wrong with the Iranian nuclear deal

The full text of the nuclear deal has been published. The best description I could find of why it is a disaster comes from former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton:

This interim agreement is badly skewed from America’s perspective. Iran retains its full capacity to enrich uranium, thus abandoning a decade of Western insistence and Security Council resolutions that Iran stop all uranium-enrichment activities. Allowing Iran to continue enriching, and despite modest (indeed, utterly inadequate) measures to prevent it from increasing its enriched-uranium stockpiles and its overall nuclear infrastructure, lays the predicate for Iran fully enjoying its “right” to enrichment in any “final” agreement. Indeed, the interim agreement itself acknowledges that a “comprehensive solution” will “involve a mutually defined enrichment program.” This is not, as the Obama administration leaked before the deal became public, a “compromise” on Iran’s claimed “right” to enrichment. This is abject surrender by the United States.

Indeed, that's what the agreement says:

This comprehensive solution would involve a mutually defined enrichment program with practical limits and transparency measures to ensure the peaceful nature of the program.

It is hard to interpret this as anything other than the "right to enrich," something that Kerry strenuously denied last night. In this specific example, Iran clearly won.

Bolton goes on:

In exchange for superficial concessions, Iran achieved three critical breakthroughs.

First, it bought time to continue all aspects of its nuclear-weapons program the agreement does not cover (centrifuge manufacturing and testing; weaponization research and fabrication; and its entire ballistic missile program). Indeed, given that the interim agreement contemplates periodic renewals, Iran may have gained all of the time it needs to achieve weaponization not of simply a handful of nuclear weapons, but of dozens or more.

Second, Iran has gained legitimacy. This central banker of international terrorism and flagrant nuclear proliferator is once again part of the international club. Much as the Syria chemical-weapons agreement buttressed Bashar al-Assad, the mullahs have escaped the political deep freezer.

Third, Iran has broken the psychological momentum and effect of the international economic sanctions. While estimates differ on Iran’s precise gain, it is considerable ($7 billion is the lowest estimate), and presages much more. Tehran correctly assessed that a mere six-months’ easing of sanctions will make it extraordinarily hard for the West to reverse direction, even faced with systematic violations of Iran’s nuclear pledges. Major oil-importing countries (China, India, South Korea, and others) were already chafing under U.S. sanctions, sensing President Obama had no stomach either to impose sanctions on them, or pay the domestic political price of granting further waivers.

Even if you disagree with Bolton's politics, all three points seem incontrovertible.

He continues:

[T]he deal leaves the basic strategic realities unchanged. Iran’s nuclear program was, from its inception, a weapons program, and it remains one today. Even modest constraints, easily and rapidly reversible, do not change that fundamental political and operational reality. And while some already-known aspects of Iran’s nuclear program are returned to enhanced scrutiny, the undeclared and likely unknown military work will continue to expand, thus recalling the drunk looking for his lost car keys under the street lamp because of the better lighting.

Moreover, the international climate of opinion against a strike will only harden during the next six months. Capitalizing on the deal, Iran’s best strategy is to accelerate the apparent pace of rapprochement with the all-too-eager West. The further and faster Iran can move, still making only superficial, easily reversible concessions in exchange for dismantling the sanctions regime, the greater the international pressure against Israel using military force. Iran will not suddenly, Ahmadinejad-style, openly defy Washington or Jerusalem and trumpet cheating and violations. Instead, Tehran will go to extraordinary lengths to conceal its activities, working for example in new or unknown facilities and with North Korea, or shaving its compliance around the edges. The more time that passes, the harder it will be for Israel to deliver a blow that substantially retards the Iranian program.

(h/t Lauri)

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PA TV hostess expresses her "respect and love" for Sbarro's suicide bomber

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Palestinian Authority TV recently interviewed released terrorist Qahira Al-Sa'adi, who drove a suicide bomber to an attack that killed 3 and injured 80 in Jerusalem on March 21, 2002. During the interview, the host chose to send greetings to another terrorist, Ahlam Tamimi, who led a suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem on August 9, 2001. 15 people were murdered in the attack, 7 of them children, and 130 were injured.

Apparently finding something in common with terrorist Ahlam Tamimi who studied journalism, the PA TV host expressed how Tamimi's choice to study and work in the field of media "increases the respect and love I feel for her":

PA TV host: "We send greetings to the released female prisoner Ahlam Tamimi and to all the female prisoners who were released. I focus here on Ahlam because Ahlam chose a way that increases the respect and love I feel for her. I send greetings to you, dear Ahlam, and to your husband Nizar. Ahlam chose the way of media (i.e., as a journalist), and now hosts a program for prisoners."

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11/24 Links: BDS is just the same old, same old hate, IDF restores eyesight to blind Filipinos

From Ian:

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BDS is just the same old, same old hate

The BDS movement is particularly strong on campuses in part because of the support from anti-Israel faculty and outside groups that target campuses.
This video explains how it’s nothing new.
The speaker is Chloé Simone Valdary promoting the Declare Your Freedom festival in New Orleans next year (h/t HenMassig):

These days, Israel is often mocked and ridiculed on school campuses. From Israel Apartheid Week to the ever popular BDS movement, the university has not historically been a pro-Israel environment. However we’re working to change that! We spend the entire year fighting slander, writing publications, and holding events, and this Spring will be the LARGEST event of the school year, put together by the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, and McNese State! It will illustrate our strength, solidarity, and perseverance as supporters of Israel.

Pro-Israel Festival in New Orleans this Spring.


Breaking the Silence: Group’s message emboldens enemies, delegitimizes Israel

NGO Monitor’s detailed analysis of the book shows that Breaking the Silence tailored the anecdotal and unverifiable accounts of low-ranking soldiers to fit a predetermined conclusion that Israeli policy is the “intimidation, instilling of fear, and indiscriminate punishment of the Palestinian population.” In fact, many testimonies contradict this harsh claim, explicitly noting that incidents of individual misconduct were opposed and punished by officers.
Audiences, then, are hearing personal political perspectives on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and not the unfiltered words of ordinary Israelis.

British university heads back Islamists in pro-segregation scandal

Outrage is sweeping across Britain’s higher education sector after it emerged yesterday that Universities UK (UUK), an organisation constructed of university vice chancellors from around the country, has caved to Islamist demands to encourage gender segregation of events on university campuses.
Against the backdrop of a wave of segregation cases on university campuses, wherein women are forced to sit separately or even in different rooms to men, the group of academics has stated that segregation is acceptable as long as men and women are seated side by side and one party is not at a disadvantage. The news has shocked anti-extremism campaigners, as well as those who believe in Western liberal values.

Brandeis president ‘reaches out’ to al-Quds counterpart in row over Jihad rally

In a statement, Lawrence said Nusseibeh had “made a number of remarks and serious accusations to the media that have not been conveyed to me personally or through my staff. I am reaching out to President Nusseibeh today and hope that he will be open to that discussion.” (h/t Bob Knot)

Incitement: The oxygen keeping the conflict alive

With such ferocious hatred being disseminated by the PA, it is little wonder that Palestinians find it hard to see an end to this conflict. Incitement is the oxygen keeping the conflict alive.
By demonising Jews and Israelis and portraying them as killers, thieves and liars, Abbas is entrenching a mindset of war among his people.
Equally, by failing to demand an end to incitement, Obama is ensuring that these peace talks, like the others, end in failure.

Iran nuclear agreement a ‘historic mistake,’ Netanyahu says

“What was accomplished last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement; it’s a historic mistake,” Netanyahu said at the start of Sunday morning’s weekly cabinet meeting. “Today the world has become much more dangerous, because the most dangerous regime in the world took a meaningful step toward acquiring the most dangerous weapon in the world.”

Israeli Ministers Line Up to Lambast Iran Nuclear Deal; Choice Was Between ‘Plague and Cholera’ Says Lapid

In an interview on Israel Defense Forces radio, Israel’s Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, widely believed to be the second most influential politician in the country, sounded a bitter tone.
“We had a choice here between the plague and cholera. We were left alone explaining the truth, and all of our options were bad,” he said. “I don’t understand how the French Foreign Minister can call an agreement that doesn’t involve the dismantling of one centrifuge a ‘victory.’ I can’t understand the world’s failure to notice the nineteen thousand Iranian centrifuges.”

