Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Eight people, including an American, sentenced to prison for making fun of UAE on video

Eight people accused of defaming the UAE’s image abroad by producing a spoof documentary have received prison sentences.

American S C and Indians R and A were jailed for a year and fined Dh10,000 each by the State Security Court.

Two Emirati brothers, S D and S D, were given eight months and Dh5,000 fines. A third brother, AD, was pardoned.

A Canadian woman, a British woman and an American man were not detained and were sentenced in absentia to a year in prison and a Dh10,000 fine each.

The judge also ruled that copies of the video should be confiscated.

The 19-minute film was set in Satwa, Dubai, which they depicted as a dangerous neighbourhood plagued by warring gangs. To protect themselves, the characters practise martial arts using items of Emirati national dress including the agal, the black rope worn around the headdress, and naal, the leather slippers.

The detained American, a business consultant and amateur stand-up comedian and the convicted Emirati brothers – one a media and marketing manager and rapper, the other a student and part-time airline worker – posted the video on YouTube in October last year. They were arrested in April this year.

Defence lawyers said their clients had not intended to mock the UAE’s culture or harm its reputation overseas.

They said the video was only intended to be a satire about how suburban teenagers had adopted gang culture and that the video started with a disclaimer saying: “The following events are fictional and no offence was intended to the people of Satwa and UAE.”

The two Emiratis have already spent eight months in prison awaiting the verdict and are expected to be released soon. The American and two Indians will be released next month.

The American's name is Shezanne Cassim; he was born in Sri Lanka and went to University of Minnesota.

Here's the video. A bit long and not quite as funny as they probably intended, but it is harmless...unless you are a thin-skinned UAE official.

I'm sure that jailing eight people (and demanding that all copies of the video be confiscated!) will ensure that the UAE's sterling reputation remains flawless.

By the way, the UAE will host major concerts this year, including Santana, Eric Clapton, the Backstreet Boys, and Herbie Hancock. No one is calling for these artists to boycott the misogynist, intolerant country or to show support for an American in jail for exercising his right to express himself.

12/31 Link Pt2: A round up of 2013 Top 10's, Greatest IDF Moments of 2013.

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Empowering Palestinians who reject Israel’s right to exist

That’s right. The same America that until a few years ago led the free world in the global war against terror, now conditions its support for Israel, its chief regional ally in that war, on the Jewish state’s willingness to release unrepentant, mass murdering terrorists back into Palestinian society.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but it ought to go without saying that this policy hinders, rather than advances the cause of peace. It is impossible to rationally claim that by coercing Israel into releasing people like Juma Ibrahim Juma Adam and Mahmoud Salam Saliman Abu Karbish that the US is advancing the cause of peace.

Quote of Note: PLO Leader Zahir Muhsein

According to Mr. Muhsein, “the Palestinian people does not exist.”
Who are we to argue?
Nonetheless, if the very point of “Palestinian” people-hood was something other than trying to rob the Jewish people of our homeland after persecuting us for 13 centuries, I would be more than happy to welcome them into the greater family of nations. However, since the “Palestinians” only emerged as a group for the purpose of doing the Jewish people terrible harm, within living memory of the Holocaust, I see no reason whatsoever in acknowledging them as a distinct ethnicity or nation, particularly given the fact that they are not a distinct ethnicity or nation. Nations do not come into existence for the sole purpose of destroying other nations and even if they sometimes did, those whom they seek to destroy are under no moral or ethical obligation to assist them by recognizing them.
Israel should cease undermining its own well-being by dealing with these people. Mahmoud Abbas should be entirely persona non grata, as should the PLO, Fatah, and the Palestinian Authority.

Is anti-Zionism the same as antisemitism?

The standard defence against any accusation of antisemitism nowadays is to claim that you are an anti-Zionist (generally considered by the main stream media to be a good, liberal, enlightened position) and not an antisemite (generally considered by the main stream media to be a very bad thing). That is certainly the 'defence' that Nicolas Anelka, for example, will be using since even his openly antisemitic hero whom he claims his salute was dedicated to, has already used it himself.
So, following on from my previous posts (the difference between the Nazi boycott of Jews and the Israel boycott movement, and what leftists really believe) I have produced a chart below which obviously confirms that anti-Zionism and antisemitism have absolutely nothing in common.

