Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Elder of Ziyon
ChanukahTuesday, December 03, 2013Elder of ZiyonArafat
The head the commission of inquiry into the death of the late President Yasser Arafat, Major General Tawfiq Tirawi, pledged to reveal the accomplices involved the assassination of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during an upcoming press conference, although he did not announce when this would occur.
Tirawi said on his Facebook page Tuesday: "I promise that the next press conference will be the last to shed light on the names of every accomplice or co-conspirator in the case of President Yasser Arafat....We are in the last quarter-hour of the investigation."
A team of French scientists probing the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 do not believe he was poisoned, according to leaks from their report.
They have reportedly concluded he died after a "generalised infection".
...Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian Authority's inquiry into the death, told AFP: "We need to study the report. We can't take a position on it until we've looked at it."
Tuesday, December 03, 2013Elder of Ziyon“We like to have our finger on the pulse of everything regarding new technologies and I know that in this Israel is a world leader, so we are interested in Israeli developments. I’m glad that through our connection and friendship the opportunity was created for this unique visit here by the Israeli delegation to Grupo Carso,” Slim was quoted saying by the Mexican media....After the conference, in a gesture that did not go unnoticed, Slim Helú, his youngest son Marco Antonio Slim Domit, chairman of Grupo Financiero Inbursa, and son-in-law Arturo Elías Ayub, Telmex’s Chief Officer of Relations with Investors, visited Peres at his hotel suite. Elias posted an image of the four on his Twitter account.
Pope Francis met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a closed-door meeting at the Vatican to discuss matters that are highly political and an illustration of the pontiff's increasing willingness to weigh in on global affairs.
President Shimon Peres secretly addressed 29 foreign ministers from Arab nations last month,Yediot Aharonot reported Sunday - and they applauded him after his speech about Israel, a nuclear Iran and the fight against radical Islam.Peres spoke two weeks ago to the Gulf States Security Summit in Abu Dhabi from his Jerusalem office via livestream, according to the report. Peres allegedly only agreed to appear if his presence was kept strictly under wraps.Foreign Ministers present at the event included representatives from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Yemen. Other officials present included high-ranking representatives from other Muslim countries - including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia was represented by the son of the Saudi monarch.The meeting was facilitated by top United Nations envoys, including Terje Larsen, the Under-Secretary General to the UN, and Martin Indyk, the US Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations.
Israel is the only non-EU country to have been asked to join Horizon 2020 as a full partner, and is expected to pay in €600 million, while receiving €900m back in research grants and investment.
"The West deludes itself by talking about a “Palestinian-Israeli” conflict for which it has no responsibility and in which it claims it is only aiding the downtrodden victims of one party. When in reality it is not a Palestinian-Israeli but in fact a pan-Arab-Israeli conflict and, indeed, particularly fuelled by the mullahs in Tehran, a wider Islamist-Jewish conflict."Netanyahu: Iran Will Wreak Havoc on Middle East
"That conflict is exploding in places far geographically removed from Ramallah, Amman, Gaza City and Jerusalem. And it is doing so with increasingly frequency – and increasing ferocity."
"It is time the UN and EU stopped investing hard-earned tax revenues in the wasteful Palestinian Arab addiction to violence, intransigence, corruption and fanaticism. And instead started demanding reciprocity, transparency and democracy. On pain of withheld financial aid." (h/t Bob Knot)
Netanyahu continued, firing back at criticism that Israel's talks with the Palestinians, which many have seen as a failure, are the key to peace across the entire Middle East.BBC explains why it did not report on toddler injured by stone-throwers
"The great turmoil that we see in Syria is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Libya is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Iraq is not related to Israel and the Palestinians. The great turmoil we see in Yemen, Egypt and other places not related to Israel and the Palestinians," he declared.
"Unfortunately, the broader question of [what will bring peace to the] Middle East remains open except for one question," he continued. "If we add the instability of Iran's deal regarding its nuclear program into the Middle-East reactor, what will happen?" Netanyahu asserts that continued neglect of the full ramifications of the deal between Iran and Western powers provides the answer: chaos.