Trumpeting deal, Iranians say agreement stymies ‘Zionist plot’

The agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, represented “a big success for Iran” and an indication that “all plots hatched by the Zionist regime to stop the nuclear agreement have failed,” according to a report from state-sponsored Islamic Republic News Agency.

MEMRI VIDEO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani: Iran's Enrichment Activities Will Proceed Similar to the Past
The art of hiding nuclear enrichment facilities

Foreign intelligence would thus prefer to keep mum on its knowledge of an attempted hidden facility, so as not to induce the country in question to increase its on-site defensive capabilities or construct another hidden facility.
Both proliferators and external intelligence organizations are faced with several dilemmas. For a proliferator, the most important ones would be to decide where the facility should be located and what defensive measures should be implemented (if any).
For external intelligence agencies, the main problem would be how to use their limited assets in the most efficient way.

Iran announces plan to build two more nuclear power plants

Iran is expected to build two new nuclear power plants in the near future, an Iranian official said Saturday.
“The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has put construction of the second and third [nuclear] power stations on its agenda due to the government’s programs and the emphasis laid by… President [Hassan Rouhani],” AEOI Deputy Chief Hossein Khalfi said, according to the Fars News Agency.

Saudi Arabia: We Won't 'Sit Idly By' if West Fails with Iran

Ambassador Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, who was speaking to the British Times, called the Obama administration’s “rush” to embrace Tehran “incomprehensible.”
“We are not going to sit idly by and receive a threat there and not think seriously how we can best defend our country and our region,” Prince Mohammed, who is Saudi King Abdullah’s nephew, said.

Region will lose sleep over Iran deal -Saudi adviser

"The government of Iran, month after month, has proven that it has an ugly agenda in the region, and in this regard no one in the region will sleep and assume things are going smoothly," Askar said.
In the hours before Sunday's deal was sealed, Gulf Arab leaders, including Saudi King Abdullah and the rulers of Qatar and Kuwait, met late on Saturday night to discuss "issues of interest to the three nations".

Al-Hayat Editor: We Are In The Midst Of A Regional Sectarian War That Threatens The National Cohesion Of Countries Near And Far, Especially Lebanon

In a November 20 article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, the daily's editor, the Lebanese Ghassan Charbel, wrote that the war in Syria poses a horrific threat to the entire Middle East, since it has sparked a region-wide sectarian war in which Sunnis and Shi'ites travel to Syria from other countries in order to fight each other there. This, he says, has virtually eliminated the boundaries between countries and shattered their internal cohesion, creating a conflagration of unprecedented severity that cannot be controlled or contained.

Palestinian identified as 2nd Iran embassy bomber in Beirut

Lebanese authorities identified the second man involved in the deadly attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut on Tuesday which killed 23 people as a Palestinian with ties to a fugitive Lebanese cleric, Reuters reported Saturday.

‘Father of Suicide Bombing’ Reportedly Injured in Iran Suicide Bomb

In a he-had-it-coming-to-him-moment, the self-proclaimed father of suicide bombing appears to have been injured on Tuesday in Beirut, where the Iranian embassy was targeted by an Al-Qaeda faction, The Times of London reported. 23 people were killed in the attack, including an Iranian diplomat, and 140 were injured.
The Times said 67-year-old cleric Issa Tabatabai is a close ally of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a key go-between for Iran and its Lebanese proxy militia, Hezbollah. It cited website Ayandeh as reporting that the cleric’s wife and daughter were also wounded, and that all three were in hospital in Beirut.

Lebanese Army Defuses 250-Pound Car Bomb, Averting Major Terror Attack

The Lebanese army prevented another massive bomb attack Friday, diffusing a 250-pound car bomb just three days after twin suicide bombings targeting the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed 25 people.
The incident took place in the Bekaa Valley, a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization. The official National News Agency reported that the bomb was meant for Beirut.

Jordan’s king and the Islamists: In one boat?

In a congressional hearing, US Senator Lindsey Graham said Jordan’s king had told him he “did not think he would be in power within a year from now” because of the crisis in Syria. To which US Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey responded: “Yes, that is basically his fear.”
The weekly anti-regime protests in Jordan have almost stopped; this has been celebrated by some of the pro-king journalists in the West. Nonetheless, they have celebrated too early, because Jordanians have switched from peaceful protesting to violence.

Turkey Gives Seized Media to Erdogan Ally

Last spring, as President Obama stood beside his good friend Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House Rose Garden, Turkish officials were raiding the media assets of the Çukurova Group, one of the last business conglomerates whose media outlets maintained an independent rather than hagiographic take on Turkey’s prime minister. Obama, of course, was silent. Not only did Obama not speak up in defense of media freedom, but he chose Sabah, a once-independent paper seized by Erdogan’s administration and transferred to Erdogan’s son-in-law for an op-ed about Obama’s love for Turkey.

Israeli agritech IPO could be first of a controversial wave

The Evogene IPO could have an a major impact on these and other agritech start-ups, said Kardish. “Evogene is such a great example of Israeli ‘Ag Valley,’ our agricultural version of ‘Silicon Valley.’ Evogene started out as a small company with a combination of plant genetics science and hi-tech software, and now it is providing cutting edge solutions for all the big industry players worldwide. Although GMO is considered a controversial topic, I believe that to feed the growing population we’ll have to use methods that increase crop productivity, and this is what GM eventually does,” Kardish said.

Israeli delegation restores eyesight of blind Philippines residents

The Israeli medical delegation to the Philippines has managed to restore the eyesight of four residents of the Philippines, aged 40 to 74, who were blind as a result of pterygia – growths in the eyes, associated with ultraviolet-light exposure, low humidity and dust.
The patients suffered from pterygia before Typhoon Haiyan hit the islands. "Many locals had this disease, but those who are poor couldn't afford surgery," Lt.-Col Dr. Erez Tsumi told Ynet.

IDF treats 2,000th patient in the Philippines

Another baby was named for the Israeli doctors over the weekend. Louis, the head of security in Cebu, named his daughter Shai, after IDF Military Attaché to the Philippines Col. Shai Brovender. Baby Shai was born in the IDF field hospital.
The Israeli doctors and nursing staff have been treating all Philippine patients wanting to see a doctor – whether they were affected by Typhoon Haiyan or not. For many, this was the first medical care they ever received.

Duluth nurse joins Israelis to offer aid to Filipinos recovering from typhoon

The IDF has essentially turned a developing world, rural hospital into a fairly modern-day medical facility in just 48 hours, all in the context of a major disaster. They have integrated electronic records, ultrasound, digital X-ray, a fairly sophisticated laboratory, an active surgery suite and incredible medical staff with varying specialty backgrounds. I’ve been mainly working with the orthopedic specialists and surgeons. We have been treating a lot of septic wounds, fractures and fresh wounds from falls, motorcycle crashes and — particularly — soft-tissue wounds sustained in the process of the local residents’ cleanup efforts; machetes, axes, things falling, the list goes on.

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Turkey, Egypt expel each others' ambassadors

From BBC:

Egypt has told the Turkish ambassador to leave the country, a day after the Turkish leader called for ousted President Mohammed Morsi to be freed.

Relations with Ankara would be lowered to charge d'affaires, officials said.

On Friday, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his criticism of the July overthrow of Mr Morsi and urged the Egyptian authorities to free him.

Egypt's foreign ministry accused Mr Erdogan of provocation and interfering in Egypt's internal affairs.

From DW:

Egypt's decision on Saturday to downgrade relations with Turkey and expel the country's ambassador, Hussein Awni Botsala, from Cairo led to an escalation in diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.

Tensions have mounted since the summer, after a military coup ousted the Islamist Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (left in picture), of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and his Justice and Development party have quite vocally protested.

"[Turkey's] leadership has persisted in its unacceptable and unjustified positions by trying to turn the international community against Egyptian interests and ... by making statements that can only be described as an offense to the popular will," the Foreign Ministry said.

Turkey then expelled Egypt's ambassador, who had not resided in Ankara since August. The decisions represent a dramatic reversal of the relations between the two countries, which had warmed over the past year. Both countries will remain represented in each other's capitals by embassies headed by a charge d'affaires, effectively the second in command.

