Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Q: What's the difference between BDS and terrorism? A: Nothing. (update)

While there is no single accepted definition of terrorism, the dictionary definition of terrorism is:

The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.

Terrorism's main purpose is to terrorize, to instill fear in a large population by attacking a relatively small number of people. That's why the threat of a "dirty bomb" is a perfect example of terror - in general, it wouldn't hurt very many people but it would cause panic, which would affect people's behavior.

When Palestinian Arab terrorist groups shoot rockets or send suicide bombers, the number of casualties is relatively small. But if you look at their media afterwards they exult on the larger effects that such actions cause even more than the direct damage. Every time the schools in Ashkelon are closed because of rocket threats, it is reported in the terrorist-leaning Arabic media as a victory. They love making videos showing Israelis running to shelter during Code Red alerts.

To terrorists, fear is the goal - causing panic among a large population by attacking a small number of people.

This story, which may or may not be true given its source*, gives a perfect example of how the goals of BDS are identical to the goals of terrorist groups:

Leading international companies bidding to build private seaports dropped out of the Israeli government’s tender due to concerns over the political repercussions, a report said on Tuesday.

The Israeli daily Haaretz said that Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Dutch operator of ports that had submitted a proposal under the name Holland Terminal in the prequalification stage last December, dropped out shortly thereafter. More recently, Italy’s Condote

Haaretz said that the companies that had initially expressed their interest in the PQ stage last April made their decisions to drop out in recent months as boycott pressure on Israel has grown. The deadline for submitting bids was Monday, the report said.

Notice the reasons given for this alleged dropping of bids. The companies didn't do it because of Israel's policies; they didn't do it for "moral" reasons, they didn't announce that they would never want to work with a country such as Israel because of its supposed mistreatment of Palestinian Arabs..

The story says that they dropped out because of fear that the boycott movement might attack them.

In other words - they were intimidated. They were coerced.

They were terrorized.

The same thing happens with the vast majority of the small number of popular music stars that have decided to cancel concerts in Israel. Except for a couple of hardcore haters like Roger Waters, the stars calculated that any controversy is toxic to their careers and therefore the effort is not worth it.

They, too, were terrorized.

The tactics of Palestinian terrorists are meant to create an environment of fear where Israelis must worry about possibly being attacked by a tiny number of people whose importance gets magnified by their methods. Ultimately, they want to create an environment where Jews would flee Israel because the fear outweighs the benefits of living there.

The tactics of the BDS supporters are also meant to create an environment of fear, where companies and public individuals will be afraid of a backlash from a similarly tiny number of noisy people who can create an impression of being much larger by targeted, noisy use of social media and protests. Ultimately, they want to create an environment where companies and entertainers and governments would abandon Israel because the fear of controversy outweighs the benefits of working with the most liberal and successful country in the region.

Neither side spends too much time trying to actually convince a larger audience of the righteousness of their cause, although they both try to pretend that they have the moral high ground. Both sides are obviously hypocritical. In both cases, the bulk of their time is spent trying to figure out how to cause the most fear in the people they are threatening. In both cases, they celebrate when the targets cave to their threats and change their behavior. Likewise, in both cases, they will make up fake "victories" and celebrate them, because when the goal is to terrorize innocents, perception is more important than truth.

BDSers and terrorists are identical in strategy, in their intent, and in their definitions of victory. The only difference are specific tactics (and the BDSers generally have no problem with terrorism as well, as their leaders have admitted.)

BDS is a terror movement. Its economic impact is negligible but that isn't what they are after - they want to terrorize companies and individuals by creating an atmosphere of coercion and fear. Their victims need to understand that they are being intimidated and coerced by people whose morality and goals are virtually indistinguishable from that of jihadists.

UPDATE: *Israel's Presspectiva proved my skepticism about Haaretz' reliability on stories like these. It is really a shame that their lying about stories they want to be true is so utterly predictable. (h/t Yenta)

Saudi Arabia confiscates dangerous soccer balls (with Israeli flag)

Arabic media are reporting that a soccer ball has been confiscated by Saudi authorities from a shop in Dammam.

The reason? Well, it's obvious:

The Saudi Ministry of Trade and Industry responded quickly on Sunday to a citizen complaint via Twitter about the sale of balls bearing the six-pointed star that symbolizes the flag of Israel.

Teams of of the Inspection and Control division at the Ministry confiscated the balls from the store located in Dammam.

"Activists' thanked the ministry for responding so quickly to what must apparently have been considered a threat to public mental health.