The issue of the rising scale of terror attacks against Israeli civilians even as those talks continue is, however, one which has been largely ignored or downplayed by the BBC. That means that its audiences have no appreciation of the influence of those quotidian attacks (especially those in which children are injured) on Israeli public opinion regarding the issue of the ‘peace process’ and are deprived of the context necessary to understand Israeli policy and actions – as they were, for example, at the beginning of Operation Pillar of Cloud in November 2012 because the BBC had previously under-reported the missile attacks on Israeli civilians living in proximity to the Gaza Strip.Jihadist Terrorists Killed; Times Omits the Facts
On November 26, the IDF killed three Salafi jihadist terrorists in the West Bank. The Times of London reports on claims by an Islamist terror group with links to Al-Qaeda that the three terrorists were members of that group. Referring to the deaths of the three, it reports:Colonel's Killers Planned to Abduct his Wife
Palestinian officials have denounced Israeli claims about the men’s affiliations. They also condemned the deaths as “extrajudicial killings”, noting that Israeli special forces shot the men in their car without establishing that they were armed. Firearms and improvised explosions were discovered in the car.Rather than rely on less-than-reliable Palestinian sources, a professional journalist would have also published the details of the incident from the IDF, which were already in the public domain.
The Arab terrorists who murdered reserve colonel Sraya Ofer Hy”d at his home on October 10, also planned to abduct his wife, Monique. She succeded in escaping, however, suffering injury in the process.PA police arrest Palestinian-Canadian investor after calling to oust Abbas
Ouda Haroub, 18, and Bashir Haroub, 21, both from the PA Arab town of Deir Sammit in the Hevron region, were charged this week with murdering Ofer, whose nickname was Yaya, outside his Jordan Valley home
Palestinian Authority policemen arrested Palestinian-Canadian investor Mohamed Al Sabawi on Monday for “insulting” PA President Mahmoud Abbas. He was released after being held for eight hours.Israel Warns EU of Emerging Gaza Humanitarian Disaster
Al Sabawi, 68, was arrested from his office in Ramallah by several armed PA policemen and taken to a police station.
He blamed the severe energy crisis on the confrontation between the new rulers in Egypt and the Hamas government—supporter of the deposed regime—which resulted in the Egyptians’ uncompromising assault on the smuggling tunnels into Gaza that used to be the lifeline of the densely populated strip.Gaza Division Commander: Hamas, IDF Cooperate
“Egypt sees Hamas as the enemy,” Dangot stated emphatically. This, he pointed out, has also led to Hamas avoiding new confrontation with Israel, since it can no longer rely on Egypt to replenish its lost assets in such a conflict.
He stressed that "Leaders of Hamas, both the political and military branches, do everything to maintain restraint." He also claimed that "Hamas soldiers have been prevented from shooting at or mounting charges at the IDF."Flotilla to nowhere
"Hamas neutralizes any terrorist attacks against Israel", said the commander of the Gaza Division, "Hamas has become Gaza's cop, but this does not guarantee it will continue to work over time." (h/t Yoel)
The "reverse flotilla" that left Gaza on Monday returned without confronting the Israeli Navy. About 150 Palestinian and European activists set out on 19 boats from the Gaza shore toward Israeli Navy vessels in an effort to break the sea blockade that the Israel Defense Forces has imposed on Gaza.Melanie Phillips: Nuclear holocaust? Yes he can.
Hamas personnel escorted the flotilla to prevent an altercation between activists and the navy, with the goal of ensuring that understandings reached after last year's Operation Pillar of Defense would remain in place. The IDF's naval blockade is enforced at a six-mile distance from the Gaza shoreline, and prior to Operation Pillar of Defense, it had been set at three miles from the shore. The activists approached the five mile line, and from there they threw plastic bottles with protest letters into the water.
Whatever the truth of these claims, Obama’s agenda has been clear from the start. To those like myself who warned about Obama from the moment he became a candidate for the US Presidency, it was clear that here was a man who believed that America was the world’s principal rogue state which needed to be shackled, and that its ‘victims’ – Third World tyrannies and enemies of the west – needed to be empowered to even up the score. As for Israel, well, these whingeing Jews always behaved as if they were the only victims in the world, and if Israel was destroyed it would be all its own fault anyway.Netanyahu: Iran deal insubstantial ‘political theater’
But let’s get this in perspective. UK media pin-up Rouhani is now starring in a music video which is said to mimic an Obama campaign production.
Nuclear holocaust? Yes he can.