I wish I was as optimistic as Yaffa Yarkoni in 1970

From a French TV show in 1970, Israeli legend Yaffa Yarkoni singing (in French and Hebrew) the Israeli classic "Bashanah Haba'ah:"

The Hebrew lyrics mean:

Next year we will sit on the porch and count migrating birds.
Children on vacation will play catch between the house and the fields.

You will yet see, you will yet see, how good it will be next year.

Red grapes will ripen till the evening, and will be served chilled to the table.
And languid winds will carry to the crossroads old newspapers and a cloud.

You will yet see, you will yet see, how good it will be next year.

Next year we will spread out our hands towards the radiant light.
A white heron like a light will spread her wings and within then the sun will rise.

You will yet see, you will yet see, how good it will be next year.

Nowadays is it even conceivable that a Jewish Israeli performer could go on a European TV show without being interrupted by the haters along with protests outside and calls for boycott? (Arab Israelis wouldn't have a problem - only Jews.)

I hope next year is better.

12/31 Link Pt1: Incitement on PA Children's TV, Erdogan Supporters Shout ‘Are You Jewish’ Before Attacking

From Ian:

Netanyahu condemns hero’s welcome for prisoners

“The essence of the difference between us and our neighbors can be seen in one picture,” Netanyahu said at the seventh annual Galilee Conference Tuesday, referring to the sight of throngs of Palestinians giving the released prisoners — almost all of them convicted of murder — a hero’s welcome.
“While we prepare to take very painful steps in an effort to try and reach an agreement that would end the conflict, they, along with their top leadership, are celebrating,” said the prime minister.
“Murderers are not heroes,” he declared. “This is not how one educates for peace.”

Report: Israel tells US it will not release Israeli-Arab prisoners

The official told Channel 2 that Israel felt "deceived" by Kerry, who caved to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' demand to increase the number of prisoners released from 82 to 104, and led him to believe Israel would be willing to release prisoners with Israeli citizenship.
The PMO denied that claim by the official as well, saying Kerry did not deceive Israel on the peace talks, Channel 2 reported.
Netanyahu reportedly told Kerry that while Israel was not willing to release Israeli-Arab prisoners as a gesture to the Palestinians, it would be willing to release them as a gesture to the US, in return for the release of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard.

Abbas: 'No final deal until all prisoners are released'

"This is day of happiness for our nation, our families and our prisoners, the heroes, who have seen the light of freedom," he said. "We are guaranteeing that this won't be the last time that prisoners are freed."
Abbas said that for the prospective fourth release he hoped that sick prisoners would also be freed, and that they would be sent home and not expelled to other places. He also said that he would not tolerate one Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail if there was to be a peace agreement.
"There won't be a final agreement with Israel until all the prisoners are released."

Latest Muslim leader accused of being a secret Jew is a good one

If you want to insult your opponent in the Muslim world, you can't do better than to call him a Jew - or worse than a Jew.

We've already seen Muslim Brotherhood supporters claiming that Egypt's al-Sisi is Jewish, and we've seen Sisi's supporters saying that the original founder of the Muslim Brotherhood was Jewish.

We've seen Shiites accused of being worse than Jews, secularists accused of being worse than Jews. and Islamists accused of being worse than Jews.

So who's left?

Why, it is our favorite antisemite and popular TV preacher, Sheikh Yussuf Qaradawi!

According to a pro-Shiite newspaper, "research" has shown that Qaradawi's family came from an area where
Jews of the Bani Qurayza tribe had fled from Arabia to Egypt. His grandfather practiced usury, just like the Jews, and gouged farmers with high interest loans. He would confer with Jewish rabbis on how to do his immoral money lending business. In other words, while they don't want to say it explicitly, Qaradawi is of obvious Jewish descent!

Qaradawi had called for jihad against Syria and Hezbollah, which pretty much explains this whole accusation.

"A Blanket for Gaza" - Anti-Israel propaganda disguised as humanitarian aid

From ANSAmed:

The Palestinian ambassador to Rome launched a campaign Friday to raise funds through movements, associations and private citizens for the population of the Gaza Strip. ... ''We are asking Italians to help prevent the latest in a long string of tragedies,'' Palestinian ambassador Mai Al-Kaila told journalists in outlining the initiative Una Coperta per Gaza ('A Blanket for Gaza').

In Gaza, the rain and snow of the past few days led to a breakdown of the precarious sewage system, flooding the streets of towns and villages and swamping homes, schools and infrastructure never repaired after the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead. Clean water was mixed with waste water, and now there is not a single tap for clean drinking water in the entire Gaza Strip, which 1.8 million Palestinians call home. The Palestinian ambassador noted that amid this situation, Israel has not only continued with its embargo that prohibits even the entrance into the territory of medicine, but also opened its dams, through which the Israeli State's waters are flushed out into the Mediterranean, contributing to the breakdown of the entire sewage treatment system and flooding Gaza with putrid mud. The situation is entirely out of control, the ambassador said, calling for ''international mobilization'' for the people living in the Gaza Strip, most of whom have been left without a roof over their heads,food, drinking water, and heating. ''Over half of the population in Gaza live in refugee camps,'' Mai Al-Kaila noted, ''in tents and makeshift shelters.'' ... Encouraging the Palestinian diplomatic office to launch the campaign, the ambassador said, ''were in part Pope Francis's words at Christmas and his appeal to share with the poor.

The donations (20 euros for a blanket) should be addressed to "Una Coperta per Gaza"/ Missione Diplomatica Palestinese/IBAN: IT 36 E 02008 05211 000021004086

Funny. I follow Gaza pretty closely and this is the first time I have heard that there was a shortage of blankets. .

It is also interesting to read that Israel prohibits medicines to Gaza (they don't,) Israel opened "dams" (that don't exist,) and that most Gazans don't have shelter or live in tents or temporary structures (which is absurd) and that over half of Gazans live in refugee camps (actually, about 30%.)

The PLO ambassador to Italy (who used to work for UNRWA) knows the truth. But she knows something more important: that lies that are provided as part of a "humanitarian aid campaign" will not be questioned by most people. Who would presume that blankets for people who don't have a blanket shortage is a cover for anti-Israel lies? Especially when Pope Francis is quoted to support the campaign of falsehood!

This "charity" is nothing of the sort. It is skillful propaganda directed by the PLO. And they know, from experience, that anti-Israel lies will be swallowed whole, especially when disguised as "humanitarian aid." (I fully expect that not a single blanket will be sent to Gaza from this campaign - no one is asking for them. Israel routinely sends truckloads of blankets, sheets and mattresses to Gaza.)

I found a photo of Mai al-Kaila from when she was "ambassador" to Chile. Note the map behind her that erases Israel - a map that features the Fatah logo:

Abbas embraces terrorists, calls them heroes (poster)

This photo was on Mahmoud Abbas' Facebook page today.

Here's video of Abbas welcoming the terrorists as heroes and his speech at the ceremony.

During his speech Abbas said "We promise that it will not be the last time, but there will be a batch of heroes coming to us all the time and in the near future, God willing....This is the day the joy of all of us the joy of our people for our prisoner heroes who came out today to the light of freedom to live free, we congratulate you and congratulate ourselves with these heroes who arrived here and who arrived in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the rest will come, God willing."

He said that soon there will be a Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem and the Palestinian flag will fly over the minarets and churches of Jerusalem.

We know what would happen to the synagogues if he had his choice.

A rainbow over Israel

This photo was taken by Niece of Ziyon, who recently made aliyah with her new husband, from her apartment window on Monday. One end of the rainbow is at Har HaMenuchot.

Turkish riot police have blasted opposition protesters with water cannons, tear gas and plastic bullets in Istanbul in scenes reminiscent of the summer's mass anti-government demonstrations.

Some of the protesters on Friday evening threw rocks and firecrackers at police, shouting, "Catch the thief!" in reference to a widening corruption scandal gripping Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Similar protests were held in the city of Izmir, and in Ankara where police also fired water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Police blocked hundreds of protesters from gathering in Istanbul's central Taksim Square and pushed them away to the nearby streets.

At least 31 people, including three lawyers, have been detained in Istanbul, according to the Istanbul Bar Association.

Thousands of Erdogan backers, meanwhile, gathered at other spots showing their support for the embattled Erdogan.

Twenty-four people, including the sons of two former government ministers and the head of the state-owned financial institution, Halkbank, have been arrested on bribery charges.

Media reports say the probe is over alleged illicit money transfers to Iran and bribery for construction projects.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party is being directed by "arrogance," former Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay said in a news conference on Friday announcing his resignation, adding that he was parting ways with the AKP.

Erdogan has continued to ignore the demands to step down.

"Those who call it a corruption inquiry are corrupt themselves," he told a large crowd of his supporters on Friday as he returned to Istanbul from a political rally in the northwest.

Erdogan also criticised politicians who quit his party because of the scandal, saying they "betrayed us along our journey"

Sometimes a small side story illuminates the bigger picture:

Enemy of the state

Turkish police detained a woman in the western province of Manisa on Dec. 29 after she protested against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a shoebox, in a reference to money found in shoeboxes during a major corruption operation.

Police seized $4.5 million in cash in shoeboxes during the bribery raid in the house of Süleyman Aslan on Dec. 18, the general manager of the state-run lender Halkbank.

The woman, identified as Nurhan Gül, reportedly showed a shoebox from her balcony while Erdoğan was addressing his supporters during a rally in Manisa’s Akhisar district. Shortly after Gül’s protest, police and bodyguards of the prime minister came and detained the woman.

Gül has been released pending trial after she was taken to the police station and questioned for two hours.

“I waved the empty shoebox and sat at my balcony. I did not use any word or verbal expression. Bodyguards and police came to my house after one or two minutes. They asked who waved that box. I was detained after saying it was me,” Gül said in her testimony.

Amazingly, not one university association is calling to boycott Turkey, or is even publishing a statement about its corruption, arbitrary arrests, denial of freedom of assembly or any other violations of human rights. They must have overlooked it.

12/30 Links Pt2: ASA: Buried by the ‘Times’, Reflections of a one-armed warrior

From Ian:

Sherri Mandell: I’m glad my son’s murderers have not been found

Please, Israeli government, I beg you: Don’t go looking for my son’s killers. The ones who cruelly beat Koby and Yosef to death with rocks, the barbarians who attacked two eighth grade boys — my son and his friend — who were on a hike near our home in Israel. Please don’t find them. Don’t apprehend them and put them in jail and make my family and me sit through a long trial and sentencing, where my heart will quake and my stomach will constrict and I will feel that I am about to faint.
Don’t find them guilty and put them in jail. Because I don’t want the torture of knowing that these killers will find their way to freedom one day, will be greeted by their mothers with hugs, while my son and Yosef lie in the ground. I could not bear to go through what 26 Israeli families are going through today: betrayal by the government that is supposed to protect them.

Fogels' Son Asks: Why Are they Releasing Murderers?

11-year-old Roi Fogel, whose parents and three siblings were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists in the Shomron town of Itamar in 2011, wants to know why the Israeli government is releasing terrorist murderers.

Unreported by the Guardian: Details on latest Palestinian prisoners to be released (& their victims)

On December 28th the Israeli Prison Service published the list of prisoners scheduled for release later this week, representing the third round of four scheduled releases agreed upon by Israel’s prime minister as a ‘goodwill gesture’ to get the Palestinians to resume peace talks.
As we have noted previously, many newspapers (including the Guardian, Independent, and Irish Times) have whitewashed the violent crimes of the prisoners being released and all but ignored the victims. So, in addition to details about the perpetrators and their crimes, we’ve also included some information on the Israeli (and Palestinian) victims.

Hamas can't do math very well

Hamas tweeted:

#Data: 75% of the detainees in #Israeli jails are #children http://t.co/1TRxwHXIoV #Humanrights #StopIsrael #Terror #Palestine
— Alqassam Brigades (@AlqassamBrigade) December 29, 2013

And indeed the headline of the linked article says:

But if you actually read the article, it says

Department of Statistics in Ramallah, in a report on Friday, showed that 75%is of the detainees in 2013 were children under the age of 18 and young people between 18 and 30 years old.

Yes, in fact most of those "children" are adults!

This all ignores if these statistics are accurate to begin with. Their objectivity is a bit suspect:

Head of the Census Department, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, said that Israel deliberately targets young Palestinians, including children, because they are the core of the society, and its moving factor.

The former political prisoner added that Israel fears the Palestinian youths for their steadfastness and their persistence to achieve liberation and independence.

Ah, a mind-reader! It cannot possibly be because most terrorists are under 30, could it?

PCHR counts far less than half these numbers. Unfortunately, they don't add them up in their annual reports, but a rough guess shows that they document perhaps 1000 arrests a year.

I couldn't find the actual report on the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainee Affairs website or Facebook page, so the entire report may be fictional for all we know. But it is fun to see that Hamas will twist even already twisted data.

Somehow, I don't think an email campaign asking them to correct their "error" would be too effective.