12/05 Links Pt1: Pallywood: How Palestinians turn stone throwers into victims, Hamas Calls for 3rd Intifada

From Ian:

---

NYT: U.S., Stepping Up Role, Will Present West Bank Security Proposal to Israel

American officials plan to present the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with detailed ideas about security arrangements on the West Bank under a possible peace agreement with the Palestinians, senior State Department officials said on Wednesday.
The presentation is to be made to Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday by John R. Allen, the former American commander in Afghanistan and a retired Marine general who serves as an adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry on the Middle East peace talks.

Obama’s Plan Won’t Persuade Palestinians

While lamenting his lack of military leverage over Israel, Erekat stated again that despite even the Obama administration’s acceptance of the idea of territorial swaps that would accommodate Israeli settlement blocks, the PA’s idea of a two-state solution remained the “1967 border.” But aside from inflexibility on territory rooted in a desire to ethnically cleanse the West Bank and much of Jerusalem of hundreds of thousands of Jews and refusing to disavow the “right of return” for the descendants of the 1948 refugees, Erekat also signaled that any peace deal would not end the conflict: (h/t NormanF)

Mr. Erekat told the diplomats that the Palestinians could never accede to Israel’s demand that they recognize it as the nation-state of the Jewish people. “I cannot change my narrative,” he said. “The essence of peace is not to convert each other’s stories.”

Why is Erekat’s stance so crucial?
Palestinian apologists dismiss Israeli demands that the Palestinians simply accept that whatever territory is left to the Jews after a theoretical deal is a Jewish state as irrelevant to a deal. What difference, we are asked, does it make whether the Palestinians accept Israel as the Jewish state so long as they accept the concept of peace and take what is offered them? But it does matter so long as the Palestinian leadership continues enable a political culture that is rooted in rejection of Israel’s legitimacy.

Amman said to back Israeli demands on Jordan Valley

Jordan has been pushing the United States to support Israel’s position that it needs to maintain a security presence in the Jordan Valley under any agreement with the Palestinians.
Israel is expected to coordinate with Amman to drive home the message this week to the Americans — especially Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in the region Thursday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials — that keeping the IDF on the Jordan River is crucial to regional stability, a Thursday report in the Israeli daily Maariv said. (h/t Yoel)

Danny Danon: 'Tell Obama: No, We Can't'

"Secretary Kerry is coming to Israel again. We cannot count how many times he came already. We welcome him to Israel but we should tell him very clearly – we will not sign an interim agreement that will put the lives of Israelis in danger.
"We saw what happened in Geneva. A bad accord was signed in Geneva. We will not sign another bad accord with the Palestinians,” he said, referring to the deal reached between western powers and Iran over the latter's nuclear program. That deal has been lambasted by Israeli leaders for being too lenient on the Iranian regime as it pursues a suspected nuclear weapons program.
Danon added that Israel "cannot compromise our security" for "another ceremony in the White House".

Erekat: Israel is trying to sabotage the peace process

Prosor: Palestinians 'playing games' in peace talks
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the resignation of Palestinian negotiators this week from peace talks with Israel is a "pretext to exit the talks."
Prosor called the move a strategic tactic— either to genuinely sabotage the talks, or to cajole more concessions from the Israeli government.
"Playing games is a no-no," Prosor said, especially in light of the murder of an Israeli soldier at the hands of a 16-year-old Palestinian in Afula.

‘Arafat is still dead’: Guardian ‘mentions’ French report that he was NOT poisoned

The French report found that Arafat’s death in 2004 was caused by the effects of “old age following a generalised infection”, and ruled out the possibility that he was poisoned. In contrast to the paper’s saturation coverage of the Swiss findings, Sherwood’s latest story on the new report was not featured on the Guardian’s home page, and was consigned to page 19 in the print edition of the paper.
Of course, the conclusions of the French team are not at all surprising in the context of many facts previously revealed about the case,

BBC amplifies Hizballah propaganda yet again

Just a couple of weeks ago the BBC was amplifying Iranian propaganda on the subject of the terror attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut – see here and here. In this article (as well as in a separate one) it now adds Hizballah propaganda to its cocktail of unfounded accusations surrounding that incident.
The BBC clearly has a problem knowing how to relate to the streams of all too predictable propaganda regularly produced by regimes and terrorist organisations in the Middle East. Its current practice of uncritical repetition and amplification of baseless rumour, conspiracy theories and propaganda is clearly incompatible with its obligation to “build a global understanding of international issues” and its self-declared aspiration to “remain the standard-setter for international journalism”.

More Pallywood: How Palestinians turn their stone throwers into victims

In the past couple of weeks there have been an increasing number of incidents involving Palestinian stone throwers. In the worst case, two-year-old Avigail Ben Zion suffered a head injury after her mother’s car was stoned in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.
But injuring Israeli toddlers distracts from the Palestinian narrative of perpetual victimization. This might go some way to explaining this story published today (December 4) by the Palestinian Information Center: (h/t Bob Knot)

Palestinian Terrorists Determined to Kidnap Israeli Soldiers

Since the beginning of 2013, terrorists have attempted dozens of kidnapping attacks, and their motivation to abduct soldiers remains high. The goal of their efforts is clear: to trade IDF soldiers – captured dead or alive – for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
On October 18, 2011, Israelis everywhere celebrated the release of Sergeant First Class Gilad Shalit after five years in terrorist captivity. On that day, Hamas terrorists freed SFC Shalit – an IDF soldier whom they kidnapped in 2006 – in exchange for about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Despite the overjoyed reaction in Israel, the threat of kidnapping has remained high ever since. Until today, Palestinian terrorists view the capture of SFC Shalit as a key accomplishment, increasing their determination to kidnap Israelis and trade them for Palestinian prisoners.

Police nab 6 alleged accomplices in soldier’s death

Six suspects were arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder of IDF soldier Eden Atias three weeks ago, following a joint investigation by police and the Israel Security Agency.
The suspects will reportedly be charged in the coming days with illegally employing, assisting, and hosting the accused killer, 16-year-old Hussein Sharif Rawarda.

Dutch Parliament Approves Motion to Shame PA for Rewarding Terrorists

The Dutch Parliament approved a motion that had been under discussion since 2011, calling on the government to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end its practice of offering financial incentives for killing Israelis in terror attacks.
The motion, passed by an overwhelming majority, noted that PA payments to convicted terrorists increase based on the length of sentence, encouraging even more heinous crimes to reap the full benefit. The wording referenced how monthly payments to Palestinians in prison can range from €282 ($208) for someone jailed for less than three years to up to €2,419 for a sentence of 30 years or more.