At a press conference in the Italian capital, the prime minister again expressed strong opposition to the accord, urging European powers to demand a substantial rollback from Iran before agreeing to ease an effective sanctions regime. He warned that although Tehran, led by President Hassan Rouhani, presented a smiling face to the West, it continued to “butcher people in Syria, to promote terrorism” and to support Hezbollah and Hamas.Court Awards $9 Million to Victims of Iranian-Backed Terrorism
“Even though Iran has not even begun to implement the agreement, there appears to be a general relaxation of sanctions and a rush to accommodate Iran and to make it legitimate, as if Iran has changed anything of its actual policies except to smile, to speak English — on occasion — and to make Powerpoint presentations,” Netanyahu remarked. “What a revolution!”
A U.S. district court has awarded millions in Iranian government funds to five American families who were victims of an Iranian-backed suicide bombing, despite objections from Tehran and the U.S. Department of Justice.Talks on ‘technical aspects’ of Geneva deal to resume this week
The Nov. 27 ruling, which allows the American victims of a 1997 terrorist attack in Jerusalem to recover more than $9 million from a U.S.-based defense contractor that worked with Iran, was hailed as a precedent-setting case by the victims’ legal counsel.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the six-month interim period, during which Iran would take steps to rein in its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, had not yet begun. She also said a number of details were still to be worked out, without specifying which points had yet to be finalized.State Department Does Not Dispute Majority Of Iranian Enrichment Has Occurred Under Obama
“The next step here is a continuation of technical discussions at a working level so that we can essentially tee up the implementation of the agreement,” Psaki told reporters. “Obviously, once that’s — those technical discussions are worked through, I guess the clock would start. Obviously, there’ll also be a reconvening of the political track with the P5+1, which Under Secretary Sherman will continue to be our lead negotiator on.”
Rosen cited Secretary of State John Kerry’s statements after the Geneva deal was signed in which Kerry contended Iran’s increase in centrifuges from 164 in 2003 to the current 19,000 indicates the international community achieved the best possible agreement with the Iranians.CNN Reporter Sees ‘Israel Lobby’ Behind Anti-Nuke Group
However, Rosen asked Psaki if she would acknowledge 70 percent of those centrifuges were installed during the Obama administration. The statistic, Rosen said, calls into question Kerry’s implication that the agreement was actually the result of Bush administration foreign policy.
According to Tehran-based CNN correspondent Reza Sayah, the bipartisan advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran promotes anti-Iranian “propaganda” on behalf of “powerful bosses” and because of its “Israeli connections.”Iran News Agency Claims Israel, Saudi Arabia Making 'Stuxnet 2'
Sayah then linked to a June blog post on the anti-Zionist website Mondoweiss that claimed UANI was part of the “Israel lobby” because it “gets a portion of [its] funding from organizations with a focus on Israel and Judaism.”
The news agency, which has been associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, claimed that an "informed source" told reporters that “Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency Tamir Pardo sent their representatives to a meeting in Vienna on November 24 to increase the two sides' cooperation in intelligence and sabotage operations against Iran’s nuclear program.“Analysis: Coming peace talks on Syria are likely doomed before they start
“Assad and Iran are the winners in the regional equation at this point,” he said. In fact, Assad and his allies may have gained more confidence to attack the rebels in a more ferocious way, said Bligh. He points out that Syria might even try to provoke Israel in a way similar to the shots fired at Israel on Monday in the Golan. This could bring Iran into the arena.UN: Syria crimes evidence ‘indicates’ Assad role
Iran could even have Hezbollah remove its forces from Syria to concentrate on fighting against Israel, said Bligh. This could be a face-saving way for Hezbollah to withdraw from the Syrian war, where it has suffered many casualties, he said.
But the other option, he said could even be for Iran to use the issue to “attack Israel in a preemptive strike.” This option, he said, should not be overlooked.
The statement by Navi Pillay, who heads the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, adds to the pressure for quicker action on Syria ahead of a key peace conference planned for Geneva in January. The conference, brought on by combined UN, US and Russian diplomacy, would for the first time bring the Assad government and opponents together for face-to-face negotiations.French envoy honors Hezbollah lawmakers in dinner reception
“As we look around the world at the end of 2013, we see examples of situations where that readiness of the international community to act in time is already being sorely tested,” Pillay told a news conference that touched on trouble spots around the world.