They are continuing their investigation of how such a horrendous thing could have happened.

A few years back, Muslims complained about a flag on soccer balls as well - but not the Israeli flag:

A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they distributed footballs bearing the name of Allah.

The balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag which features the Koranic declaration of faith.

The US military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offence.

So kicking the Saudi flag is offensive, but kicking the Israeli flag - a flag that is routinely stepped on in Arab countries - is offensive too.

Then again, the entire sport of soccer is a Zionist plot anyway.

Zarif blames "Zionists" for Lebanon bombing

Earlier Wednesday, UPI and others reported:

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday there is "no doubt" its rivals in Israel were behind twin bombings near the Iranian Cultural Center in Beirut.

At least five people were killed and another 80 wounded when twin explosions struck a Beirut neighborhood housing Iranian government entities, the Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said mercenaries used by the Israeli government were behind the attack.

"There is no doubt that the agents behind the terrorist action in Beirut are enemies of Lebanon's stability, security and unity and are the hirelings of the Zionist regime who have been disappointed by the formation of a new government in the country," she said in a statement published by Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency.

It turns out that the "moderate" Iranian foreign Minister also blamed Israel for the bombings:

Zarif said that the terrorists involved in bombing are against stability, security and solidarity of the Lebanese nation and are puppets of the Zionist regime which has been disappointed by formation of the new Lebanese government with participation of all political parties.

As is often the case, the media waters down the news to maintain a false narrative. In this case, since Zarif has been heralded in the mainstream media as a moderate, intelligent, Westernized politician, editors are reluctant to ascribe insane Iranian statements to Zarif. When they mention them at all, they quote lower level officials or spokespeople.

Because the idea that the US negotiating partner is a hateful lunatic must not be publicized.

02/19 Links Pt2: Who Finances BDSM Against Israel?; Why Google loves Israel

From Ian:

Israelly Cool: Who Finances BDSM Against Israel?

Today in the Knesset there is a committee meeting session looking into the financing of the anti-Israel movements. Who pays for the kind of lies and propaganda that lead naive people (for example those in Australia who sell the Cinematic Strings software) to think that boycotting Israelis will somehow help Palestinians and lead to a better world.
The author, Edwin Black, has a book “Financing the Flames” discussing how tax exempt and public money fuel a culture of confrontation and terror in Israel. He’s appearing in front of the Knesset session today.

He appeared on Israeli TV (speaking in English) a few days ago: the introduction is in Hebrew but the main interview is all in English.

There's No Profit in Peace

I was in the Knesset today, listening to Edwin Black, author of Flanning the Flames.
He describes in his book that activists get paid more or only if there is violence that is worthy of being photographed and reported aborad to damage Israel's image, violence that is initiated and planned with malice aforethought by so-called "human rights campaigners". If there would be peace, no money for them.
He also pointed out that had the SodaStream factory and similar had been set up in Kosovo or Cambodia by church-affiliated groups, they may have won international recognition and gratitude for fostering peace and reconciliation. But the double standard is at work with Israel.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Unanimously Nominated to Chair UN Human Rights Committee Election

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, was unanimously nominated to chair a UN Human Rights Committee election on Tuesday, Israel’s UN mission said in a statement. 170 countries voted for Prosor, including members of the Arab bloc.
The selection of Israel’s representative to chair the vote, which was for one of the 18 positions on the Committee, is the latest sign of progress for Israel at the UN, a mission spokesperson told The Algemeiner. It comes just a short while after the Jewish State rejoined the Human Rights Council in Geneva and just days after Israel was admitted into JUSCANZ, the UN’s core coordinating group on human rights.

PA leader supports kidnapping Israeli soldiers

From Palestinian Media Watch:

Senior PA official and Deputy-Secretary of Fatah's Central Committee Jibril Rajoub said last month that the Palestinian Authority encourages Hamas to kidnap Israeli soldiers and hold them hostage in order to exchange them for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Jibril Rajoub: "If Hamas wants to kidnap soldiers, let them kidnap soldiers. Let them kidnap. Let them kidnap if they [the Israelis] don't want to release prisoners, but want them as prisoners forever, so [the prisoners] will come out as ghosts and skeletons. The Israelis need to understand. It's clear that kidnapping is the language they understand. On the contrary, we encourage them [Hamas]. When they kidnapped [Gilad] Shalit, we congratulated them. When they concluded the Shalit [exchange] deal, in spite of our having a few reservations about it, we also congratulated them."
[Official PA TV, Jan. 2, 2014]

Jordan to buy $500m of gas from Israel

From Reuters:

The partners in the Tamar natural gas field off Israel's Mediterranean coast have signed a deal to sell at least $500 million of gas over 15 years to two Jordanian companies in the first deal outside of Israel.