PMW: Released prisoner: "We'd chat, talk, eat, drink, joke and play"

Israel recently released 52 of 104 imprisoned terrorists to accommodate the Palestinian Authority's precondition to return to negotiations. Palestinian Media Watch documented that the terrorists, who were all murderers, were received by the PA leadership as heroes. As part of its ongoing glorification of the terrorists, PA TV interviewed Asrar Samrin who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Israeli Tzvi Klein (Dec. 3, 1991). The murderer explained that "the first question all Israeli media ask every released prisoner is: 'Do you regret what you did or not?'" His answer was:

"Through the great PA TV, I say to the Israelis: There is no Palestinian who did something for the homeland and his nation who will regret it. We don't regret what we did and we will not regret what we did."

Hamas Interior Minister Calls for Third Intifada and Declares: We Will Establish Islamic Caliphate

In a public address in Gaza on November 13, Hamas Minister of the Interior Fathi Hammad proclaimed: "We shall liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque, and our cities and villages, as a prelude to the establishment of the future Islamic Caliphate." In the address, which was broadcast by the Hamas Al-Aqsa TV channel, Hammad called on Fatah to cease negotiations with Israel and declared: "We shall be coming with a third Intifada, an armed revolution, a Jihadi revolution," in which "Gaza and the West Bank will fuse together, along with our brothers within the 1948 borders... in order to uproot the Jews."

Kissinger, Shultz: Under Iran Deal, Previously Illegal Activity is Accepted as Baseline

For 10 years, U.N. resolutions and International Atomic Energy Agency directives called for a full halt to all of Iran’s uranium enrichment and plutonium production, and unconditional compliance with nuclear inspections, but now, what “was previously condemned as illegal and illegitimate has effectively been recognized as a baseline,” former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz wrote in an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
“And that baseline program is of strategic significance. For Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium is coupled with an infrastructure sufficient to enrich it within a few months to weapons-grade, as well as a plausible route to producing weapons-grade plutonium in the installation now being built at Arak,” the two experts in statecraft wrote of the recent agreement reached between wold powers and Iran.

Iran Arrests 16 for Helping 'Anti-Government Websites'

The official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmad Ghorbani, a local prosecutor in Kerman in southeast Iran, as saying the 16 are facing charges of cooperating with Western and anti-Iran news networks.
Ghorbani did not say when the 16 were detained but said confessions obtained during interrogations prove the charges against the defendants.
The 16 were not identified by name, but were accused of providing materials to websites seeking to topple Iran's Islamic ruling system, according to AP.
IRNA's report said some of the defendants had attended training sessions in Turkey and Malaysia.

Former Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. and Former Intelligence Chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal to Obama: Wake Up, Sleepy One; U.S. and Saudi Arabia Experiencing Crisis of Confidence


Despite Denials By Iranian Regime, Statements By Majlis Member And Reports In Iran Indicate Involvement Of Iranian Troops In Syria Fighting

Recently, the Iranian media has published numerous reports about Iran's extensive military involvement in fighting for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, including reports on funerals of Iranian troops killed there. Nevertheless, the Iranian regime is sticking to its story that it is not involved in any way in the fighting, and rejecting Arab and Western countries' accusations that it is doing so. The Arab countries' position was reflected in statements by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, whose country is Iran's leading critic on this issue, during a November 4, 2013 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, where he demanded that Iran withdraw both Iranian and Hizbullah forces from Syria.

IDF using life-saving new field treatment for Syrian war wounded

He did reveal, however, that dozens of Syrians have been given a new life-saving treatment that the IDF has recently introduced into the medical corps but has yet to use on an Israeli soldier. Holding a glass bottle of freeze-dried plasma, he said that blood loss, within the first hour after injury, is the primary cause of death for soldiers in the field. Ordinary plasma, known as fresh frozen plasma, must be kept at a minimum of -25 degrees Celsius and is therefore only administered at hospitals with the appropriate freezers. The FDP, made by the German Red Cross, can be kept in a simple refrigerator or even at room temperature. Mixed with IV fluid, the powdered unit of plasma can be intravenously introduced to a patient within minutes.

Read More

"Sharia the source of all legislation" in Libya

And it was the "moderates" who pushed it through!

Libya’s national assembly voted on Wednesday to make Islamic law, or sharia, the source of all legislation, in an apparent bid by moderate Islamists to outflank ultra-conservative militants who have been gaining influence.

...[L]awmakers suggested at least part of the reason for the statement from the General National Congress (GNC) was political.

As in Tunisia and Egypt, where autocratic leaders were also ousted in the Arab Spring revolts, Libya has seen fierce debate over the role of Islam in its new democracy with the rise of ultraconservative Islamists long suppressed by Qaddafi.

The hardline group Ansar al-Sharia, blamed for the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, has been attempting to extend its influence, and has accused some assembly members of being un-Islamic. Its militants have clashed with the armed forces in the east of the country.

So to head off the Islamists, the "moderates" decide to embrace Islamism.

And we all know how easily ultra-militant jihadist hardliners are appeased by things like this.

The constitutions of other Arab countries that are not yet Islamist would generally say something like Sharia is a main source of legislation, not the only source.

Read More

PA arrests prominent businessman who insulted Abbas

From Khaled Abu Toameh at Gatestone:

Palestinian businessmen planning to invest in the West Bank economy have once again been reminded of the challenges facing anyone who wants to do business with the Palestinian Authority.

One of the businessmen, Mohamed Al Sabawi, a Canadian investor of Palestinian origin, was this week arrested by Palestinian Authority policemen in Ramallah after publicly criticizing Mahmoud Abbas.

Al Sabawi, 68, is Director-General of the Ahlia Insurance Group, a firm that employs hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank. His arrest is seen as part of a campaign by the Palestinian Authority to intimidate and extort money from prominent and wealthy businessmen who seek to help strengthen the Palestinian economy.

Palestinian Authority policemen raided Al Sabawi's office and arrested him on suspicion that he had called on Palestinians to topple Abbas.

Al Sabawi was held for nine hours at a police station in Ramallah, where he was accused of "insulting" Abbas and "obstructing" the work of police officers.

The second charge relates to an incident on November 18, when officers belonging to the Palestinian Authority's Presidential Guard stormed the building housing the Ahlia Insurance Group in order to occupy the roof as part of measures to secure the visit of French President François Hollande to Ramallah.

Al Sabawi tried to prevent the security officers from entering the building, but to no avail. Frustrated, he declared in front of TV crews, "The people want the downfall of Mahmoud Abbas!"

Al Sabawi probably thought that his status as a prominent investor would provide him with some kind of immunity. Of course, he turned out to be wrong.

It is not unusual for the Palestinian Authority to crack down on Palestinians who dare to criticize Abbas. Over the past few years, a number of Palestinian journalists, bloggers and politicians have been targeted by the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank for publicly criticizing Abbas, especially through social media networking.