Patrick Paoli, France’s Ambassador to Lebanon, hosted a dinner reception in early November for two Hezbollah MPs and the political militia’s international affairs representative.Egyptian Nazi Party Leader Arrested
The Lebanon Daily Star reported the dinner gathering on Thursday. Hezbollah MPs Ali Fayyad and Nawwar Saheli along with international affairs member Ammar Moussawi were honored by Paoli.
It is unclear if the ambassador violated EU sanctions outlawing contact with the military wing of Hezbollah.
Egyptian Nazi Party leader Ramy Jan has reportedly been arrested by Egyptian military authorities, according to Arabic language reports.MEMRI: Uproar In Egypt Following Cancellation Of Bassem Youssef's Satirical TV Show
Jan—who was recently invited to, and then uninvited from, a forum at Georgetown University—was reportedly seized by authorities under “mysterious circumstances,” according to the Arabic newspaper Almesryoon.
Following the cancellation of the second episode Bassem Youssef spent a week in the UAE, during which his weekly column in the daily Al-Shurouq did not appear and no new messages were posted on his Twitter account, which is usually quite active. However, on November 12, 2013, after remaining silent for nearly two weeks, Youssef published a new article in Al-Shurouq in which he indirectly referred to the affair by sharply criticizing regimes that accuse artists and creators of treason simply because "they refuse to be led like a herd".
The decision to drop the program sparked a new wave of controversy in the Egyptian press, with some decrying the gagging of the media and others criticizing the amount of public attention the affair was receiving.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013Elder of Ziyonunrwa
You know how UNRWA pretends to be non-political and even-handed?"Everything stops," says Daulat. She doesn't just mean the refrigerator, the washing machine and other devices; this Palestine refugee mother means daily life in her neighbourhood of Shajaiya. "Electricity outages paralyze our entire life," she explains. Since the Gaza Power Plant stopped operating, on 1 November, she’s had to change her entire routine: "I sleep when the electricity is off, and I wake up when it's on."UNRWA knows very well that Israel has nothing to do with the Gaza fuel shortage. That is why a close reading shows that the article doesn't blame Israel directly - it cleverly uses past tense when it refers to Israeli restrictions on fuel (in 2009, for example, the old Nahal Oz terminal/pipeline was sometimes closed because of terror attacks.)
Power outages are something that Gaza has dealt with for years. Israel’s restrictions on the amount of fuel Gaza could import, together with supply from Egypt not always being reliable, meant regular cuts for homes and businesses, hospitals, schools and even basic infrastructure.
But after several years, the shortages have finally grown so severe that the plant can no longer operate at all. Blackouts now last for an average of 16 hours a day. With the essentials of daily life compressed into only a few hours, it is no wonder that Gaza and its residents - young and old, women, men and children alike - are tense and anxious.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013Elder of Ziyonantisemitism
Tuesday, December 03, 2013Elder of Ziyon
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has belatedly adopted recommendations by professional echelons of the defense establishment and is now allowing the transfer of building materials into Gaza for some large construction projects coordinated by international organizations.This is appropriate, as it mirrors the previous policy and I am unaware of any claim that construction materials for UNRWA and similar projects have been diverted by Hamas. They might complain privately if it happened, but the rumors would hit the anti-Hamas media.
Officials in the office of the coordinator of activities in the occupied territories have warned that continuing the prohibition on transferring construction materials to Gaza would lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the Strip and adversely affect security.
Ya’alon initially believed that the warnings were overstated, and that Israel should continue exacting a price from Hamas, following the discovery of the cross-border tunnel in the Western Negev. After further deliberation, Ya’alon has decided to partially adopt the recommendations, instructing the co-ordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, to prepare a plan for the partial removal of Israeli sanctions in the coming days, coordinated with the UN.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon recently talked to Ya’alon by phone to request that he approve the transfer of the materials, and even Egypt, whose actions brought about the present crisis, has made a similar appeal (even though it won’t change its own embargo.)
Ya’alon will only permit a partial easing, allowing the transport of materials needed for projects led by the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) and other international groups. In the past, Israel allowed in materials for such projects, believing that supervision would be tight and that none would ‘leak’ to Hamas for construction of fortifications. Ya’alon’s decision may also be linked to this week’s visit to Israel by United States Secretary of State John Kerry.