If self-avowed Middle East experts are right, then in no time Sisi will send Erdogan a bouquet of flowers, because that's how things work there.

(h/t Yoel)

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Ukrainian game show is source for latest anti-Israel blood libel. Really. (updated)

From Ma'an:

An Israeli soldier admitted that she shot and killed unknown numbers of Palestinian people, including children, on a Ukrainian television program that aired in early November.

Elena Zakusilo, a Ukrainian Jewish woman who moved to Israel in order to serve in the Israeli army, revealed on the Nov. 4 episode of the program "Lie Detector" that she had killed Palestinians and had shot at Palestinian children, but was unsure how many she managed to kill.

Zakusilo, who goes by the name Elena Gluzman in Israel, also explained that she trained army dogs to raid Palestinian villages and conduct video surveillance that she monitored from up to 10 kilometers away.

Zakusilo said on the show that one of the times when she shot Palestinians was during protests that broke out after Yasser Arafat died in 2004.

"It's scary, especially when children run with Molotov cocktails, and they send children, to turn the attention to them, little kid, barely walking, 3-4 years old," she added, explaining that she was unsure how many Palestinian children she had shot dead.

Although Zakusilo said was "not proud" of these acts, she blamed Palestinian mothers for sending their children to be "suicide bombers" and suggested that they did not care about their children's lives.

Zakusilo also spoke about her work training dogs for reconnaissance missions into Palestinian villages, which involved placing headphones and cameras on them and directing them to attack Palestinians they encountered until soldiers could arrive.

"The doggy gets a little bag in teeth, it can be a video camera."

"It has an electronic collar, and a camera that hangs on the collar, and the trainer has the remote control, and he, from a distance up to ten kilometers, can watch and give orders to the dog, to attack or not attack," she added.

Zakusilo explained that she was a "senior trainer" and trained a total of 150 dogs, and for her work she was promoted to the rank of major.

Zakusilo's mother was also present during the show's filming, and when asked if she knew her daughter had killed people, said, "Of course, how can you be in the military without (killing)."

Zakusilo responded in the affirmative when asked by the game show host if she was "willing to go back to Israel and continue killing enemies" if she had financial difficulties in Ukraine, and said that she was unafraid of potential repercussions for revealing what she had done while in the Israeli forces.

She also explained that she goes by the name of Gluzman in Israel, "so that they won't hear there our Ukrainian family name, and with the other name (Gluzman), with Jewish roots, they'd treat (me) differently."

Zakusilo added that while at first she hesitated to kill people, she came to see her fellow soldiers as "family," and they helped her come to terms with killing Palestinian children and other feelings she had.

Referring to her commander, she said, "He is a general, he tells you to go and shoot like this, so you go. But if you come to him and say, just for example, you know, I was walking down the road, and there was a kitten there, ran over by a car, or a person hit, and I feel bad."

"He will sit with you for an hour to talk, and try to understand why you feel bad."

So a person on a game show - a game show that encourages people to try to beat a lie detector - is the latest source for supposed Israeli atrocities.

Her story about her supposed IDF service was peripheral to the point of the show; she was saying to her mother than she'd rather kill children than live with her, which is why she says she went to Israel as a lone soldier. She also claims she was abused both by her mother and by her schoolmates. She does not sound like a very reliable source. (On the show, she passed the lie detector test, but people who believe their own lies would pass easily.)

The IDF investigates every killing, in great detail, especially children. But Zakusilo says she has no idea how many children or adults she killed. She says she only would speak about her troubles to her superior - a general! - and he would calm her down about a dead kitten!

There have been extraordinarily few killings by women in combat in the IDF.

On the day that Arafat died, exactly one Palestinian Arab was killed during riots, and it was not a child. (Two more were killed in Gaza during a house raid.) None were killed the day after nor the day after that.

I have never heard of IDF dogs being "controlled" by remote control from ten miles away without any soldiers around, and a quick search came up empty, even though this is supposedly a 10-year old technology. I also find it highly unlikely that a woman whose specialty is training dogs would also be thrown into a live fire situation with rioters, let alone be responsible for multiple deaths.

The Israelis I asked about this say it is not even close to being plausible. Russian language social media in Israel are also extremely skeptical about these claims.

But none of that matters to the Israel-haters, who will believe anything as long as it fits their preconceived notions of evil bloodthirsty Israeli soldiers who enjoy aiming at children.

UPDATE: The IDF says she is full of it.

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John Kerry praises Iran and insults US allies as warmongers (updated)

Here are excerpts from John Kerry's speech last night defending the easing of sanctions against Iran:



Don't you feel safer now?


UPDATE: Here are PM Netanyahu's remarks (English closed captioning)

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The peerless cluelessness of Thomas Friedman

A reader who commented on my Thomas Friedman article last week at The Algemeiner pointed me to a stupefyingly ludricous passage in Friedman's celebrated book, "From Beirut to Jerusalem," pp 126-127:

Ariel Sharon never sent Yasir Arafat flowers.

Whatever one thinks of the former Israeli general and Defense Minister, Sharon did not play games with his enemies. He killed them. After a few years in Beirut, I came to understand a little why the Jews had a state and the Palestinians didn't. The European Jews who built Israel came out of a culture of sharp edges and right angles. They were cold, hard men who always understood the difference between success and failure, and between words and deeds. Because the Jews were always a nation apart, they developed their own autonomous institutions and had to rely on their own deep tribal sense of solidarity. This gave them a certain single-mindedness of purpose. They would never settle for a substitute homeland; life for them was not just another Mediterranean life cycle or fatalistic shrug.

The single-mindedness of the European Zionists also had a certain ruthless aspect to it. They emerged from ghettos in which they were never invited by the outside world to drink coffee. They were never part of a Middle Eastern kaleidoscope, like Lebanon, where today's enemy could be tomorrow's friend. For the Jews coming out of Europe, today's enemy was tomorrow's enemy. The world was divided into two: the Jews and the goyim, or Gentiles. The Arabs, for the Zionists, fell into two subsets of goyim—agents and enemies. Agents you ordered and enemies you killed.

The rhythm of life in the Arab world was always different. Men in Arab societies always tended to bend more; life there always moved in ambiguous semicircles, never right angles. The religious symbols of the West are the cross and the Jewish star—both of which are full of sharp, angled turns. The symbol of the Muslim East is the crescent moon—a wide, soft, ambiguous arc. In Arab society there was always some way to cushion failure with rhetoric and enable the worst of enemies to sit down and have coffee together, maybe even send each other bouquets.

This passage is incomprehensibly idiotic on so many levels. Besides the obvious - do I really have to point out how inane his point about religious symbols is? -  Friedman is generalizing his experiences in relatively cosmopolitan and liberal Beirut to the Arab world as a whole.

Sure, Arabs love to have coffee - but the idea that this means they accept compromise with Jews is the exact inversion of the truth.

No one represents Friedman's disgusting characterization of bigoted, menacing, trigger-happy European Jews more than Menachem Begin. You know - the person who traded territory that was double the size of Israel itself for a piece of paper.

The real Arab world is a place where antisemitism is mainstream and where rejectionism of Israel  is absolute even in countries that have "peace treaties" with Israel. It is the Arabs who have announced boycotts of Jews since the 1920s, Arabs who stated the "three no's" of Khartoum, Arabs who accuse even Hamas terrorists of being too pro-Israel.

Even in Friedman's wonderful, tolerant Beirut, we see absolute rejection of anything that tastes remotely Zionist.

It is the Arabs who utterly reject normalization with Israel, and those hardheaded European Jews who want to be accepted in the Middle East. (The Jews from the Arab world tend to be more hawkish, because they understand the mentality of the Arabs a lot better than Friedman does.)

Oh, I think its also a fair bet that moderate, compromising Arafat never sent Ariel Sharon flowers either.

How can anyone take Friedman seriously after reading trash like this?

(h/t Gary)

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Iranian nuclear deal reached, not many details yet, but looks bad (UPDATE: US factsheet)

From CNN:

A historic deal was struck early Sunday between Iran and six world powers over Tehran's nuclear program, a first step in ending a decades-long standoff over the country's nuclear intentions.

The agreement was expected to be signed within hours, capping days of marathon talks in which diplomats worked to overcome issues surrounding the wording of an initial agreement that reportedly would temporarily freeze Iran's nuclear development program and lift some sanctions while a more formal deal is worked out.