But clamping down on journalists and bloggers is not the same as arresting or intimidating businessmen and investors. The case of Al Sabawi will undoubtedly scare potential investors and convince them that investing in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities is a dangerous idea.

Once again, human rights NGOs are silent. They will sometimes mention that Fatah and Hamas police arrest members of the other group, but arrests because of insulting the president is not a problem. There is a bigger narrative, you see, and Israel is the real problem; everything else is just a distraction.

(h/t Josh K)

Read More

"Human rights organizations" ignoring Rafah crossing

Maher Abu Sabha, Hamas' director of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, said that Egypt promised to open the crossing next week, although it was unclear exactly when or for how many days.

The crossing, the only direct connection between Gazans and the Arab world, has been closed for seven days in a row and has been open only sporadically for months. Even when it is open, only a fraction of the daily passenger traffic allowed under the previous Egyptian regime has been allowed to trickle through in both directions. The average number of travelers allowed to cross in June averaged over 1800 people daily, but in November during the days Rafah was open the number of people allowed across averaged closer to 100 a day - in either direction. This includes patients who need to go to Egypt for medical reasons. This is far less than the number allowed to cross the Erez crossing into Israel.

This is roughly a 95% reduction in the ability of Gazans to travel to Egypt.

Here is a calendar of Rafah's status since the end of October:

Rafah Closure Calendar October-December 2013

S	M	Tu	W	Th	F	S
Oct 27	28	29	30	31	Nov 1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Dec 1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14

If you look at the websites of major human rights organizations and search for "Rafah," however, you will find very little.

Amnesty International last mentioned Rafah in its annual report on Israel in May, before the regime change, and they used it to condemn Israel:

More people were able to travel through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt than during previous years, despite continuing restrictions, but permits for travel to the West Bank remained rare and difficult to obtain, even for patients requiring urgent medical treatment.

It is clearly an issue that Amnesty tracks - and there has been utter silence from them.

Human Rights Watch similarly only briefly mentioned Rafah in their annual report on Israel in January, saying that Egypt was improving in that area. Since the coup - not a word.

Notice also that when Egypt improves something, it is worth mentioning; when things get worse, it isn't. Which is the exact opposite of the case with Israel, which over the past couple of years has done numerous things to help ordinary Gazans - working with farmers to help them export crops, increasing exports of goods from Gaza, spending money to improve the Kerem Shalom crossing, and more. None of that is mentioned.

Oxfam is the only major human rights NGO that has mentioned Rafah, very briefly, in the last paragraph or its report on Gaza a year after Cast Lead:

The agency also called on the Government of Egypt to ensure that official crossings at Rafah are open for Palestinian people and goods.

It does not elaborate on how Egypt has effectively closed Rafah during the year.

From reading the material on these sites, no one would have any idea that Egypt has turned Gaza into a prison - the wording routinely used to describe Israel's actions in Gaza. The situation is clearly familiar to these organizations and they are deliberately ignoring it, while writing dozens of reports condemning Israel. Its reveals that the human rights of Gazans takes a back seat to condemning Israel, in the eyes of these NGOs.

The bias could not be clearer.

Read More

IDF helps arrange day trips for Palestinian Arab kids with cancer

From COGAT:

Last Friday (22.11.13), Palestinian children with cancer were treated to a daylong outing with their families in Tel Aviv. The day was organized by the organization Salemetcom as well as the Staff Officers of the Health Department in the Civil Administration. The day provided the children with a brief respite, some time to forget about the treatments and hospital routine they go through every day. In order for these children to be provided with the best healthcare possible, their specialized oncology treatment in the Israeli hospital Hadassah Ein Kerem is coordinated between the Health Office of the Civil Administration and the Palestinian Authority Health Office.

The day began with a trip to the Florentin Circus in Kfar Yarok where the children enjoyed the rides and attractions available there, although the clear favorite was the soap bubble pool. Snacks was provided by the large array of culinary options that the Circus had available, and lunch was then had on the Jaffa Promenade. The day concluded with a beach party for all the families that had been arranged specifically for them.

There are many sick Palestinians who receive top notch healthcare in hospitals within Israel, due to the fact that the health infrastructure of the Palestinian Authority is still developing, and not always able to provide for all of their constituents. COGAT ensures that those who are not able to be treated by the Palestinian Authority are given all that they need to receive the treatment they need. The coordinator of the Health Office for the Civil Administration, Daliah Bassah, is responsible for all aspects of coordination and communication between the respective sides.

"I believe that both the children and their families received a unique experience today, something that is not always possible for children with these medical conditions" said Bassah. "Medical treatment is not just about the actual medicine, there must be more. There also needs to be something that gives them the strength to keep fighting".

"We in COGAT try to do everything we can in order to ease the way that these children receive their treatment, so that they can save their strength for fighting their illness" concluded Bassah. "From days like today, these children get renewed strength that provides them with hope for many more days".

Salametcom appears to be run by Jerusalem Arabs, as far as I can tell. Good for them.

Read More

American Studies Association endorses BDS (poster)

We reported on the American Studies Association debates on boycotting Israel. They are now recommending an academic boycott.

From the ASA:

(1) Whereas the American Studies Association is committed to the pursuit of social justice, to the struggle against all forms of racism, including anti-semitism, discrimination, and xenophobia, and to solidarity with aggrieved peoples in the United States and in the world;

(2) Whereas the United States plays a significant role in enabling the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the expansion of illegal settlements and the Wall in violation of international law, as well as in supporting the systematic discrimination against Palestinians, which has had documented devastating impact on the overall well-being, the exercise of political and human rights, the freedom of movement, and the educational opportunities of Palestinians;

(3) Whereas there is no effective or substantive academic freedom for Palestinian students and scholars under conditions of Israeli occupation, and Israeli institutions of higher learning are a party to Israeli state policies that violate human rights and negatively impact the working conditions of Palestinian scholars and students;

(4) Whereas the American Studies Association is cognizant of Israeli scholars and students who are critical of Israeli state policies and who support the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement under conditions of isolation and threat of sanction;

(5) Whereas the American Studies Association is dedicated to the right of students and scholars to pursue education and research without undue state interference, repression, and military violence, and in keeping with the spirit of its previous statements supports the right of students and scholars to intellectual freedom and to political dissent as citizens and scholars;

(6) It is resolved that (a) the American Studies Association (ASA) endorses and will honor the call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. It is also resolved that (b) the ASA supports the protected rights of students and scholars everywhere to engage in research and public speaking about Israel-Palestine and in support of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.

You truly need to be an academic to be so stupid as to endorse this.

1) The ASA clearly doesn't believe in "social justice" for Israeli Jews.

2) Besides the obvious falsehoods that are taken as a given, if they say that the US is complicit in all these supposed crimes, chouldn't US academic institutions be boycotted as well?

3) Really? No "effective or substantive academic freedom" under the PA? So all the graduates of Palestinian Arab universities are being taught Israeli propaganda? Or are they simply no graduates because of that onerous "occupation?"

4) Really??? Criticism of professors who want to see Israel disappear is against academic freedom???

5) Exactly how free are students in Palestinian universities to espouse pro-Israel positions? How many pro-Israel professors are there? Where are the published papers and articles that support the existence of Israel as a Jewish state? How much intellectual freedom really exists in the very universities the ASA pretends so much to care about?

a) Is there any logical or causal relationship - at all - between the earlier clauses and the resolution?

But the second part is simply classic. It seems to be an override clause - if any Israeli academic supports BDS, then they are allowed to act with no restrictions.

In other words, the ASA doesn't just endorse BDS. They are against academic freedom for any Israelis who oppose BDS!  Their position is the only valid position in academia - and this is in the name of academic freedom!

The mind boggles.

In case your eyes glazed over trying to find the tiniest amount of logic in this nonsensical resolution, I have taken the liberty to synopsize it for you:

If you are an ASA member and want to vote against this travesty of a resolution, or you know an ASA member, the webpage is here.

Read More

12/04 Links Pt2: UK should expel Richard Falk, Norwegian Group apologizes to Israel for Oslo

From Ian:

---

Hillel Neuer: Why the UK should expel UN official Richard Falk

This evening in Britain, Richard Falk – the UN official whose mandate is to investigate “Israel’s violations of the principles and bases of international law” – will speak at the University of East Anglia, at the invitation of a Green Party activist.
Months after Britain denied entry to two U.S. bloggers whom it accused of promoting anti-Islamic sentiment, it is far from clear why the government is now applying a double standard by welcoming Falk – a notorious Hamas supporter, 9/11 conspiracist, and promoter of anti-Semitic theories, cartoons, and books – whom the UK government itself has officially condemned on at least three separate occasions for promoting what it described as anti-Semitism.

Norwegian group coming to Knesset to apologize for Oslo Accords

The group will be delivering an apology for the Oslo Accords, which passed in 1993 and 1995, to Deputy Knesset Speaker Gila Gamliel (Likud), the co-chair of the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus and a vigorous opponent of the accords from the start. They will also apologize for other policies of their government.
“Forgive us Israel as a nation for the Oslo Agreement dividing up the Land of Israel, for the money from Norway ending up supporting terrorist organizations, for not moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s eternal undivided capital Jerusalem, for not standing up to defend Israel in a world with increasing hostility, and for the anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist attitude of politicians and media in Norway,” the apology says.

German football club FSV Frankfurt ends Saudi airline contract because of Israel boycott

The Frankfurt-based FSV second league football club terminated its advertising contract with the Saudi Arabia airline "Saudia“ because the airline refuses to sell tickets to Israeli citizens. The Berliner Morgenpost reported the termination on Wedneday in an article titled “Second division Frankfurt ends sponsorship because of anti-Semitism.”
“Despite the request of FSV for a statement to the allegations , Saudi Arabia’s airline , as a state-owned Airline, referred the matter to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Berlin. For this reason, both sides decided to cancel the contractual relationship,” said the FSV club.

Edwin Black Uncovers Terrorist Financers in the U.S.

Americans tend to think of a 501(c)(3) tax exemption as the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” from the U.S. Government, indicating that the organization does work of which the government approves. Not necessarily.
In Financing the Flames, Edwin Black reveals his meticulous research on “human rights” organizations that use charitable funds for distinctly non-charitable purposes. Incitement, promotion of boycotts, lobbying, and the delegitimization of the IDF and the state of Israel among both Israelis and the international community are their common characteristics. B’Tselem and the New Israel Fund (NIF) are thoroughly dissected financially and ideologically; NIF’s open political lobbying in the U.S. is particularly well documented and should call its tax-exempt status into question.

BBC Plugs Jihadi Charities

Much of the media seems to subscribe to the naïve notion that honorable endeavors attract only those with honorable ideas. Even if these Islamist charities solely pursue charitable objectives, however, they have apparently planned a supplementary purpose for these convoys: establishing terror-aligned Islamism, through the provision of social welfare, as an indispensible component of an anti-Assad Syria.
This phenomenon is not even new: it has been examined before in a piece about Interpal -- a British charity that works with the Palestinian terror group, Hamas -- in which it was made clear that charitable support for terror groups' social services only helps justify and fund the terror groups' violence.
An important step towards tackling this problem would be an undertaking by members of the media -- especially the BBC, funded by taxpayers -- to start living up to their minimal professional obligations by taking a straightforward look at the ideas and persons behind these charitable groups, which they falsely portray as paragons of virtue.

Ambassador Is Proxy Target for Israel’s Foes

Moreover, the administration should be glad that in Dermer they have someone with a direct line to the prime minister. If there are further misunderstandings between the two countries, it will clearly be due to the White House’s decision to ignore the Israelis rather than any miscommunications. Though Israel’s critics would prefer to have someone in Dermer’s place who would soft-pedal the country’s valid positions on life and death issues, the idea that the ambassador is disqualified because of his American connections says more about a desire to silence or marginalize him than it does about his suitability for the job. (h/t NormanF)

Harriet Sherwood refers to future Israeli cities in the Negev as “Jewish settlements”

First, as with all Israeli cities, citizens of all faiths will be permitted to live in all new communities built in the Negev, and it is therefore inaccurate to describe them as “Jewish”.
Even more noteworthy, however, is her use of the word “settlements” to characterize these future towns. These new cities, such as Hiran (currently a cluster of Bedouin encampments in what’s called Umm al-Hiran, 30 km from Beer Sheva), will be established in the Israeli Negev – that is, within the state’s boundaries as they were envisioned even under the UN Partition Plan of 1947, and as the boundaries were established under the 1949 armistice agreement.

Islamic Movement: All Negev Lands Belong to Islam

In an official statement released earlier this week, the movement blessed the violent protesters, calling them "heroes" for their "honorable battle stance" against the "fascist" Israeli government. The movement claims that Israel is "racist" for trying to "expel the Arabs from the Negev and confiscate the their land."
"We oppose and condemn the plans for the establishment of Jewish villages on Arab land to be confiscated in the Negev, and we see that [Israel has] a record of sadism, racism and contempt for all the Arabs."

Arabs Accuse Israel of Deploying Trees as Soldiers in the Negev

Arabs in Canada tried to protest an appearance by Canadian Prime Stephen Harper at a Jewish National Fund of Canada event because trees that the JNF plants are “soldiers in the Zionist army of occupation,” the website of the Yediot Acharonot newspaper reported.
Harper has staunchly stood in support of Israel more than any other leader in the world and plans to visit the country in January for the first time as Prime Minister.