Defense sources told Haaretz that Ya’alon would not permit the transfer of materials beyond those needed for these specific projects, out of concern that they would serve for construction of additional offensive tunnels. Israel is worried that further deterioration in Gaza’s economy will make it harder for Hamas to restrain the smaller organizations and to enforce the ceasefire with Israel.
Monday, December 02, 2013Elder of ZiyonThe only problem is that Seidemann was attacked by Arabs.Two weeks ago, a friend of mine, Danny Seideman, a Jerusalem lawyer who works pro bono on settlement Issues respecting Palestinians threatened by displacement, had his car stoned in East Jerusalem. He himself suffered a concussion. No suspects have been identified.
Given established patterns, however, the likely perpetrators are ultra-nationalist members of the settler movement, the fulfillment of whose goals would be the displacement of Palestinians and the incorporation of the entire West Bank Into a greater Israel.
Among Israelis, debate on their country's future is, to their credit, universal and wide-ranging. There have been a variety of responses, from a very slim few welcoming the attack to the great majority who see it as a transgression of Zionist ideals. Indeed, Mr. Seideman has received messages of regret and concern from a number of the settlement communities' leadership.
...Mr. Netanyahu - as did his predecessors - has an immediate problem, illustrated by the "Seideman incident." That problem is the willingness of the ultras increasingly to violate Israeli law in pursuit of their vision of a Greater Israel. A kind of theological fervor governs their behavior, albeit a common and pervasive phenomenon elsewhere In the region. For, as they believe, one cannot ignore the will of the Deity?
Such is the conundrum of Zionism today: The mainstream's goal being the establishment of a Jewish democratic national state; the religious nationalists' being the control of the land as the instrument of redemption, in some cases at whatever cost. The seed of defiance stems largely from the latter's drive to settle the densely Palestinian populated Samarian mountain ridge. Largely these high points but not only the ridge. [sic] Mr. Seideman has been most active respecting the Elad settlers' movement in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood just outside the Old City's walls, beneath which the earliest foundations of Jewish Jerusalem lie.
@ymedad Of course I didn't. I just saw the article now, and immediately notified him of his error.
— Daniel Seidemann (@DanielSeidemann) December 3, 2013
@DanielSeidemann It's not "an error" if it's predicated on an entirely bogus hypothesis blaming Jews based on "established patterns"
— ymedad (@ymedad) December 3, 2013
I actually was a student under Professor Bell when I attended the University of Windsor, and I will attest that it is more out of bias than it is ignorance. As being, quite possibly, the only pro-Israel student in a class that had 25-30% Arabs, he certainly puts a lot of blame of the conflict upon the religious Israelis, but he's fully aware that the Palestinians are not saints either.
Mr. Medad.My guess is that he will change it to a generic anti-settler screed without mentioning once the truth about stone throwers in the Jerusalem area, since that is a fact that must be hidden from the world.
I take your point.
My information was received early on but was incorrect.
It needs to be made good.
I've taken corrective action.
I take you point that I incorrectly reported the Seideman incident based on breaking news.The first time the news was breaking was from Seidemann himself making clear that he was attacked by Arabs, so this is disingenuous.
Indeed Palestinians were responsible and deserve the condemnation.
Two weeks ago, a friend of mine, Danny Seideman, a Jerusalem lawyer who works pro bono on settlement issues respecting Palestinians threatened by displacement, had his car stoned in East Jerusalem. He himself suffered a concussion. No suspects have been identified. Both Israelis and Palestinians are beset by radicals. This time however those throwing stones were Palestinians. This I have confirmed with Danny. They must be roundly condemned.
Likewise, it’s not unwarranted to assume that had an Israeli head of state described any of Israel’s neighbors as subhuman, as vermin deserving extermination, Obama would be beside himself with vehement denunciation.Toddler wounded in Jerusalem rock attack released from hospital
Had Israel’s preeminent ruling party openly and with publicly sanctioned impunity threatened to abduct Palestinians or to rain rockets on peace-partners, the hue-and-cry from the White House would have been deafening and would have been followed by tangible and substantial retaliatory action.
Avigail Ben-Zion, the two-year-old toddler who was moderately wounded last Thursday when a rock was thrown at the car she was traveling in with her mother and siblings in Jerusalem's Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, was released from Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center on Sunday.Caught on Video: Arab Rock Ambush
The child, who suffered a head wound, spent the weekend receiving treatment in Hadassah's Pediatric Surgery Unit.