Under the agreement, Tamar will supply 66 billion cubic feet to Arab Potash and its unit, Jordan Bromine - a joint venture with U.S. Albemarle - at their facilities near the Dead Sea, Noble Energy said on Wednesday.

Jordan is hungry for gas amid numerous attacks on a pipeline in the Sinai peninsula that has halted supplies from Egypt.

Tamar, discovered in 2009, is estimated to hold more than 280 billion cubic metres of gas. It began production last March and has already signed a number of lucrative deals in Israel.

The field came on line months after Egypt halted gas supplies to Israel.

After a lengthy and heated debate, the government last year decided to allow 40 percent of its natural gas reserves for export. It is using gas as an opportunity to improve relations with its neighbours including Jordan. It is also thought Israel could ultimately sell gas to Turkey, although ties between the two countries have been frosty over the last few years.

The nearby and much larger Leviathan field last month signed a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal to supply gas to planned a Palestinian power plant once Leviathan starts production in 2016 or 2017. Leviathan is estimated to hold some 540 billion cubic metres of gas, enough to supply Europe for a year.

Tamar and Leviathan were the two of the largest gas finds in the past decade and overnight turned Israel into a gas exporter.

The JordanZad newspaper says that the gas is coming from "the occupied territories."

Jordan has an active "anti-normalization" group so it will be interesting to see what kind of resistance, if any, comes from Jordanian citizens.

In the end, as we've seen with BDS, even the biggest anti-Israel idiots aren't willing to inconvenience themselves for a bogus "principle" - although they hypocritically insist that others do so.

02/19 Links Pt1: The People Who Always Refuse a State; Iran backs Assad and Al-Qaeda

From Ian:

Palestinian Arabs – The People Who Always Refuse a State

Western intervention only makes things worse, and leads the PA to believe that it can maintain a culture of victimhood and pay no price for its maximalist, uncompromising beliefs. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Arab culture of incitement, terrorism, and resort to lawfare has only increased, in absolute violation of their commitments to teach and preach peace, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, confiscate weapons, and arrest terrorists. The PA has not kept those international commitments; so what gives ‎Israel and Western diplomats confidence that any future accords – which will presumably involve Israel relinquishing vital land areas necessary for its security – will be honored? In Arab-Muslim culture, agreements tend to be broken when one side gains the strength to overcome the other, i.e. hudna. In the Middle East, the current status is what peace actually looks like: no paper agreements. At best, a détente, where only force and power prevail and are respected. That is what has enabled Israel to miraculously survive as an oasis of hope, democracy, and freedom in the midst of Arab-Muslim dominated totalitarian states, military dictatorships, and theocracies.‎
Israel ‎‎has no reliable “peace partner” in the Western sense, no matter how the mainstream media, EU, diplomats, and elites want to spin it. These apologists will always somehow find a way to rationalize and justify the Palestinian Arabs’ predictable resort to violence and in turn seek to delegitimize Israel for not making further concessions – regardless of whether it puts the Jewish State in deadly danger. The diplomatic process is not working. There must be far more onus on the PA to make true peace and prepare its own people for it. If and when Palestinian Arabs are ready, willing and able to say “yes,” Israel will be there – but not any sooner.

Comprehensive Report Debunks Bedouin Land Claims in the Negev

The new English-language report by Regavim, which advocates for fair allocation of land in Israel and campaigned successfully against the Begin-Prawer plan, focuses on six key arguments, including whether the Bedouin are indigenous to the northern Negev; whether Bedouin villages constitute historical structures; the claim that only 45 unrecognized Bedouin villages exist; whether Bedouin tribes have been neglected by the State in terms of building rights; whether government budgets are discriminatory against Bedouin tribes; and the percent of Negev lands to which Bedouin tribes lay claim.
Among other issues, the report disproves claims that the nomadic Bedouin are "indigenous" to the Negev, and through the use of historical documentation and aerial photos illustrates how "ancient" Negev villages - including the infamous al-Araqib settlement, a frequent site of clashes between law enforcement and radical activists - were only established very recently.

Last night a photo exhibition opened at the Instituto Cervantes in Tangier, Morocco, teaching the history of Jews in Morocco who were expelled from Spain in 1492, concentrating on those in northern Morocco.

Naturally, Arabs protested.

If stepping on an Israeli flag shows disapproval of Israel, what does this show?

The interesting thing is the reasons they gave for protesting. They can't say "we hate Jews" because the official Arab line is that they have no problem with Jews. So they protested by saying that a Spanish cultural center hosting an exhibit on Spanish Jews in Morocco is a form of - normalization with Israel.

The protesters noted that the exhibit was sponsored by a group called Sepharad Israel which is - shudder -Zionist!

They also heckled the police who stopped them from shutting down the cultural center by saying that they were allied with the Zionists.

Some idiots will, of course, believe them when they say that their motivation is pure anti-Zionism and nothing to do with centuries-old antipathy of Jews in Arab countries.

John Judis' "Genesis" - Blaming Jews for antisemitism

From a book review of John Judis' "Genesis," in the Boston Globe:

Judis rebuts the popular idea that Palestinian anti-Semitism stemmed (and stems) from religious or ideological convictions. Not so, he writes. Rather, as the number of Jews in Palestine increased, and as it became common for Jews to refuse to hire Arab labor, among other ostensibly hostile practices, only then did virulent anti-Semitism emerge.

When Palestinians did start sounding unhinged about Jewish influence, it was because they “had begun importing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories from Eastern Europe.” This implies that the widespread anti-Semitic conspiracy theorizing in the Muslim world originated not from the Koran or deep-seated ethnic hatred, but from Poland, Germany, and Lithuania and in response to secular, concrete frustrations.

Although I have done this before, here are a couple of other instances of how wonderfully Muslims treated Jews in Palestine in the 19th century.

From The comparative geographie of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula by Carl Ritter, 1866:

From Three Weeks in Palestine and Lebanon, 1846, referring to Jews in Jerusalem:

It is so fashionable and chic to blame Muslim antisemitism on Jews. But people who are so ignore the facts.

This is not to say that Muslim and Arab antisemitism was as bad as Christian and European antisemitism throughout history. It is also not to say that Muslim antisemitism didn't increase as Jews in Palestine started demanding rights - rights to return to their ancient homeland, rights to buy land, rights of self-determination. All these rights that would be considered laudable for any people except the Jews.

Yes, some Jews wanted Jewish labor for their farms, because they felt ideologically that Jews must learn to work the land themselves rather than outsource it. But this didn't eliminate a single job from Arabs, since these were farms that didn't exist beforehand. On the contrary, Palestine's economy grew tremendously with the influx of Zionists, and Arabs immigrated to take advantage of the jobs that were created by Zionists.

The Arab and Muslim world at large continued to regard Jews as weak, spineless second class people. It was in reaction to Jews demanding to be treated with respect - something that they had lacked for centuries under Muslim rule - that caused Muslims to increase their hate.

The people who eagerly twist this around have an agenda - that Jews are responsible for Jew-hatred.

There is a word for that.

Gaza preacher: "It isn't about borders, but about Israel's existence"

From Terror Watch:

This was on Hamas TV.

Iranian video threatens to nuke Israel

From Algemeiner:

A short animated film being aired across Iran, shows the nuclear destruction of Israel and opens with the word ‘Holocaust’ appearing on the screen, underneath which a Star of David is shown, Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.

The film, which started to appear Monday on Iranian websites depicts how the Islamic Republic might respond to an American or Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities.

In the movie, Western nations realize that the Islamic Republic has no intention to cease its nuclear development. To prevent Iran from building a bomb, the United States and its allies decide to take military action to destroy Tehran’s nuclear sites.

In the simulated war that follows, hundreds of Israeli and American fighter planes are seen jetting towards Iran. Ultimately, the jets are beaten back by Iran’s military.

With Iran having successfully defended itself, the simulation then shows Iranian forces going on the offensive. The video cuts to a scene showing Iranian Revolutionary Guard fighter planes flying over Israel, passing through Jerusalem and over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The final frame of the film leaves little room for doubt as to how this military campaign ends: a nuclear explosion is seen spreading across the screen.

Keep in mind that Iranian websites are controlled by the government; if this video is being placed on websites it is with the approval of Iranian leaders.

Saudi site implies Israel killed JFK

Okaz, which is Saudi Arabia's largest newspaper, has an op-ed analyzing how Jews think and how that in turn makes it inevitable that they will subjugate and terrorize Arabs.

Jews have a doctrine that is composed of three elements. The first is a bitter historical experiences carried by every Jew on his shoulders, the second is the fear of injustice, and the third is the fear of the unknown, and these three elements constitute the awareness of every Jew that lives on Earth, and these elements blended with their attributes mentioned in the Koran forms Israel's policy toward the world in general, and towards the Arabs in particular.

The writer mentions that Eisenhower insisted that Israel withdraw from the Sinai in 1956 and that Kennedy insisted that Israel reveal the secrets behind its nuclear program in the early 1960s. However, "he was murdered for mysterious reasons not known to the world even today."

And since then, US presidents have traditionally been more favorable towards Israel.

And it is all because of those Jewish attributes!

02/18 Links Pt2: Debunking the Apartheid Smear; Blumenthal and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: The anti-Zionist challenge to the Jewish establishment

As a form of economic warfare, boycotts aim to harm the profitability of targeted entities and either force them to toe the boycotters’ line, or force them out of business. That is, the aim is either coercive or eliminationist.
As a form of cultural warfare, the goal of boycotts of cultural or academic institutions is to place their targets outside of polite society, and so annihilate them culturally, professionally and socially.
In other words, unlike other forms of expression, the principle aim of boycotts is not engagement, or even incitement. It is destruction. Therefore, the question of whether or not boycotts are also a form of speech is entirely irrelevant.

Max Blumenthal’s ‘Goliath’ and the Mainstreaming of Anti-Semitism

While Blumenthal was perfectly capable to adjust his presentations according to the audience he was addressing, he provided a chilling demonstration of what he hoped to accomplish with Goliath during an event at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was hosted on October 17 by political scientist Ian Lustick to promote his book. Lustick noted at one point in the discussion that Blumenthal showed in Goliath that “Israel is not just a little bit fascist, Israel is a lot fascist,” and according to Lustick, this was the “ultimate delegitimizer,” because after World War II, “nothing fascist can even be allowed to survive.” Referring to the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Lustick invited Blumenthal to fancy himself in the position of God in order to decide whether there are enough “good people” in today’s Sodom-like Israel to save it from destruction. Blumenthal, who clearly didn’t need convincing that Israel as a Jewish state shouldn’t be allowed to survive, responded by explaining that his first concern was relieving “the suffering of the indigenous people of Palestine.” According to him, the only way to achieve this was by placing “external pressure” – such as the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is advocating – on Jewish Israelis in order to force them to choose between emigrating and agreeing to “become indigenized” by accepting Arab dominance in political, cultural and social terms.

Crisis in Arab civilization

The cruel violence among ethnic and tribal brothers in Syria is indicative for the depth of the crisis in that civilization. No coalition of warriors can open the way to the creation of an open civil society. The identities of the groups are being defined by ethnicity and/or religious affiliation. If a coalition of warriors would be able to defeat the other coalitions, a new dictatorship will be created – and this new dictatorship can only equal the old one since there is no prospect of successfully suppressing the traditional value systems while introducing those of liberal open societies.
This is a bitter dilemma for the ruling classes running Arab dictatorships: giving up complete control over the security forces and media to freely elected politicians, the initial conditions for a civil society, leads automatically to unleashing the extremist powers which would immediately overthrow the ruling classes – in other words: giving up control is a form of suicide.
In order to legitimize their hold on power, dictatorships by definition need antagonists.
The ideal enemy is Israel, the land of the Jews, who have been ridiculed by the Arabs since the very beginning of the Islamic religion.

Throwing the Jews into the sea (updated)

Wikipedia says:

In 1973 [British MP Christopher Mayhew] offered £5,000 to anyone who could produce evidence that Nasser had stated that he sought to "drive the Jews into the sea". Mayhew repeated the offer later in the House of Commons (Hansard, 18 October 1973) and broadened it to include any genocidal statement by an Arab leader (The Guardian, 9 September 1974), while reserving for himself the right to be the arbiter of the authenticity of any purported statements as well as their meaning. Mayhew received several letters from claimants, each one producing one quotation or another from an Arab leader, all of which Mayhew deemed to be fabricated. One claimant, Warren Bergson, took Mayhew to court. The case came before the High Court in February 1976. Bergson was unable to offer evidence of Nasser's alleged statement and acknowledged that, after thorough research, he had been unable to find any statement by a responsible Arab leader that could be described as genocidal.

The Internet is filled with this anecdote about the court case, and after much searching it appears to be true (see page 3 here. )

Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, was quoted by the New York Times in 1948 as saying "If the Jewish state becomes a fact, and this is realized by the Arab peoples, they will drive the Jews who live in their midst into the sea." That wasn't about Israelis but about Jews in Arab countries.

So did Arabs ever use that phrase concerning the Jews of Israel, or is it a myth?

It does not appear to be a myth.

This book by (unreliable) author Gilbert Achcar says that Nasser quoted the phrase in an ironic way:

The Gamal Abdel-Nasser Foundation's Web site, created in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,'° contains 1,359 declarations and transcriptions of speeches or interviews by the founder of modern Egypt. This electronic resource makes it considerably easier to analyze Nasser's discourse. There one finds an address delivered by Bikbachi (Colonel) Abdel-Nasser before Alexandria's Palestine Club on December 13, 1953.... In it, the future president offers an ironical comment on the Arab attitude during the period when the Zionist plan was being translated into action under the British mandate: "At our meetings and in our speeches, we said we were going to throw the Jews into the sea, and felt reassured after every speech. Then we all went back home:"

So while Nasser may not have made that call directly (and he actually denied ever saying that,) it seems to have been a common enough threat among Arabs themselves.

But did any Arab leader make that threat?

Yes. Here is a statement by Dr. Fadhil Jamali, Iraqi Representative to the United Nations, speaking to the Arab League, February 6, 1955:

I asked them (Arab League members) how Palestine was lost. It had been lost for two basic reasons: one, because we deluded ourselves by underestimating the power of our opponent and by thinking that the Jews were not powerful. The highest official in the League said that with 300 soldiers or North African Volunteers we could throw the Jews into the sea. The war started and His Excellency then said that with 3,000 North African Volunteers we could throw them into the sea. The second reason was that we thought that we were strong enough to face the world but the fact was that we did not estimate our own strength correctly. This then was the issue of Palestine. It seemed a trifling thing at the time but we did not know that behind the Jews of Palestine stood World Zionism with its resources in every major country.

Jamali had no incentive to lie about this for his audience. So while this is second-hand evidence, it seems pretty strong.

UPDATE: The book O Jerusalem, by Collins and Lapierre, mentions that the phrase was used by a number of Arab leaders.

The first one to say he wanted to "throw the Jews int the sea," according to the book, was Kamal Irekat (almost certainly the same family as Saeb Erekat,) a police chief in Jerusalem.

It says that the Mufti of Jerusalem adopted the phrase.

Finally, the book attributes it also to Fawzi el Kaukji, an Arab League field commander.

(h/t David Sigeti)

Jews must have stolen the word "chutzpah" from ancient Palestinians

The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of "inciting against peace."

Really.

At a meeting yesterday, the PA cabinet issued a statement saying that the Israeli government is waging a systematic campaign of incitement "in word and deed" against the Palestinian people and all the "peace-loving" people worldwide.

"The campaign of incitement and fabrications and fallacies led by the Israeli government is not addressed only to the Palestinian people and leadership, but also towards groups of peace-loving Israeli people, and against American efforts, and the efforts of all peace-loving people in the world, in order to kill the possibility of achieving the two-state solution and to finish off the chances for peace irreversibly, leading to more instability and a foretaste of serious consequences for the entire region," the statement said.

In the very next breath, the spokesman welcomed the decision by the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting to discuss ways to support the prisoners in Israeli jails, at the request of "Palestine" and with the participation of Minister of Prisoners, who will brief the delegates and representatives of the Arab countries and officials of the Arab League on the tragic situation of the prisoners.

Why are these two statements juxtaposed?

Because the "incitement" that the Pa is complaining about is the recent story that the PA is allocating $46 million more annually to terrorists who are now or have been imprisoned. The story hit some major media outlets. Probably some Western donors to the PA raised some half-hearted questions about how their money is being used to support terrorists.

Naturally, when an Israeli organization publicizes facts that are freely available in Arabic media about the PA's monetary support for terrorists, that is "incitement against peace."

Which can only mean one thing.

Just like falafel, hummus and keffiyehs, Jews must have usurped the ancient Palestinian word "chutzpah" and pretended that it was theirs instead of representing a long hallowed Palestinian tradition.

It does take a special brand of chutzpah to claim that pointing out that Palestinian Arab society wholeheartedly supports terrorists - monetarily and emotionally - is "incitement against peace."

Unless you understand exactly what they mean by "peace."