A bad week for “Britain’s powerful Israel Lobby”

Then Universities UK produced a document on preserving free speech in universities and in one section the document gives a case study on what to do in the event that any speaker is disrupted. Remarkably, it is British Jews who are the transgressors in this fictional case study.
Case Study 4 “Israel and Palestine” describes how a university’s Jewish society and the local synagogue have expressed concerns about a pro-Palestinian speaker. The local Rabbi has even written to the local paper. During the event “there are concerted attempts to shout the speaker down and prevent him from speaking”. People are asked to leave and do so voluntarily (see page 30 of said document).
I have never heard of British Jews actually trying to prevent a pro-Palestinian speaker from speaking. It is pro-Israel speakers who are regularly shouted down as was the case recently in Sheffield when protesters stormed the stage at the Model United Nations student conference while Israeli deputy ambassador Alon Roth-Snir was speaking.

EU threatens to punish both Israel, PA if peace talks fail

One EU official said that "if the talks fail, the European Union will stop its annual aid to the Palestinian Authority." Such a drastic measure, which would cut about 300 million euros ($407 million) in annual funds, would likely cause the Palestinian Authority to collapse.
The same source warned that Israel would also suffer should the talks fail. He said 14 EU member states, including the U.K. and France, are ready to start labeling products from West Bank settlements differently than products manufactured within the Green Line. Despite the warning, the decision could take some time, as all 28 member states need to back such directives.

Abbas Threatens to 'Take Action' Against Israel if Talks Fail

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the PA will "take action" against Israel via international bodies if peace talks fail, ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
"The talks are going through great difficulties because of the obstacles created by Israel," Abbas told visiting Arab journalists late Monday at his headquarters in Ramallah.

Palestinian Authority Won’t be Part of International Olive Council This Year

Opposition by Germany and Britain to the Palestinian bid to join the International Olive Council has forced the Palestinian Authority to freeze their application in applying to become a member state of the intergovernmental Madrid-based organization. The Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry in Ramallah prepared the application this past summer in order to be voted upon at the annual olive council meeting held in Madrid last week.

Toronto Globe and Mail Flouts Its Editorial Code of Conduct

Elder of Ziyon exposed Bell's biased column and Israeli media-watcher, Yisrael Medad, after confirming that Seideman was indeed stoned by Arab perpetrators, contacted Bell about his erroneous column. The author responded that the initial information he received was "incorrect' and that "corrective action" was taken.
Of course, this excuse is ludicrous. To pen an entire column premised on unconfirmed information is certainly unprofessorial, not to say, unjournalistic. It remains to be seen whether or not The Globe and Mail will publish a correction and apology to its readers, or whether it will continue to flout its own editorial guidelines.

There they go again

The departments have claimed their move doesn’t imply an endorsement of White’s toxic views. Instead, they simply consider White’s perspective on Israel so insightful that Brooklyn’s students should take time out of their busy schedules to hear him speak.
So what is it that two Brooklyn departments, acting in their official capacities, deem of such import? In 2006, White tried to rationalize the indefensible, after former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly proclaimed that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” The figure two Brooklyn academic departments now support expressed the opinion that “Ahmadinejad had not necessarily, as many assumed, called for an apocalyptic battle to wipe out the Jews.” Instead, White mused, Ahmadinejad was merely expressing his concerns about “Palestine’s cartographic absence.”

BDS This: 10 Israeli exports you already love

Next time someone starts in on the Boycott, Divest and Sanction crap, show them this list.
These Israeli exports may even be better than Bamba.

Exports to Turkey register significant rise

Chemical exports to Turkey noted a significant, 66 percent rise in 2013, amounting to $1.8 billion, making it Israel's third-largest market. Exports to Asian markets dropped by 4% overall, and the report pegged China as Israel's fourth-largest market.
Israel's exports to the European Union were up 4% overall. Exports to Spain rose 32%, making it Israel's eighth-largest market.

Israeli treatment cures man of tremor

Sami Zangi suffered from essential tremor for 15 years.
The involuntary shaking in his hands was so bad that he could not successfully bring a glass of water to his lips or a pen to piece of paper. In November, treatment with focused ultrasound beams developed and commercialized by InSightec appears to have cured Zangi.
Israeli doctors hope he will be the first of many to benefit from the technology.

Israel Electric Corp Trains Computer Enthusiasts to Stop Foreign Hackers in ‘Cyber Gym’

Israel Electric Corp is training hackers how to defend against cyber warfare at a new state-of-the-art “Cyber Gym,” behind the Orot Rabin power station, AFP reported from Hadera, Israel.
“Israel, we believe, is the most-attacked country,” Cyber Gym director Ofir Hason told AFP. ”And as the most-attacked civilian company in Israel, this gives us the unique capabilities to train other companies around the world to defend against system hacking.”

Israeli Start-Up Alcobra Develops New Treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder

Israeli pharmaceutical start-up Alcobra Pharmaceuticals is listed on the NASDAQ electronic stock exchange under the ticker ADHD, the disease it treats with a non-stimulant compound that is expected to come to the market in 2015.
In an interview with Israeli business daily Globes, CEO Dr. Yaron Daniely explained how the company was originally created in 2008 to develop the molecule metadoxine to help inhibit the effects of alcohol on the brain.

New insights could keep allergy and autoimmune cells out of the bloodstream

A group of Israeli researchers has found a mechanism to keep an allergy- and autoimmune disease-causing type of white blood cell from entering the bloodstream. The discovery represents a breakthrough in the understanding of the immune system and suggests a powerful new treatment approach for common conditions such as asthma.
The problematic white blood cells, called eosinophil granulocytes, are part of the immune system that fights infections. However, when eosinophil cells become overactive, they trigger many forms of asthma, gastrointestinal diseases, blood disorders and even cancers.

World's Tiniest Menorah Built By Hebrew U Lab

In honor of Hanukkah a physics laboratory at Hebrew University in Jerusalem has built the world's tiniest hanukkiah (menorah for Hanukkah). The hanukkiah, which is the size of a dust speck, demonstrates the revolutionary abilities of the lab's Nanoscribe system.
The Jerusalem-based laboratory, part of the Peter Brojde Center for Innovative Engineering and Computer Science, focuses on applying scientific discoveries into ground-breaking technology.

London marks 75th anniversary of Kindertransport

“It was the festival of Hanukkah. The transports left in the evening… the authorities didn’t want the population to know what was going on. So, after we lit the candles my father blessed us and then we made our way to the station,” says Ruth Jacobs, who, together with her brother Harry Heber traveled by Kindertransport from Vienna to Britain in December 1938.
Although a bewildering and traumatic experience — the siblings, then 10 and seven, were initially separated — theirs was a relatively fortunate story. Ruth’s foster family eventually took in her parents as domestic help and they arrived in Britain in August 1939. Their grandmother with whom they had lived in Austria perished in Auschwitz.

Read More

Chanukah video post #8: Julie Geller, "I Believe in Miracles"

An appropriate way to end the series, with an original song:

Read More

Suha Arafat's lawyer says they'll ignore French, Russian reports

From Al Jazeera:

French investigators have concluded in a report that Yasser Arafat died of natural causes and ruled out the possibility that he was poisoned, a source told Al Jazeera.

"The analysis cannot lead us to affirm that Arafat died of polonium 210 poisoning," reads the report, according to the source, who has seen it. The report comes to the same conclusion the French reached in 2004 - that Arafat died of a brain hemorrhage and an intestinal infection.

A similar forensic test conducted by Russian scientists, who were invited to participate by Palestinian Authority officials, was inconclusive.

I had never seen the Russian report, but Al Jazeera put its conclusions online last month:

Considering that within the framework of mathematical, cross-disciplinary inter-disciplinary modelling the results were re-verified and included into the artificial modules structure and the working hypothesis was not confirmed, the working hypothesis regarding the subject's death being caused by penetration of 210Po into his body was recognized as unsubstantiated.

Here's the best quote:

Suha Arafat’s lawyer, Djabbar, alleged that the French investigators followed “a very conservative, narrow approach” to their analysis of Arafat’s remains. He added: “I tell you one thing, for us, the only show in town is that of the Swiss.”

The Swiss methodology, of course, was very suspect, as this article in Wired mentions.

Suha's lawyer, however, simply says that the flawed study is the "only game in town." Because to him, truth is meaningless; you are free to pick and choose the data that helps you and ignore the rest.

Which is, in a nutshell, the entire historical Palestinian Arab experience.

Read More

My conversation with an anti-Israel Amnesty spokesperson

I called Amnesty this morning to ask about the outrageous report they issued that I discussed earlier today. I waited about five hours for a response before posting my article.

I then received a phone call from Deborah Hyams, Amnesty researcher and media contact.

Hyams explained to me that the Amnesty press release was meant to not only discuss the current exacerbation of the fuel shortage since November 1, but to look at the longer history of Israel's closure and restrictions on exports to Gaza, to explain the "root causes," from Amnesty's perspective.

When I asked specifically about why Amnesty was calling for Israel to lift restrictions on fuel when there are in fact no restrictions, she said that there are restrictions on some types of fuel. In fact, she told me, it was because Israel refused to provide industrial fuel for Gaza's power plant that Hamas was forced to smuggle regular diesel from Egypt. She did admit that price was a factor.\

I explained to her my understanding that Hamas actually retooled the power plant to handle regular diesel smuggled from Egypt because they didn't want to pay Israel and they felt that with the Muslim Brotherhood in power they would have an unlimited supply of subsidized, cheap fuel from Egypt.

Hyams insisted that Israel has restrictions, today, on industrial diesel to Gaza. That is not my understanding and I told her that I've read COGAT reports since at least 2011 where they said that they can pump heavy duty diesel for the power plant and Hamas has refused. (Actually, I documented that Israel has provided heavy-duty diesel to Gaza since 2009.)

I pointed out to Hyams that, even if everything she said was true, the current crisis has nothing to do with Israel - Hamas decided it didn't want to pay the normal prices according to agreements between Israel and the PA as it has done in the past. She disagreed, saying that the current fuel outages must be looked at from a larger historical perspective and that Israel is the party most responsible for supplying Gaza with fuel under its legal obligations as an occupier; although she knows some disagree about whether Gaza is occupied by Israel, Amnesty's position is that it is. (We've discussed the hypocrisy of Amnesty vis a vis occupation in the past.)

I pressed on, saying that the press release is clearly taking advantage of a crisis that was not precipitated by Israel but the response essentially ignored all other parties but Israel. She admitted that the immediate trigger of the crisis was Egypt's closing of the tunnels (not really, since that happened over the summer and Hamas decided to stop paying the PA's taxes in late October.) However, this press release was pretty much a way for Amnesty to focus the world on Israel's role in the closure of Gaza.

It was a surreal conversation. Hyams didn't say it explicitly, but in effect she said that the current crisis with the sewage and water problems was an excuse to call attention to the fact that Israel has the primary responsibility for Gaza, according to Amnesty. Amnesty mentioned the other parties with responsibility (in wishy-washy language at the very end of the press release after paragraphs of blaming Israel) but the power problems are, in Amnesty's view, primarily an Israeli responsibility.

Immediately afterwards I called up Guy Inbar from the IDF COGAT unit and asked him if there were any restrictions on any specific type of fuel to Gaza - industrial, petroleum, cooking gas, anything. His answer was an unequivocal "no." The reason Gaza has no fuel is the PA/Hamas disagreements, not because of Israel.

Deborah Hyams is part of the problem. As NGO Monitor has documented:

Hyams has an extensive background in radical anti-Israel activism:

• In 2001, Hyams volunteered as a “human shield” in Beit Jala (near Bethlehem), to deter Israeli military responses to recurrent gunfire and mortars targeting Jewish civilians in Jerusalem.

• Hyams employs demonizing language regarding Israel: In 2008, she was signatory to a letterclaiming Israel is “a state founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land.” Hyams alsostatedin 2002 that “[some] of Israel’s actions, all the way back to 1948, could be called ‘ethnic cleansing’.”

• In a 2002 Washington Jewish Week article, "Hyams said that while she does not condone suicide bombings, she personally believes they 'are in response to the occupation.'" In another instance she defended violence stating "occupation is violence...and the consequence of this action must result in violence [against Israelis]."

• Hyams has worked for some of the most radical political advocacy NGOs in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the Alternative Information Center (AIC),Jews for Justice in Palestine and Israel (JPPI),Rachel Corrie Foundation, and Ma’an Network. Any of these affiliations should have been a red flag for Amnesty.

It is clear that at least in the Middle East, Amnesty is run by people with an anti-Israel agenda, where human rights, and even basic facts, are trumped by antipathy towards Israel.

Read More

12/04 Links Pt1: Hamas Leader's Son Arrested for Rock Attack on Child - Motive ‘Hatred of Jews’

From Ian:

---

Motive in Rock Throwing Attack That Injured 2-Year-Old Was ‘Hatred of Jews,’ Hamas Leader Son Arrested

Five men were arrested on Monday and held for questioning on suspicion of throwing stones at the car driven by Avigail’s mother last Thursday outside Jerusalem. The four Arab teenagers originally arrested the day after the attack have since been released, the police said.
During last night’s interrogation, the five new detainees implicated themselves in the crime and claim they “committed the act because of hatred of Jews,” police said. One of the suspects is the son of a Hamas leader who was a member of the legislature of the movement.

Hebrew University's Mount Scopus Campus 'a War Zone'

Arabs from the neighborhood of Issawiya, on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, have stepped up their daily attacks on students studying at the adjacent Hebrew University campus and on Jews in general, a student tells Arutz Sheva.
Arutz Sheva has been reporting for years that the Arabs of Issawiya routinely harass female students at the university as they make their way from the dormitories to the campus, and that the authorities and university have been ineffective in their attempts to stop the phenomenon. Other news channels are loath to report the phenomenon out of obedience to “political correctness.”

Attack Thwarted at Tomb of the Patriarchs

Alert Border Police officers foiled a stabbing on Tuesday near the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Maarat Hamachpelah) in Hevron.
The would-be attacker was a 21-year-old man from the Palestinian Authority Arab town of Tzurif, known for its animosity to Israel and the number of terrorists who came from the town, located on the road leading south from Gush Etzion to the turnoff to Beit Shemesh or Tel Aviv.

Casualties from Terror in Heartland 'Up 120%'

Yigal Lahav, the mayor of Karnei Shomron in Samaria, who was present at the discussion, said afterward that the officer said there had been a 120% rise in the number of casualties. Lahav said the IDF should put up more fences and lighting, and it should catch rock- and firebomb-throwers and punish them more severely. In addition, he said, the Finance Ministry must provide funds for reinforced buses and cars, so that they can withstand these attacks.

Police Stamp Out Menorah

Just 30 minutes after Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria completed a huge menorah from sandbags and candles at Mevaseret Adumim, also known as E1, police snuffed it out.
The candles were arranged in the shape of a menorah, on a hill in the area. It was several dozen meters in width.
The creators of the menorah say it had no political significance and was created as part of the “pirsumei nisa” tradition of Hanukkah, which involves publicizing the miracle that the holiday celebrates. However, E1 is disputed territory, with Israel insisting on its right to build homes there, even as Arabs try to occupy the location too. Under US pressure, Israel has been postponing construction at the location, which connects northeastern Jerusalem and Maaleh Adumim.

IDF May Seize Jewish Farmers’ Land

Jewish farmers in the town of Ahiya in Samaria (Shomron) are facing the threat of losing valuable vineyards. The IDF’s Civil Administration may confiscate the land, despite the fact that no Palestinian Arab has appeared to claim it.
The land seizure would be allowed under a “disruptive use order” (tzav shimush mafria). Such orders were termed “draconian” by the Levy Report on Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria.

Gaza Need Not Be a Sewer

For two decades, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists set aside their differences to call for urgent measures to address the impending water crisis in the Gaza Strip.
These calls went unheeded. The price of inaction, protracted conflict and unsustainable policies is being paid today by the 1.7 million residents of Gaza, who face catastrophic conditions thanks to the collapse of Gaza’s sewage system.
Since the Israeli and Egyptian blockade, Gaza has not had sufficient fuel to sustain its electricity supply and keep its 290 water and sewage facilities running. The Hamas government refuses to buy alternative fuels, because taxes on these would go to the rival Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. As a result, pumping stations ceased operation in November, and many streets in southern Gaza City are now inundated with human excrement.

Islamists Oppose Women's Rights: 'Freedom Only in Islam'

Pan-Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is continuing an extensive campaign to combat Western values regarding women's rights by holding conferences about women in Sharia [Islamic] law, who are raised to be strictly obedient to their fathers and later to their husbands. The conferences are being held in Judea and Samaria as well as in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Hamas: Students with Mock Guns? That was Chivalry Class

Hamas is defending its practice of forcing teenage boys in Gaza to undergo paramilitary training. A story run by Lebanon’s Al-Jadid television, and translated to English by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), quoted principals and Hamas officials defending the training as “chivalry” class and “sports training.”

Iran Deal: Was the West Skinned?

Anything the P5+1 believes it has achieved pales in comparison to what the deal cost. The West gave permission for Iran to continue uranium enrichment; permitted continued secrecy for a military-related facility that the international community had demanded to inspect; and acquiesced to continued imprisonment for three Americans caught in the Iranian prison system, while Iranians who were part of the nuclear program went free. And those are only the debits on nuclear-related issues. If Iran's human rights nightmare, support for the mass slaughter taking place in Syria, and support for terrorism around the world are factored in, the American pre-payment was a very bad deal for the West.

White House: Final Iran deal could include enrichment

A final deal with Iran could include a capacity for uranium enrichment, the White House said.
“We are prepared to negotiate a strictly limited enrichment program in the end state, but only because the Iranians have indicated for the first time in a public document that they are prepared to accept rigorous monitoring and limits on level, scope, capacity, and stockpiles,” Bernadette Meehan, the National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement Tuesday to JTA, in response to a query arising from a story first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

NY Times makes its peace with Iranian nuclear enrichment

Nine years ago the New York Times argued that Iran must “abandon its nuclear fuel enrichment efforts,” but now supports a deal which enables such enrichment.
Exceprts from two editorials, nine years apart, in the New York Times, presented with no additional commentary.

‘Iran in talks with Russia for two more nuclear plants at Bushehr’

The head of the Iranian Parliament’s Energy Committee Jalil Jafari Boneh Khalkhal told the semi-official Fars news agency that the second and third atomic power plants will be similar to the existent facility in the southern province, but with higher safety standards.

Execution, Inc.: Quick tutorial for Peter Beaumont on an Iranian moderate’s first 100 days

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor for the Guardian and Observer, argued in a November 30 article that the interim deal inked in Geneva between Iran and the world’s six leading powers could, “redraw the map of an area that has been gripped by conflict or the threat of conflict for generations.” Specifically with regards to Israel, Beaumont notes that “An Iran a step further back from conflict with Israel, and potentially minded to meddle less in the region, would be a good thing if Tehran sticks to its part of the deal.”
Beaumont is placing his faith in a regime founded on the systematic suppression of Iranian citizens and dissidents – a nearly thirty-five year record of domestic oppression which has been facilitated to a large extent by a decidedly expansionist foreign policy. Indeed, creating scapegoats - such as Iraq, Israel and the United States - for tens of millions of Iranians to target their rage and misery allows Iran’s ruling clerics to legitimize their barbarity under the cloak of religion.

UN Chief Urged to Condemn Khamenei's Anti-Israel Remarks

The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists on Tuesday sent a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, asking him to condemn recent hateful remarks about Israel made by Iran’s supreme leader.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last month that Israel is a "regime doomed to collapse," and referred to Israel as "the rabid dog of the region." He also claimed that the Jewish state poses a threat to the world.

Iran Media: Israel Killed Kennedy, Obama Next

Iran’s State Media outlet: PressTV, claimed Benjamin Netanyahu was behind the Lewinsky scandal, categorizing the Prime Minister’s actions as an “affront” that “destroyed hopes for Mideast peace.” The article also suggests that the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, was responsible for the death of former President John. F. Kennedy. Ben-Gurion was not in office when President Kennedy was assassinated. Rather, the Israeli Prime Minister at the time was Levi Eshkol. The author continues, going as far as to suggest that the Israeli’s are likely conjuring up strategies towards “impeachment or assassination” of President Barack Obama.
Dr. Kevin Barrett, a convert to Islam as well as a 9/11 truther, wrote the article. Dr. Barrett was a co-founder of the American Muslim Political Action Committee’s (AMPAC) infamous flub known as the Million Muslim March. The event’s host’s goal of one million Muslims marching on Washington fell roughly 99.999% short of expected turnout.

Army source to 'Post': Syrian cross-border shooting 'was not stray fire'

After identifying the source of the fire and seeing that they were being targeted on purpose, an IDF infantry unit returned fire, striking the attacker’s position. It remains unclear if the Syrian shooter was hit in the return fire.
The incident is not being viewed as extraordinary by the IDF’s Northern Command, which has dealt with similar instances since battles between the Assad regime and rebels spread have right up to the border with Israel. However, concern remains among military brass that such localized incidents carry the potential of escalation, and might inadvertently turn into a wider confrontation.

IDF provides Syrian border villages with humanitarian aid

Speaking during a tour of the Syrian border, a day after a mortar shell hit the town of Majdal Shams and IDF troops came under fire in the southern Golan Heights, the defense minister said Israel could not remain silent in face of the raging humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country to the north.
“In light of the fact that the villages here are besieged and have no access to other places, we are assisting them for humanitarian reasons,” Ya’alon said. ”We provide water, food, baby food and other humanitarian assistance.”

The murder and the myst

It took just eight hours after the assassination of senior Hezbollah operative Hassan al-Laqis Tuesday night in Beirut for the organization to publish a detailed statement in which it blamed Israel for the deed.
At this stage, Hezbollah does not possess unequivocal proof of the assassins’ identity or of any ties they may have had to Israel. And shortly after the assassination, a previously unknown group, the “Free Sunni Brigades in Baalbek,” claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter message.

Saudi Arabia Blamed for Iran Embassy Bombing

On Tuesday Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran proxy terror group Hezbollah, blamed Saudi Arabia for being behind the bombing of an Iranian embassy in Beirut last month. The attack killed 25, including cultural attaché of the embassy Ebrahim al-Ansari.
The bombing was claimed by an Al Qaeda linked terrorist group, saying it was meant as a message for Iran to remove its troops from Syria where they are aiding President Bashar Assad.

Lebanon to Place Tripoli Under Military Control

Lebanon decided on Monday to put the northern city of Tripoli under the command of the military for a period of six months, reports The Daily Star.
The move is part of a bid by the government to end repeated clashes linked to the war raging in Syria.

Read More

Amnesty's incitement against Israel (UPDATED)

I have noted here many times that Israel has no restrictions of diesel and petroleum into Gaza, outside of the physical amount that can be transferred via the pipeline at Kerem Shalom. (As far as I can tell, that pipeline has never reached capacity.)

The current Gaza fuel crisis started when Hamas decided in 2011 that it didn't want fuel from Israel and instead chose to run Gaza's power plant with Egyptian fuel, sold by smugglers at lower prices that reflected the subsidy that Egypt gives all its petroleum. When Hamas' Muslim Brotherhood patrons lost power, Hamas lost its source of fuel as the smuggling tunnels were closed.

Now, instead of paying market prices (and PA taxes), Hamas chose to let the Gaza power plant shut down, causing a cascading crisis as water treatment plants, water pumps and other essential infrastructure gets shut off. This was a cynical decision on Hamas' part, as they gambled that the resulting media coverage about the crisis they started would pressure Egypt, Qatar, the PA and perhaps Gulf countries to provide fuel at a discount again.

Amnesty International chooses to blame Israel, though.

Israel must immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, including by allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions, said Amnesty International today.

“This latest harsh setback has exacerbated the assault on the dignity of Palestinians in Gaza and the massive denial of rights they have experienced for more than six years because of Israel’s blockade, together with restrictions imposed by Egypt,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

“The blockade has collectively punished Gaza’s population in violation of international law. The power plant shutdown has further affected all aspects of daily life, and the Israeli authorities must lift the blockade immediately, starting by allowing urgently needed fuel supplies into the Strip and working with all relevant parties to avert a prolonged humanitarian crisis this winter.”

“The reason for the flood of sewage was the blockade,” a resident of al-Zaytoun told Amnesty International. “The question is, why is the blockade being allowed to continue? What is our crime? There is no justification for this situation. We just want to live like any other people in the world.”

I'll put it in large letters so Amnesty can understand:

ISRAEL ALLOWS FUEL INTO GAZA. 

HAMAS DOESN'T.

At the very end of the anti-Israel screed, Amnesty decides to do a little CYA:

Continuing disputes between the Hamas de facto administration in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority over payment and taxes are also a factor in the current crisis. Both authorities must co-operate so that the power plant again receives a steady supply of fuel and can resume operations.

This isn't the first time Amnesty chose to ignore facts and blame Israel for Gaza's fuel woes. But this is even worse, as it starkly reveals Amnesty's anti-Israel bias.

My only question is - what exactly is it demanding Israel do to help provide fuel for Gaza? Already Israel agreed to pump free fuel from Qatar via Kerem Shalom, in a story I broke first:

Qatar recently offered to transfer to Hamas large amounts of fuel which it holds in storage tanks in Egypt, but the Palestinian Authority has objected. According to the Paris accords reached with Israel, it is entitled to collect value added tax on goods coming into the territories. Israel has agreed to transport Qatari oil from Israel, after unloading it in Ashdod, but the proposal has met with opposition. Over the last few days, intense negotiations have been held between Qatar, the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority, in an attempt to resolve the problem and overcome the dire fuel shortage in Gaza.

So what exactly does Amnesty expect of Israel? Free fuel? Should Israel invade Gaza to physically place fuel into the power plant (if Israel is the legal occupier of Gaza, then the answer is probably yes!)

This press release proves one thing: Amnesty's bias against Israel is systemic and embedded. There is no way to spin this absurd, counter-factual press release as anything other than pure antipathy for Israel.

Even worse, it shows that Amnesty's concern over actual human rights of Gazans is dwarfed by its bias against Israel. Downplaying the roles of Hamas and Egypt in the crisis, and instead demanding Israel do something it already does, actually increases Gaza's suffering because it distracts from the reality and the actual steps needed to bring fuel to Gaza.

Amnesty should be embarrassed by such an absurd statement. Decent reporters, NGOs and governments should call Amnesty to task for abandoning its true purpose and instead choosing to use its "human rights "platform to incite against Israel.

Because that is what this is - incitement.

UPDATE: Amnesty returned my phone call for comment.

Read More