Four residents of the neighborhood of Sur Baher in east Jerusalem were arrested early Friday morning in connection to the case.
The event was caught on video by the man's car cam. This may be the first time such an attack is caught on video in real time, although rock attacks are common in Judea and Samaria, and have become regular occurences in Jerusalem as well. A large rock thrown into a car hurtling down a road can easily kill or maim the driver and passengers, or cause the driver to lose control of the car.PMW:
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians restarted in late July. Although they have continued out of the media spotlight, reports have mounted that that two sides have reached an impasse.PA Official: Jews 'Defile' Al-Aqsa (Temple Mount)
Last week, senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath said negotiations with Israel have already failed, and that the prospect of freeing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails is all that’s keeping the talks alive. Top negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters that the world needs to get tough with Israel over its continued settlement building to ensure the remaining five months of talks won’t be wasted.
Ahmed Qureia, a former "prime minister" of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist organization (PLO), claimed Sunday that "International involvement in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) enables Israel to continue its 'occupation', and for settlers to continue to defile some of Islam's holiest places."Jews who visit Temple Mount are "monkeys and pigs" - teacher on PA TV Live
Beinart doesn’t stop there. Of Elie Wiesel’s statement about Jerusalem that “for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines,” he writes bluntly, “Sadly, this is false.” On what grounds? Has Israel shut down a mosque or a church? Has it even intervened while the Islamic Waqf carts away archeological treasures from the Jewish Temple? No. The only basis for this claim is travel restrictions into Israel (and according to Israeli law, Jerusalem is in Israel) which affect Muslims coming from outside, particularly from the territories of the Palestinian Authority. Israel has been in control of a united Jerusalem for nearly five decades now. If it were an Israeli policy goal to prevent access to holy sites, this would have been uniformly implemented. For most of this period, however, access has been completely free. (h/t NormanF)A Month of Horror for Christians under Islam: September 2013
The same month that Obama tried to wage war on behalf of the jihadi rebels in Syria (citing "human rights" concerns), some of the war's worst atrocities were committed against that nation's Christian minority, most notably in Ma'loula, an ancient Christian region where the inhabitants spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus.BBC amplification of organised anti-Israel delegitimising campaign
There, al-Qaeda-linked jihadis fired mortars and missiles into at least two ancient churches before looting them; some 80 Christians trying to defend their homes were killed. Others who could not flee were forced, on pain of death, to convert to Islam.
Promotion of the November 30th ‘Day of Rage’ events outside Israel has also been carried out by known anti-Israel campaigners such as Yael Kahn (no stranger to the BBC), Ben White writing on the Hamas-linked MEMO site and of course the flotilla-participating, Hamas-supporting Palestine Solidarity Campaign.The Guardian once again disguises the reality of unrecognized Bedouin “villages”
Hence, the BBC’s portrayal of these demonstrations as spontaneous protests initiated by Bedouin living in the Negev is – at best – a very partial representation of the facts. However, it can also be viewed as aiding and abetting a political campaign which now exploits the Bedouin issue for a much wider and older agenda of delegitimisation and that perception is reinforced by the fact that the BBC article links to an organised campaigning letter signed (at the click of a mouse on the PSC website) by a collection of known anti-Israel campaigners and former ‘celebs’ and published – naturally – in the Guardian.
Leaving aside the absurd idea that people who had till quite recent times led itinerant lives moving across vast distances of the Middle East with no fixed national identity can be now labeled “Palestinian Bedouin” like politically correct produce in an organic food co-op, the article (and letter) conjure up visions of camel-riding nomads being forced to fold their goat-skin tents and leave from vast stretches of Sahara-like dunes.Canadian PM affirms support for Israel, announces visit in January
The Guardian once again is trying to promote the idea that these are Bedouin living in little villages that are the equivalent of the quaint villages one sees in reruns of “Midsommer Murders”. The reality, however, is far different.
Harper, a staunch supporter of Israel, made the announcement at a JNF-KKL fundraising event in Toronto held in his honor Sunday evening, where it was also revealed that a bird sanctuary in the Hula Valley would be named after the prime minister.Anti-Israel Demonstrators Target JNF Event in Toronto
“I am honored by this particular gift…I value it [because] it is where it is. It is in that homeland of the Jewish people and that light of freedom and democracy in what is otherwise a region of darkness — the State of Israel,” Harper said in his opening remarks.