According to a senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the deal halts Tehran's nuclear program, including halting the development at the Arak reactor and requiring all of the uranium enriched to 20 percent -- close to weapons-grade -- to be diluted so it cannot be converted for military purposes.

But there were conflicting reports about whether Iran's right to enrich uranium had been recognized.

The senior administration official said the deal does not recognize the right, while Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi -- on a Twitter feed commonly attributed to him by Iranian media -- said that "our enrichment program was recognized."

"Congratulation to my nation which stood tall and resisted for the last 10 years," Araghchi said in the post.

Iranian media imply that they made practically no concessions:

The interim deal allows for Iran to continue its activities in its nuclear sites in the cities of Arak, Fordo, and Natanz.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the agreement also stipulates that no additional sanctions will be imposed on Iran because of its nuclear energy program.

Iran will also receive access to USD 4.2 billion in foreign exchange as part of the nuclear deal.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, said the agreement recognizes the country's "enrichment program."

Araqchi had earlier emphasized that Tehran could not accept any deal that did not recognize Iran's enrichment right.

Farsi media are saying that some specific sanctions on oil, gold and other precious metals are being eased.

Early indications make this sound like a joke. The problem with reducing sanctions is that they are not easily reversible, while Iran's promise to only enrich to 3.5% is easily reversible.

The key is enrichment (plus the Arak reactor, which could be used to make plutonium.) And from the initial reports, the West received very little in the way of concessions.

As expected, it appears that the language is vague enough that Iran can claim that they have a "right" to enrich uranium, while the US can claim there is no such right - all the while allowing Iran to build more centrifuges.

It looks like Iran won because the West does not have the backbone to stick to its principles.

UPDATE: Here's the US version from a factsheet released by the White House:

Iran has committed to halt enrichment above 5%:

· Halt all enrichment above 5% and dismantle the technical connections required to enrich above 5%.

Iran has committed to neutralize its stockpile of near-20% uranium:

· Dilute below 5% or convert to a form not suitable for further enrichment its entire stockpile of near-20% enriched uranium before the end of the initial phase.

Iran has committed to halt progress on its enrichment capacity:

· Not install additional centrifuges of any type.

· Not install or use any next-generation centrifuges to enrich uranium.

· Leave inoperable roughly half of installed centrifuges at Natanz and three-quarters of installed centrifuges at Fordow, so they cannot be used to enrich uranium.

· Limit its centrifuge production to those needed to replace damaged machines, so Iran cannot use the six months to stockpile centrifuges.

· Not construct additional enrichment facilities.

Iran has committed to halt progress on the growth of its 3.5% stockpile:
 · Not increase its stockpile of 3.5% low enriched uranium, so that the amount is not greater at the end of the six months than it is at the beginning, and any newly enriched 3.5% enriched uranium is converted into oxide.

Iran has committed to no further advances of its activities at Arak and to halt progress on its plutonium track.
Iran has committed to:

· Not commission the Arak reactor.
 · Not fuel the Arak reactor.
 · Halt the production of fuel for the Arak reactor.
 · No additional testing of fuel for the Arak reactor.
 · Not install any additional reactor components at Arak.
 · Not transfer fuel and heavy water to the reactor site.
 · Not construct a facility capable of reprocessing.  Without reprocessing, Iran cannot separate plutonium from spent fuel.

Unprecedented transparency and intrusive monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program

Iran has committed to:
Provide daily access by IAEA inspectors at Natanz and Fordow.  This daily access will permit inspectors to review surveillance camera footage to ensure comprehensive monitoring.  This access will provide even greater transparency into enrichment at these sites and shorten detection time for any non-compliance.

· Provide IAEA access to centrifuge assembly facilities.

· Provide IAEA access to centrifuge rotor component production and storage facilities.

· Provide IAEA access to uranium mines and mills.

· Provide long-sought design information for the Arak reactor.  This will provide critical insight into the reactor that has not previously been available.

· Provide more frequent inspector access to the Arak reactor.

· Provide certain key data and information called for in the Additional Protocol to Iran’s IAEA Safeguards Agreement and Modified Code 3.1.

As far as the easing of sanctions, this is the US spin:

[Iran agrees to] Not impose new nuclear-related sanctions for six months, if Iran abides by its commitments under this deal, to the extent permissible within their political systems.

· Suspend certain sanctions on gold and precious metals, Iran’s auto sector, and Iran’s petrochemical exports, potentially providing Iran approximately $1.5 billion in revenue.

· License safety-related repairs and inspections inside Iran for certain Iranian airlines.

· Allow purchases of Iranian oil to remain at their currently significantly reduced levels – levels that are 60% less than two years ago.  $4.2 billion from these sales will be allowed to be transferred in installments if, and as, Iran fulfills its commitments.

· Allow $400 million in governmental tuition assistance to be transferred from restricted Iranian funds directly to recognized educational institutions in third countries to defray the tuition costs of Iranian students.

...Over the next six months, we will determine whether there is a solution that gives us sufficient confidence that the Iranian program is peaceful.  If Iran cannot address our concerns, we are prepared to increase sanctions and pressure.

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11/23 Links: Why die for Danzig (Israel)?, BBC invents Israeli Strike, Iran blames Israel for JFK

From Ian:

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Caroline Glick: A vastly changed Middle East

“As a result of the regional upheavals, tribal, sectarian, and ethnic identities have become more pronounced than ever, which may well lead to a change in the borders drawn by the colonial powers a century ago that have since been preserved by Arab autocrats.”
Guzansky and Striem explained, “The iron-fisted Arab rulers were an artificial glue of sorts, holding together different, sometimes hostile sects in an attempt to form a single nation state.
Now, the de facto changes in the Middle East map could cause far-reaching geopolitical shifts affecting alliance formations and even the global energy market.”

Sarah Honig: Why die for Danzig (Israel)?

There’s every reason to assume that US President Barack Obama has never heard of the pre-WWII demagogic question “Why die for Danzig?” The same can be as safely assumed regarding his Secretary of State John Kerry.
Oddly enough, however, their policy appears to draw inspiration from the same ideological wellspring that gave the world the above rhetorical tease. (h/t Norman F)

Melanie Phillip: It’s 1938 all over again

The rationale being offered by US officials in background briefings is no less jaw-dropping. This is how it goes. Measures to stop Iran from making the nuclear bomb will make the regime even more determined to make the bomb. So it’s smart not actually to stop Iran making the bomb. But not stopping it making the bomb, allowing the centrifuges to spin and enrichment to continue, also means it will make the bomb. So it’s win-win for Iran. World loses.
How’s that hope’n’change thingy working out for you right now?
We are indeed now facing the unthinkable. Not just that Iran is on the verge of being allowed to proceed to nuclear capability. The really unthinkable reality is that the enemies of the civilised world are not just to be found in Tehran. They are also in London, Brussels and Washington DC.

JCPA Dr Jacques Gauthier The Jewish Claim to Jerusalem: The Case Under International Law


Open to interpretation

As UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer noted on the group’s site, “by the end of its annual legislative session next month, the General Assembly will have adopted a total of 22 resolutions condemning Israel – and only four on the rest of the world combined.”
That’s not to say that the UN doesn’t care about the Jews. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Auschwitz this week, where he paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust.
Perhaps dead Jews go down better than those alive and kicking.

Group: UN Body Bars Jews from Entering Palestinian Meeting

“I have been following the U.N. for 30 years and this is the first time that the United Nations secretariat is barring access of a pro-Israel officially accredited U.N. NGO from a publicly-advertised open U.N. meeting,” Bayefsky said.
Bayefsky expressed a similar sentiment in follow up letter sent on Wednesday to the U.N.’s Feltman.
“As a senior U.N. official you are announcing that countries which do not recognize the self-determination of the Jewish people, embodied in the state of Israel, have a veto over the attendance at a U.N. meeting of a Jewish organization and its representative that are committed to the self-determination of the Jewish people (and to combating the anti-Semitism inherent in its denial),” she wrote in the letter.

BBC correspondent reports Israeli strike on Gaza that never happened

On November 19th, Rushdi Abu Alouf, a correspondent in the BBC’s Gaza office, sent this tweet (below) informing his 3,000+ followers that there had been an “air raid” on Gaza city, in the Gaza strip.
Abu Alouf’s Twitter bio lists him as a “#Palestinian journalist based in #Gaza , work for the #BBC“.
But BBC Watch reports that unfortunately for Abu Alouf and the BBC, there was no such air strike, and the tweet was either knowing propaganda by the BBC’s Palestinian producer, or a heinous violation of the simple principle of fact checking.
The injuries cited by Abu Alouf – and one fatality - were caused by an accidental explosion and had nothing at all to do with Israel, as verified by the Ma’an News Agency.

When Palestinians Violate the Boycott of Israel

But when people are calling for a boycott of a country that is not even being boycotted by those it allegedly oppresses? There is something very very wrong with such a movement. And something even more wrong with promoting only one side of it to impressionable students in the name of academic freedom.

Daphne Anson: Stop Hurting Israel: American pro-Israel group opens a petition

With the slogan "While Israel is negotiating peace ... Europe is hurting Israel," an American pro-Israel organisation has opened a petition, to which as many signatories as possible are obviously sought. Site: Stop Hurting Israel

French Left Party adopts BDS policy

A small leftist party in France announced that it is aligning itself with the international campaign to boycott Israel and Israeli products.
“The national bureau of the Left Party has convened on Nov. 16 and decided to engage the Left Party in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign,” read a statement placed this week on the party’s website.

‘If Israel is Forced to Stand Alone, Israel Will Stand Alone’

So far, the U.S. statements have not caused Iran to reduce its march to a bomb, and it has flagrantly refused to alter its course. It has treated the U.S. as a paper tiger. So why should anyone think that the direction of present negotiations offers any chance of success? In this posture, the negotiations appear to be a path to war.
There is only one way for the U.S. to convince Iran and others it is serious in its statements: that is, the path it followed recently in Syria. After it was established that Syria used chemical weapons in the present civil war, the U.S. issued an ultimatum backed with the threat of immediate attack on Syria with a request for Congressional support of the U.S. threat. Syria backed down and accepted the ultimatum.

Iran reportedly claiming world has recognized its ‘right to enrich uranium’

According to Israel’s Channel 2 news, Iranian participants in the talks claim the P5+1 nations have now recognized Iran’s “right to enrich uranium” — a major concession that Israel has warned would essentially legitimize the rogue Iranian nuclear program.

Rouhani to the West: Ignore Israel, Sign a Deal

As world powers and Iran continued talks in Geneva in hopes of reaching a deal about Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s president on Friday called on the West to ignore Israel and reach a deal with his country.
"The world powers should reach an independent decision that is disconnected from Israel’s position," President Hassan Rouhani tweeted.

On 50th Anniversary of JFK Death, Iran’s PressTV Blames Israel

As Israel pushes for the world to halt Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s state-controlled PressTV pushed back on Friday, mendaciously linking Israel’s efforts to become a nuclear power with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, ahead of the 50th anniversary of his death today.
“Israel and its global Zionist crime syndicate were major players if not THE main player in the JFK assassination,” PressTV columnist Dr. Kevin Barrett wrote.

Syria’s Christians Flee Kidnappings, Rape, Executions

Running from assault, abduction, and assassination at the hands of jihadists and FSA rebels, Syria’s ancient Christian community fears a religious pogrom is set to erupt.
Traumatized by what they have endured inside Syria and fearful for their future, Christians fleeing the 32-month-long civil war say the persecution of Christians is worsening in rebel-held territories in the country’s north—and that the kidnapping, rape and executions of Christians aren’t just being carried out by jihadist groups, but also by other Sunni Muslim rebels, including those affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Ignoring the biggest massacre of Syrian Christians so far

The worst massacre of Christians in Syria so far -- complete with mass graves, tortured-to-death women and children, and destroyed churches -- recently took place at the hands of the U.S.-supported jihadi “rebels”; and the U.S. government and its “mainstream media” mouthpieces are, as usual, silent (that is, when not actively trying to minimize matters).
The massacre took place in Sadad, an ancient Syriac Orthodox Christian habitation, so old as to be mentioned in the Old Testament.

Egypt expels Turkish ambassador, scales back relations

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said the Turkish envoy has been considered persona non grata and is being asked to leave the country because of what it described as Ankara’s continued “interference” in Egyptian affairs. It said it will scale back its diplomatic relations with Turkey to the level of charge d’affaires.

Pakistani doctor who helped U.S. find bin Laden charged with murder

Shakil Afridi, hailed as a hero by U.S. officials, was arrested after U.S. soldiers killed bin Laden in May 2011 in a secret raid that outraged Pakistan and plunged relations between the strategic partners to a new low.
Friday's murder charge, relating to the death of a patient eight years ago, dims Afridi's chances of going free and could further sour ties with the United States.

Moroccan Jewish leader: Bills to outlaw contact with Israel will fail

Joel Rubinfeld, a co-chairman of the European Jewish Parliament, condemned the bills as “a threat which could reverse Morocco’s extraordinary openness to Israel. The radicalism these bills reflect must not be allowed to gain the upper hand.”
Human rights groups this week denounced the planned legislation, including one Moroccan-based organization that called it “inhuman, anti-constitutional and antidemocratic” and suggested it was “influenced by Nazi tendencies.”

Nuremberg transcript donated to Holocaust Museum

Harold Burson covered the trials in 1945 and 1946 for the American Forces Network. He wrote extensive scripts for on-air announcers who were broadcasting to U.S. soldiers in Europe and to the English-speaking population in Germany during the first Nuremberg trial.
Burson, now 92, delivered his collection of 40 scripts to curators Tuesday. The broadcast recordings have been lost. After the war years, Burson went on to create the large public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.

French court bans anti-Semitic book in rare ruling

The court in Bobigny, near Paris, last week handed down a blanket ban on the publication and dissemination of one book, “The Anthology of Quotes against Jews, Judaism and Zionism” by Paul-Eric Blanrue.
The court said the book contained “incitement to racial hatred” and “denials of genocide,” which are illegal in France. Blanrue’s 321-page book contains “hundreds of anti-Semitic statements by well-known figures throughout the ages,” according to the news agency AFP.

Mapi Pharma patents new MS, pain-relief drugs

Only three years after going into business in Ness Ziona, Israel, Mapi Pharma has won US patents for two promising drugs in its pipeline – a slow-release form of glatiramer acetate for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms just once a month; and a new pill, Tapentadol, for relief of moderate-to-severe acute pain.
“We believe in two to three years they could be in the final stage of development, and about three years to market,” says Mapi Pharma president and CEO Ehud Marom.

‘Innovation Index’ puts a number to Israel’s tech prowess

The project has something for everybody, said Ann Liebschutz, one of the index’s architects. It will show Israeli entrepreneurs, American investors, and government officials from both countries that the US is still the best destination (for partnering, sales, or exits) for an Israeli start-up to set its sights on, despite very tempting offers from the Far East and Europe. For American companies, especially mid-size and smaller ones, the index will highlight Israel’s strength as a tech partner, seeking to encourage US businesses to further embrace Israeli tech companies and to partner with them.

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Anti-Israel PalChristian organization accuses Zionists of "weaponizing the Bible"

From Ma'an:

"Anti-Palestinianism" has become a theological issue, Palestinian Bible scholar Yohanna Katanacho said at an international conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Hundreds of participants from all over the world gathered this week for Sabeel's ninth international conference, where theologians spoke about the Bible's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The conference marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Sabeel, an ecumenical Christian community center that promotes Palestinian liberation theology.

"How do we really deal with the Bible when people are using it to justify the oppression of the Palestinians?" Sabeel founder Naim Ateek asks.

"One bad (theological) interpreter is worse than 100 terrorists," Katanacho said during a panel discussion.

He said that some Israeli theologians "strive to establish a particular reading of biblical history in order to gain political advantage."

"Such reading strategies put (Palestinians) at a disadvantage. They are perceived as the Canaanites or Philistines," he said, referring to enemies of the biblical Israelites.

First of all, it is Palestinian Arabs themselves who claim (laughably) to be descended from Canaanites.

Second, and more importantly, it is Sabeel that weaponizes the Bible, especially the Christian scriptures. Here's one egregious example:

[Sabeel publication] “Contemporary Way of the Cross – A Liturgical Journey along the Palestinian Via Dolorosa.”..., which draws straight-line comparisons between Israeli policies and the Stations of the Cross – a Christian liturgical meditation on the suffering and crucifixion of Christ – cannot be found on Sabeel’s website or anywhere else on the Internet, but can only be obtained from the organization’s Jerusalem office.

..The introduction of the liturgy states:
This ‘Contemporary Way of the Cross’ has been developed as an act of worship rooted in the land where Jesus was born, lived, and died, linking the original events of Good Friday with the continuing suffering of the occupied people who live in that land today. It seeks to help others to understand something of the events which have shaped this troubled place over the last century and draw attention to the very real and constant suffering of the Palestinian people. It strives to provide an honest account of the situation, and simply asks those who take part in this act of worship to listen, to pray for us and to pray with us as we look towards a just, comprehensive and enduring peace.
The un-named author(s) of the document then offer(s) several suggestions as to how it can be used in worship – “three or four stations a week throughout the whole of lent”; “two or three stations a day during Holy Week”; during Sunday school classes or “as a personal devotional tool.”

The structure of each “station” is the same: A pseudo-historical introduction that leaves out important information is followed by an “opening meditation” which compares an aspect of the current conflict to the suffering of Christ during his last day on earth. For example, Christ’s condemnation is equated with “The Nakba of 1948” and his death on the cross is compared to “devastation in Gaza.” These opening meditations are then followed by a mixture of scripture, first-hand testimony, prayers, poems and finally, a closing reflection. The overall effect is to portray Israel as a Christ-killing nation, and the Palestinians as innocent lambs of God who suffer for the sins of both Israel and for the failings of the international community.

...[T]he liturgy publishes a poem by Rima Nasir Tarazi which includes the following passage:

They defiled our holy places and violated our sanctuaries.
They crucified our humanity and trampled our aspirations.
They shut down our universities and surrounded our schools
To silence our young and to usurp our rights.

The message of this passage is obvious: Israelis have crucified the Palestinians, who have done no wrong.

Sabeel has been using the Christian Bible not only to demonize Israel but by implication to justify Jew-hatred.

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11/22 Links Pt2: SWU Israeli Soldiers Stories, Syracuse University breaks ties with Al Quds

From Ian:

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A water war in Israel? Hardly

Detractors of Israel often seem so overtaken with critical fervor that they miss the truths that may seem obvious to more fair-minded observers of the Middle East.
Take, for example, Saree Makdisi's attack on Israel for supposedly cutting off Palestinians' access to water. He wrote in his Op-Ed article Monday that Israel uses 80% of the West Bank’s groundwater and makes it practically impossible for Palestinians to find new sources of water.
Such misleading claims do a disservice to the Palestinians by diverting attention from steps that can bring about a real improvement in water access for Palestinians. Israel can be instrumental in bringing about such an improvement. Genuine friends of the Palestinians would do well to inform themselves of the real water situation in Israel and the West Bank rather than be misled by the same tired diatribes to which we have regrettably grown accustomed. They'll be surprised by what they discover.

Richard Millett: My provocative question to the panel at “Israel tortures Palestinian children” event.

With a room full of teachers, Abu Eqtaish who works for an organisation dedicated to child welfare and Abu al Reesh who has been able to make something positive out of his teenage rock-throwing and imprisonment I was hoping, although not expecting, that someone might have at least a word of sympathy for the family of one year old Yonatan Palmer, who now lies in his tiny grave because of another Palestinian rock-thrower.
And so I asked Abu al Reesh and Abu Eqtaish my “provocative question”.

'Damaged' New Israel Fund Plans New Campaign

The controversial New Israel Fund (NIF), which supports a variety of ultra-leftist organizations in Israel, admits it has taken a pummeling from the grassroots-Zionist Im Tirtzu group, but promises it will launch a new strategic drive in three months' time.
According to left-wing paper Haaretz, NIF President Brian Lurie, and CEO, Daniel Sokatch, describe as “momentous” an upcoming meeting of the NIF board of directors, scheduled to be held in Israel in February, at which, Sokatch says, “new strategic directions will be set.”

CAMERA: EAST JERUSALEM: Setting the Record Straight

Do Jews have a right to settle in eastern Jerusalem? What are the legal issues regarding sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem'? Is Israel's annexation of eastern Jerusalem legitimate? The media often blurs these distinct questions together as one, answered with the facile and misleading conclusion that Israel is guilty of breaking international law. But without looking at the complex historic and legal considerations that underlie each of these questions, the media prevents news consumers from understanding one of the primary issues in the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.
This backgrounder addresses some of the common media misrepresentations regarding Jerusalem.

Obamageddon in the Middle East

The easiest way to tell that Obama has run out of things to do in the Middle East is his desperate pivot to the peace process. The never-ending peace process, which is now on its fourth administration and its sixth prime minister, is the gift shop in the museum of the Middle East. It’s the place you stop by on the way to the exit because it’s convenient and everyone back home expects some souvenir peace t-shirts.
In 2013, the West Bank and Gaza are more irrelevant to events in the Middle East than ever before. Like toddlers left alone in their high chairs, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have spent the last year whining that no one is paying attention to them. And no one in the Arab world is paying attention to them because suddenly killing Shiites has become more of a priority than killing Jews.

Natfali Bennett: Talks 'Aint Going Nowhere'

Speaking to veteran presenter Charlie Rose, Bennett spoke his mind about a range of topics; from his own political career to negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and the Iranian nuclear standoff - although for Israeli audiences not that much new was covered.
When asked what brought a successful hi-tech businessman into the gritty world of politics, the Jewish Home party head said he traced that decision "to one moment," after he was called up for military reserve duties during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Palestinian negotiator Ishtayeh insists on resignation

On Thursday, PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi called on the Palestinian leadership in a radio interview to “prepare to turn to the UN without waiting for the failure of negotiations with Israel,” Palestinian daily Al-Quds reported.

Fatah: Israel is “the enemy of all nations of the world”

A Fatah official based in Lebanon recently explained that Yasser Arafat was involved in "all liberation movements in the world; in South America, in Asia, in Africa, and had a part in all these revolutions." The official, Fatah's Director of Communications in Lebanon Rifat Shanaah, claimed that Arafat "taught them" that Israel is "the racist entity, the enemy of all nations of the world" and that "it bears responsibility for insecurity everywhere because Israel exists in order to create conflicts - sectarian and ethnic conflicts in the Middle East."

34,600 Palestinians working in Israel without permits

The number of Palestinians from the West Bank working Jewish settlements there and in Israel has increased from ninety-six thousand in the first quarter of the year to 103 thousand in the third quarter.
The numbers were released in a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
51,000 of the Palestinian workers employed in Israel had work permits while 34,600 did not have permits, according to the report.

Palestinian Authority Builds Illegally in E1

The investigation of Regavim movement indicates that hundreds of portable structures have already been built around Ma'ale Adummim and Highway 1, which extends all the way to the Dead Sea. The buildings are made of metal plates, allowing rapid construction as the Palestinian Arabs generally operate on weekends, when the Supervisory Unit of the Civil Administration is on leave.
At first, the Palestinian Authority kept the buildings under black tarps, to prevent photos being taken and establishing proof of illegal building. Over time, these tarps have disappeared - revealing even more buildings in their wake. All of the buildings are in Area C - the area exclusively under Israeli control. (h/t Bob Knot)

PA shuts down Islamist seminar on women in Bethlehem

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday night banned a radical Islamic group from holding a seminar in Bethlehem under the title: “Women’s groups and societies seek to corrupt women.”
The seminar was sponsored by Hizb ut Tahrir [Party of Liberation], a radical group whose goal is to create an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law.

CAMERA: Thomas Friedman, Iran and the ‘Israel Lobby’

Of course, there are valid arguments on both sides of the sanctions question that can be debated. But Friedman, with obsessive tunnel vision, prefers to focus his target on Israel and her Jewish supporters (even throwing in a gratuitous, unrelated jibe about Israeli settlements), while treating French and Saudi objections as inconsequential. “If Israel kills this U.S.-led deal, then the only option is military,” warns Friedman.
This is not the first time Friedman has conjured up the ugly, anti-Semitic specter of a nefarious “lobby” that uses Jewish money and votes to corrupt American lawmakers in order to mold U.S. policy to Israel’s benefit and American harm.

Elliott Abrams: There Friedman goes again

This is awful stuff. It does not seem to occur to Friedman that those lawmakers simply agree with the Saudis (and many other Arabs) and Israelis that the Obama policy they oppose is dangerous for the U.S. They are not "taking Israel's side against their own president's" but taking America's side against a policy they see as foolish and dangerous. Does Friedman think John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two of the key critics of Obama's Iran policy, are beholden to "the Israel lobby" for their re-election campaigns, for donations, for future promotion?

Al Jazeera America Floundering Amid Low Ratings

Since its August 20 launch to 40 million US homes Al Jazeera America's TV channel has only averaged 13,000 viewers a day nationwide, equivalent to a public access channel, reports the New York Post.

Al-Quds president says Brandeis counterpart ‘gone overboard’ in row over rally

Lawrence called on Nusseibeh to issue in Arabic and English a condemnation of the demonstration. Unsatisfied with a statement subsequently issued by Nusseibeh in English and Arabic, which Brandeis called “unacceptable and inflammatory,” the Waltham, Mass. university on Monday suspended its partnership with al-Quds, which had been in place since 1998. Lawrence said the university would reevaluate the relationship in the future.

Brandeis Removes Al Quds’ Nusseibeh From Ethics Center

In a move reinforcing the basis for its decision to sever ties with Al-Quds University, Brandeis University issued a statement on Thursday, Nov. 21, that Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, will be removed from his position on the Advisory Board of the Brandeis International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life.

Syracuse follows Brandeis in halting ties with Al-Quds

Syracuse University “indefinitely” suspended its relationship with Al-Quds University on Thursday, making it the second American university to sever ties this week after Islamic Jihad held a Nazi-style demonstration on the Palestinian university’s campus.
“We are very disappointed and saddened to have learned of these recent events at Al-Quds University,” said Kevin Quinn, Syracuse’s senior vice president for public affairs, in an email to The Jerusalem Post. (h/t Bob Knot)

NY Jewish Leader: Working to Stop "Knockout Game"

In the "game," also known as "Get the Jew," gangs of black youths seek an unsuspecting vicitm and try to knock them out with one punch. The anti-Semitic attacks have seen an upswing in number since September.
Rabbi Behrman noted that in Crown Heights particularly easily identifiable religious Jews have been targeted. However, he noted that the "game" is being "played" throughout the US, and beyond simple anti-Semitism it bears testimony to a dangerously violent youth culture.

UAE book fair promotes Mein Kampf and Protocols of Zion books

The ­Sharjah Inter­na­tional Book Fair (SIBF) in the United Arab Emirates, which reportedly attracted 1 million vis­i­tors from across the region last week, reportedly featured several infamous anti-Semitic books, including the noto­ri­ous anti-Semitic forgery, The Pro­to­cols of the Learned Elders of Zion.
The ten-day book fair, which concluded last week, was organised by Depart­ment of Cul­ture and Infor­ma­tion — Shar­jah Gov­ern­ment. The mis­sion of the fair, accord­ing to orga­nis­ers, was “to cul­ti­vate the love for lit­er­a­ture among peo­ple by enrich­ing their expe­ri­ence of the writ­ten word.”

Saudi Man Arrested For Giving Free Hugs

Abdulrahman al-Khayyal was arrested by Saudi religious police after offering free hugs in the capital city of Riyadh. He apparently was inspired by a viral Youtube video of a fellow Saudi, Bandr al-Swed, offering free hugs. The clip has garnered nearly 1.5 million views in three days.

EasyJet to begin direct Tel Aviv-Berlin in February

Berlin will be the company’s sixth-operating route to Tel Aviv, after London Luton, Manchester, Geneva, Basel and Rome.
In April, the government approved an Open Skies Agreement to align Israeli flight rules with EU standards and bring about competition, a move that promised to benefit low-cost carriers.

Israel First Country to Sell Innovative 3D Printed Underwear (VIDEO)

There’s no need for Israelis to get their panties in a twist. That’s because Israel is set to become the first country in which 3-D printed underwear will be available for purchase.
Tamicare shot into the headlines recently after it was reported that Victoria’s Secret was in talks with the firm to produce underwear.

Israel Daily Picture: The Chatham Library Photo Treasures Part 2, the Walls & Gates of Jerusalem

The Chatham University Archives placed all 110 colored slides from the"Holy Land Lantern Slides"online, and in this posting we present a selection to focus on the collection's pictures of Jerusalem's walls and gates.

StandWithUs: Israeli Soldiers Stories Tour

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Weekend roundup and administrivia

This was a very busy week here at EoZ. Some highlights:

• Revealing the hypocritical demopathy behind BDS, in their own words, 
• Asking why the world ignores the Fatah terror army under Mahmoud abbas' rule
• Proving yet again how Amnesty is more interested in bashing Israel than human rights for Gazans
• Revealing Iran's nuclear energy propaganda site
• A mini-rant on how Israel's peace partner idolizes murderers of Jews
• Showing what complete losers the Mondoweiss crowd is, again
• Expanding on a ZF scoop by finding many anti-Israel sites that use Israeli technology
• A discussion on whether Iran has a "right" to enrich uranium, looking at primary sources
• Following the Brandeis/Al Quds story
• And also the incitement to violence by Palestinian Arabs at SFSU
• Ripping apart Thomas Friedman
• Revealing far more expert information on the Swiss Arafat report
• An exclusive video interview with Dexter Van Zile of CAMERA
• Another post revealing how much Arabs hate Palestinians even when they say they love them
• The only report of how PalArabs make twice the salary from Israeli employers than PA employers
• Finding the real story behind the photo in Khamenei's insulting tweet about Israel
• Showing, using primary sources, how the ICRC is lying about Israel and international law
• Two original editorial cartoons that are getting spread around
• Finding the truth (maybe) about the reported Hamas spy balloons (thanks to Bob K)
• Exposing Oxfam/UN hypocrisy on Gaza (yet again)

Not bad for a single week!

(As always, if you think that this information is useful, feel free to donate or subscribe!)

I am looking forward to Shabbat very, very much.

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I plan to be in Israel for about 10 days in December. If you have any ideas of stories you want me to cover while I am there, feel free to email me.  (And if anyone in Israel has a venue to host the Hasby Awards, that would be great!)

I still have one important video to edit from the last time I was there in February.

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Speaking of, the deadline for nominations for the annual Hasby Awards is almost here. Please nominate, or second other people's nominations, at my Hasby post. And check out the latest nominations, too; there is some really good stuff there.

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I admit I don't understand the appeal of Xmas window displays, but some other winter decorations in New York City are nifty.

This snowflake is suspended over a busy intersection in midtown:

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11/22 Links Pt1: Arab Bank refuses to pay PA Terrorist, Iran calls war drill “Towards Jerusalem”

From Ian:

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Arab Bank: Released Murderers' Stipend is 'Terror Money'

The Arab Bank's refusal to pay "terror money" to Musa Karan of Ramallah, a terrorist freed after 23 years in jail, was reported by a Hamas website. Karan's brother Mohammed told the site that Musa ran into trouble opening an account due to his being a freed terrorist.
The bank's designation of Karan's salary as "terror money" comes after Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on Monday called for an end to international monetary aid to the PA until it stopped funding terror.

Hamas Launches Torture Campaign to Check Encroachment by Rival Fatah Faction

Hamas is in a state that some analysts are willing to describe as “hysteria.” Its position abroad and its domestic control are both eroding, and Israel has thus far managed to stymie the group’s efforts to bolster its image with a spectacular terror attack.
Fatah partisans sense weakness and are moving to exploit it. Hamas is now resorting to torture to check the encroachment:

Hamas: Our Rockets Will Reach North of Tel Aviv

Al-Masri, who spoke at an event organized by Hamas students to commemorate a year since the IDF's counter-terror Operation Pillar of Defense, claimed that Israel "will be surprised by the abilities of the Al-Qassam Brigades."
On Monday al-Masri similarly claimed that Hamas now has missiles with a 100 kilometer (62 mile) range, putting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in their sights.

Gaza in Deep Sewage, under Egyptian Siege

Hamas has refused to import Israeli diesel because of taxes imposed by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, which is led by rival terror organization Fatah.
Gaza's residents now face daily power failures of 12 or even 18 hours. "Businesses have cut back production, hospitals are rationing electricity to keep dialysis and cardiac support systems running…" all because of Egypt's cutting off smuggling, and Hamas' refusal to pay Ramallah taxes.

Hamas Looking to Buy More Electricity - From Israel

He said the Hamas government submitted its proposal in this regard Israel's Electric Company through the private sector - and that an agreement has been made - but this also requires the restoration of local power grid at a cost of millions of dollars.
Egyptian politician Imad Hamdi, from the Egyptian Popular Front, has criticized the move, calling Hamas hypocritical. Hamdi pointed out that Hamas is guilty of using Israel's resources despite denying its very existence, and stated that Hamas is not effective as a resistance movement against Israel.

Neturei Karta Anti-Zionists Give Hamas a Shiny New Ambulance

Hamas has a new ambulance, thanks to the efforts of their Neturei Karta anti-Zionist comrades. How long will it take before Hamas tries to use it to smuggle terrorists into Israel?

Lion cubs born in Hamas-run zoo die

Mohammad Abdel-Rahman, acting manager of the zoo in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, said the cubs died of an unspecified illness. He said the zoo’s staff was unable to save them because they lacked experience in caring for newborn lions.
The cubs struggled from the outset, the Guardian reported. They were not feeding well, and their father displayed aggression toward them.
Zoo staff reached out to an Egyptian zoo in an attempt to procure food and equipment, but restrictions at the Egypt-Gaza border prevented the aid from coming through, a Gaza veterinarian told the Guardian. (h/t MtTB)

Michael Oren: Israel’s Oren in LA Times Op-Ed: ‘Netanyahu is Merely Doing His Job’ in Warning Against a Nuclear Iran

Oren notes that Netanyahu’s policies usually reflect the viewpoint of the Israeli intelligence services, rather than just his own opinions.
“Netanyahu may at times appear to stand alone on Iran, but he is backed by a world-class body of experts,” writes Oren.
As if to defend this statement, Oren demonstrates how Netanyahu has been ridiculed for his public stance, only to be vindicated later on.
“In 2011, these same analysts predicted that the Arab Spring…would be hijacked by Islamic radicals. They foresaw years of brutal civil strife. Netanyahu publicly expressed these conclusions and was denounced as a naysayer by many of the same columnists who are now lambasting him on Iran,” Oren said.

Iran Launches ‘Massive’ War Drills

Iranian military forces launched a series of “massive military drills” across nine provinces on Wednesday following an order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state media reports.
The drills, codenamed “Towards Jerusalem,” will continue over the coming days and throughout the rest of the year.

White House Refuses to Condemn Khamenei’s ‘Rabid Dog’ Comments

Deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest joined his administration counterparts in refusing to condemn Iranian Ayatollah Khomenei’s reference to Israel as a “rabid dog” Thursday in the White House press conference.
Earnest oddly denied the White House is concerned that condemning the rhetoric might imperil the Geneva talks. However, the Obama administration spokesperson still avoided explicitly rebuking Iran for the inflammatory comments:

Israel ‘unpleasantly surprised’ by mild US reaction to Khamenei’s vicious speech

US Secretary of State John Kerry did speak out against Khameini’s address, yet stopped short of issuing a forthright condemnation.
“Obviously we disagree with it profoundly,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It’s inflammatory, it’s unnecessary, and I think at this moment when we are trying to negotiate what can and can’t be achieved, the last thing we need is names back and forth,” Kerry said, according to ABC News. “Obviously we don’t believe that anything is served with, you know, names that challenge everybody’s sense of propriety and justice and rectitude. We’ve been through this before, as we’ve heard prior, very disturbing assertions regarding the Holocaust.”

US envoy to UN condemns Khamenei tongue lashing

Hours after Israeli officials expressed dismay over the mild American response to harsh comments from Iran’s supreme leader, a top US official condemned the remarks in unequivocal terms late Thursday.
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said comments from Ali Khamenei painting Israel as a rabid dog were “abhorrent,” according to CNN.

Iran Infographic: Good Deal vs Bad Deal

Block writes that "to help educate and fight a dangerous deal, TIP (The Israel Project) has created (an) infographic...and a website laying out the terrible impact of deal that would breathe life into Iran's economy while leaving the world's leading sponsor of terrorism with the capability to build nuclear weapons."

AIPAC Applauds Harry Reid on Tougher Iran Sanctions Bill Despite Obama Plea

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he will go ahead with proposing a bill calling for tougher Iran sanctions early next month, despite President Barack Obama’s request to delay new sanctions during negotiations.

Smile -- and escape

It is not easy being an Iranian journalist these days. The Iranian journalists in Geneva are more open than ever, going along with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's policy of smiles. This is entirely different from how they acted in the past in Turkey, Iraq and Kazakhstan. But on Wednesday, Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a very aggressive speech, and this also influenced the Iranian journalists in Geneva. Should they smile like Rouhani or curse like Khamenei? To smile or not to smile, that is the question.
The same Iranian journalist who on Wednesday morning spoke to me knowing exactly who I was, even interviewing me for his media outlet, quickly came back to me later and asked me not to publish the picture I took with him during the interview. In the new Iran, there are still many shades of gray.

Iran Owes Terror Victims Billions of Dollars, Says Activist Lawyer

An Israeli lawyer who has won billions of dollars for relatives of terror victims has asked Obama administration officials why they are discussing letting Iran off the hook on sanctions while it owes American relatives colossal sums of money.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who heads the Israel Law Center, has won billions of dollars for relatives of terror victims in lawsuits against the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organization as well as banks and other agencies that aid terrorists or act as a pipeline for funds for them.

Reporters Without Borders Criticizes Iranian Assault on Press

Over 100 days after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s election, Iran continues to crack down on the press and remains “one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists and netizens” according to journalist advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.
The group said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “very disappointed by President Hassan Rouhani’s record on freedom of information,” noting that since Rouhani took office, at least 10 journalists have been arrested, 10 more have been sentenced to “a combined total of 72 years in prison,” and three newspapers have been shut down by the government.

Ya'alon: A stronger Iran means a stronger Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad

Ya’alon stated that the Iranian regime “is involved in every conflict in the Middle East and has also set up terror bases in Africa, Asia and South America. They want to defeat Western culture, and are prepared to sacrifice to achieve this.”
He added: “The Iranians want, under the cover of the nuclear umbrella that they will have, to advance their terror activities, such as using a ‘dirty bomb’ at various targets in the Western world. Therefore, we must not tolerate the possibility of a nuclear Iran. One way or another, Iran’s military nuclear project must be stopped.”

Jihadi Brit in Syria was imprisoned 2009 anti-Israel protestor

The violence in 2009 began when police tried to move protesters away from the gates of the Israeli embassy following increasingly violent protests during Operation Cast Lead. One police officer was knocked unconscious and two more were injured. There were reportedly running skirmishes between the officers and groups of young men, each time prompting a further charge from the officers and sending the crowd running screaming in the opposite direction.

At least one Iran embassy bomber a Palestinian

A Palestinian national was among the two suicide bombers who attacked the Iranian embassy in Beirut earlier this week, security sources told The Daily Star Thursday.
They said investigators were still trying to identify the second bomber.

Saudi Arabia urges citizens to leave tense Lebanon

Shiite-led Hezbollah has indirectly blamed Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia for Tuesday’s twin suicide blasts, which killed 23 people. A Sunni radical group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility.

Hezbollah-Backed Syrian Offensive Risks New Refugee Wave, “Catastrophic” Destabilization of Lebanon

The army’s offensive in the Qalamoun mountains surrounding Qara – enabled and backed by Hezbollah fighters – threatens to trigger a new refugee crisis that would see nearly 20,000 civilians may be driven into Lebanon.
Jean Ogassapian, a Lebanese politician closely linked to the country’s anti-Syrian March 14th movement, declared that Hezbollah’s continued support of the Syrian army, especially in the Qalamoun regime, risked “catastrophic repercussions in Lebanon” and a “total sectarian war.”

Iran Determines Hezbollah's Actions


Hezbollah Uses Civilians as a Human Shield

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