“These are dark days,” the prime minister went on, explaining that Ottawa and Jerusalem share common values but also common threats. (h/t Bob Knot)
Responding to the protests, JNF World Chairman Efi Stenzler said, "This is an incident which is part of a long-standing false campaign of de-legitimization that has targeted the State of Israel and the Jewish National Fund in particular. These and other actions will not deter the Jewish National Fund and its supporters around the world from continuing to represent the State of Israel and working to strengthen it.”Netanyahu gives pope his late father’s book on the Inquisition
Netanyahu presented a Spanish translation of the 1995 book, “The Origins of the Inquisition,” to Francis during their 25-minute closed-door meeting, as well as a Hanukkah menorah.Lighting up Africa with Israeli technology
Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Netanyahu, was an Israeli historian who died last year. A Zionist activist who opposed partitioning Palestine between Arabs and Jews, he was best known in academic circles for his research into the Catholic Church’s medieval inquisition against the Jews of Spain.
Enter Innovation: Africa, an Israeli organization that specializes in bringing power to the power-less in Africa. The group set up a solar energy system for the Kaliro School, which gave the kids not only the gift of light, but that of time as well; with the extra hours of light, the school was able to run evening programs, giving children greater opportunities to learn how to read and write.Volun-touring in Israel
It was just another day at the office for Sivan Ya’ari, founder and president of Innovation: Africa, which for the past five years has been bringing not only solar power, but also clean water, food and medical care to more than 500,000 people in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda.
The Israeli organization GoEco matches socially conscious tourists with ecological programs throughout the country, such as wildlife and desert conservation programs.Mekorot to improve Mexico’s water quality
Watch how eco-tourists in Israel gain a unique perspective on sustaining the land that is holy to so many people.
The first of its kind cooperation agreement between Mekorot Group and CONAGUA (the Mexican national water commission) was signed in the presence of President of Israel Shimon Peres, who is visiting Mexico, and the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto.‘Video games are good for kids’
“The choice of Mexico inspires pride and respect, and also represents reaffirmation of Mekorot’s global mobility in providing solutions for problems and crises, especially in light of the current global water crisis,” said CEO of Mekorot, Shimon Ben Hamo.
Video games are actually good for children, a new Israeli study has found, much to the dismay of (most) parents who automatically think of the violence inherent in games like Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Call of Duty.SiSense wins ‘Take the H.E.L.M.’ contest and its $250,000 prize
The research, done by The Center for Educational Technology, asserts that video games — even violent ones — are beneficial for children on a scale much bigger than originally thought. The claims are in contradiction to other studies that found that extended gaming led to depression, anxiety and stunted social development, not to mention the physical effects brought on by long hours of sitting. Some studies have also linked between video games and increased violent behavior in children, arguing that simulated violence leads to real-life violence.
SiSense, the Big Data Analytics Company, has announced that it is winner of the global “Take the H.E.L.M.” competition, along with its $250,000 prize. The win comes just days after SiSense CTO Eldad Farkash won the World Technology Award for his invention of In-Chip big data analytics. SiSense helps business users make sense of big data without the need for a data science team or expensive hardware to deploy. Its unique In-Chip technology can analyze 100X more data at 10x the speed of traditional in-memory solutions.Former intel agent discovers Jews in mass ‘Christian’ graves
Kszonzenice in 2004, fledgling guide and former secret service agent Yaki Gantz’s two worlds collided when he found a mass grave with 45 anonymous numbers written on a gravestone.Rare Century-Old Photos from the Oregon State University Archives, Part 2
After a short investigation he discovered that following a nearby mass murder in 1945, the local priest had gathered the 45 unidentified bodies and copied the numbers he found on their arms, which were carved on the gravestone.
Gantz turned to Yad Vashem and in a joint effort they were able to identity 19 of the Jewish victims buried in the mass grave.
We continue with more photos and original captions from the Oregon State University Archives. The captions provide a fascinating commentary on historical understanding of areas in the Holy Land a century ago, including a comment about "Jewish Zionists." The pictures are dated as "circa 1910."
Monday, December 02, 2013Elder of ZiyonChanukah
Monday, December 02, 2013Elder of Ziyon
Monday, December 02, 2013Elder of Ziyon
Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM
