Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, May 23, 2014

University divestment scorecard, 2014, shows BDS losing badly

The Mike Report asked me if I had a scorecard of how resolutions to divest from Israel have been doing on university campuses this year. I knew that most had failed but I didn't have all the details, so I asked StandWithUs, who have been very involved in the issue, if they could help.

Their beautiful chart that they sent is too nice to keep to myself:

UCLA	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	February, 2014
Loyola University of Chicago	Divestment	Student Government	Passed, but vetoed	March, 2014
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	March, 2014
University of Michigan - Dearborn	Divestment	Student Government	Passed	March, 2014
Arizona State University	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated (tabled indefinitely)	March, 2014
University of New Mexico	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	April, 2014
Arizona State University, Downtown Campus	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	April, 2014
UC Santa Barbara	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	April, 2014
UC Riverside	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated in February, brought back and passed by one vote in April	February-April, 2014
Cornell University	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated - tabled indefinitely	April, 2014
San Diego State University	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	February-April, 2014
Wesleyan	Divestment	Student Government	Passed	May, 2014
University of New Mexico	Divestment	Graduate Student Senate	Passed, then rescinded	April-May, 2014
UC Davis	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	April-May, 2014
University of Washington	Divestment	Student Government	Defeated	May, 2014
DePaul University	Divestment	Referendum	TBD	April-May, 2014
UC Santa Cruz	Divestment	Student Government	TBD	May, 2014

This means nine times divestment failed, either by a direct vote or by a vote to table the motion indefinitely, which is effectively the same thing. Twice it passed only to become rescinded or vetoed.

It only passed for real three times out of fourteen.

So when I say that BDS on college campuses has run out of steam - this is what I mean.

My guess is that the Israel haters, consistently losing on campus, will next start to resorting to online polls in student newspapers to "prove" that they are still relevant.

H/t Mike Report and StandWithUs. Here's a cartoon in Mike Report than sums it up:

05/23 Links Pt1: Hamas: We'll Move Terrorism To WB; PA TV Teaches Kids The Way to ‘Jihad Street’

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas: We'll Use Unity Accord To Move Terrorism To West Bank

Hamas, on the other hand, considers the unity agreement with Fatah an opportunity to extend its control beyond the Gaza Strip and use the West Bank as a launching pad for more terror attacks against Israel.
The international community does not seem to be listening to what Hamas is saying.
Ignoring Hamas's declared intentions will pave the way for the movement to use the unity agreement to seize control over the Palestinian Authority and many parts of the West Bank. It will also facilitate Hamas's plans to launch terror attacks from the West Bank against Israel.
It now remains to be seen whether the U.S. Administration and EU governments, by blindly endorsing the new unity government, will help Hamas to achieve its goals.

Palestinian TV Teaches Kids The Way to ‘Jihad Street’

Every day, hundreds of millions of children in more than 120 countries settle in to watch their local versions of “Sesame Street” or similar shows inspired by the Muppet model. They learn to read, to write, to count. They learn about things like “sharing,” and “friendship,” and how to be kind to others. They learn what it is to love.
Except in Palestine, where the lessons from Hamas children’s television are aimed at something else: to kill.

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim – a voice to be heard

I only got to know Abdulateef a few days ago. And honestly, as one who prides myself to be on top of everything related to the Palestinian/Arab – Israeli conflict, shame on me. Abdulateef’s articles have been around for a few years and he’s one of the few voices of reason in the Arab world, one that is not insulated within a bubble of ignorance and hatred.
I would imagine that the same way I came across his article by chance, there might be others who have not heard of him, so I want to share his name and thoughts with the readers, so that you too, can enjoy his writings and spread the word about him.
The article that prompted me to contact and initiate a dialogue with him, was “May 15:Nakba or Defeat?” published May 14th at Arab News, a Saudi internet news outlet. Abdulateef is a retired Commodore in the Royal Saudi Navy and a journalist. After I exchanged a couple of emails with him, he directed me to additional articles of his, published in outlets including Jerusalem Post and Haaretz.

During his weekly general audience, Francis asked for prayers. "It will be a strictly religious trip," he said.

Not if the Israel haters in Middle East churches have anything to do with it.

From the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem site:

An interview with Bishop William Shomali, Auxiliary Bishop of Jerusalem, about the families who will have lunch with Pope Francis in Bethlehem after Mass in Manger Square.

1 – Why did the Pope choose to lunch with Christian families? What is his reason for doing so?
Pope Francis wants to spend a little time with the poor families in the Bethlehem and their children to listen to them, permitting them to feel his closeness and tenderness. He did not want to have lunch with the cardinals, bishops and politicians, but with poor families. It took time to understand the reasons for this gesture. It really makes the Pope admired: how Jesus wants to stay close to the poor.

2 – How were the families chosen who will share the meal?
The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, which oversaw the organization of the entire trip of the Holy Father appointed a committee for the task of choosing. The Committee established criteria for identifying “categories” of poverty. Each family was then selected to represent a certain category of need. The poor who have no daily bread or living on the street have not been selected.

Oh, okay. The pope asks to have lunch with the poor and the committee deliberately excludes the truly poor.

So who do they choose instead?

Our poor are those who suffer for humanitarian reasons, political and social. We contacted the parishes and consulted many people. Many lay people offered us names. We discussed together and finally arrived at a final list. Many would have liked to be selected, but it was not possible to please everyone. It was a tough choice!

3 – Can you give us some examples of families that you have chosen?
A family from Ikrit, a village in northern Galilee that was evacuated and razed in 1948 by the Israeli Army. Only the church was spared. Although there have been court decisions, Christian Arab inhabitants were never able to return to their village.

Another family from the group of 58 families who have land in Cremisan area of Beit Jala. According to the planned route of the separation wall built by Israel, the land will be on the other side of the wall and therefore inaccessible for the owners. There are ongoing negotiations with the legal authorities that we hope will have a positive outcome.

Also a family that represents those who struggle for a family reunion. One spouse living in Jerusalem, the other in the territories. Under Israeli law, it is difficult for the Palestinian spouse to obtain a permit for permanent residence in Jerusalem.

Another family has a son sentenced to life imprisonment, another a son exiled to Gaza for political reasons. Another one comes from the Gaza Strip, which is a big prison. These are the families selected for this occasion.

...5 – Pope Francis, where he visits, always wants to share a meal with simple people, the poor and marginalized. What are the lessons for the Church in Jerusalem?
This is a lesson for us bishops and priests. We need to get closer to the suffering people of God, and not live isolated in our homes. The Pope says we are always to go out, to go to the others, to go in search of the sheep and not wait until the sheep seeks the shepherd. This is a great example for us. The Pope will not see all the misery of the Holy Land. He only meets five families, and giving us a good boost, it inspires us to continue our mission.

Gee, what mission is that? Ignoring the homeless?

The pope asks for poor families to have lunch with, and the church leaders ignore his request and instead choose families that they can use as props to slam Jewish Israelis!

After all, it is not like the Pope will tell them to cut the crap. They know exactly what they are doing and they are using Francis as cynically as they are using the people they chose for the honor of meeting him.

(h/t Irene)

New "Apartheid?" Poster: Jerusalem Light Rail

This photo has been floating around social media. So I added it to my viral poster series.

(h/t Gabi Shainin who took the original photo., and Israel Muse who informed me of that fact.)

CNN footage shows Israeli troops firing rubber bullets, not live fire, in Beitunia

This is Israel's Channel 2 analyzing video released by CNN yesterday that appeared to show the Israel border police officer firing the gunshot that felled Nadim Nawarah at the "Nakba Day" protest in Beitunia.

While Nadim and the other youth have had funerals and Palestinian Arab medical reports indicating bullets that tore through their bodies, the CNN footage actually shows without a doubt that the border police bullet that was shot at the time Nawarah fell came from a gun equipped with the extension used to fire rubber bullets. (The bullet that Nawarah's father says he found in the backpack simply could not have killed him, as the expert in the video notes - a bullet that hits a target does not look like that.)

Here is what an M16 looks like.

Here it is with the attachment:

Here's the gun that fired the bullet at the time:

It is clear that this gun has the rubber bullet attachment.

Rubber coated bullets used in Israel are blunt cylinders. They cannot penetrate skin unless fired from very close range, although they could cause serious pain and injury. Even then - they wouldn't exit the body. They certainly could not go through Nadim's backpack the way it was described.

The CNN footage did not show what was happening around the corner from the building where Nawarah fell down, closer to the Israeli position, and from other footage we know that protesters were throwing and sling-shooting stones to the police from there (out of the view of the security camera footage.) We cannot tell where the police were firing towards.

Is it possible that Nawarah was hit by a misfired rubber bullet, or a ricochet? Did he fall as soon as he heard the shot? I dislike conspiracy theories on either side and the idea that the youths faked their falls to coincide with the shots and were then whisked away to replaced with similar dead bodies, or to be killed themselves as martyrs, seems far fetched. But no image or video released so far shows Israeli police using anything but tear gas and rubber bullet guns, and there is no way that the damage mentioned in the medical report matches what a rubber bullet could do. Also, there is no blood visible near the supposed wounds in any of the photos of the youths who were apparently killed.

My earlier post on the incident, along with the comments, is perhaps the single biggest repository of photo and video of the incident.

See also here.

(h/t CifWatch for the translation)

El-Al planes to be equipped with missile-destroying lasers

How cool is this? From Wired:

Israel is finally ready to combat shoulder-launched missiles and they’re going to do it with lasers.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that SkyShield, developed by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems, had successfully completed testing and is certified for commercial use to combat the threat of man-portable surface-to-air missile systems (MANPADS) by combining advanced laser detection and disruption technologies.

C-MUSIC, the commercial version of SkyShield, integrates laser technology with a thermal camera to deflect incoming threats by jamming. After detecting incoming missiles with an infrared sensor, it fires a laser that disrupts the missile’s navigation system, taking it off course and detonating the missile a safe distance from the aircraft.

“SkyShield has been validated under the most complex and sophisticated testing conditions ever conducted in Israel and is now ready to protect Israeli airlines,” said Israel Air Force Brig. Gen. Eitan Eshel, director of research and development at Israel’s Defense Ministry.

The technological advancement is a direct response to the 2002 attempt by terrorists in Mombasa, Kenya in which two surface-to-air missiles were fired at an Israeli charter plane shortly after takeoff. The missiles missed their target and its more than 250 passengers, but the event prompted then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to call for an urgent defense response.

The system will first be implemented on all El Al airliners, but Elbit says it has contracts with several other countries around the world.

Will the BDSers boycott airliners that buy the system? I can imagine their lobbying that passenger lives aren't as important as those horrible houses Jews keep building.

I mentioned C-MUSIC last year, but hadn't seen this (somewhat dated) video before:

(h/t Ronald)

Whimsical, inexpensive Israeli household gadgets

I just found out about an innovative Israeli design company called Monkey Business, and their products will put a smile on your face.

For example, a mold to create sunny side eggs that look like this:

A yellow submarine tea infuser:

A lasso wine bottle holder:

These are great gifts that help out Israel but are appropriate for anyone.

They have lots more. Check it out!

05/22 Links Pt2: Why Are the Irish Anti-Israel?; BDS Fails Round-up; China buys control of Tnuva

From Ian:

Why Are the Irish Increasingly Siding With Palestine Over Israel?

As the Irish conflict has ended, or even as a result of it, Israel has become the favored target of an adventurous but ineffectual activist left in search of a cause that is both suitably righteous and distant. Unlike with other conflicts—say, the invasion of Western Sahara by Morocco—Israel’s modernity marks it as recognizably Western. It can easily be cast in the role of being little more than a U.S.-backed aggressor against the noble Palestinians unfettered by modern affectations.
Johnson say this does a disservice to Palestinians.
“When the Palestinians are anything other than [victims of Israel], when they’re being thrown off rooftops by Hamas or are being starved by Assad in Syrian refugee camps, [pro-Palestine activists] don’t have any interest in that,” he says. “They’re pro a certain kind of agency-less Palestinian. It’s politically useless.” (h/t MtTB)

The Left’s Hatred Of Israel Has A Rich History

Communists saw no anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union; modern radicals deny Arab anti-Semitism.
Antisemitism and the American Far Left is the first systematic study of the American far left’s role in promoting anti-Semitism (and at times combating it). The book covers the Communist Party (CP) from 1920 onward, tracing all of its often sudden and dramatic shifts in approach and response to anti-Semitism and Israel; the role of Trotskyists; the new left and its black nationalist allies; and the contemporary remnants of the new left.
I analyze the deficiencies of the far left’s explanations of Nazism and the Holocaust, marred by its commitment to a simplistic class analysis. The far left ignored anti-Semitism’s deep roots in Christian theology and culture, claiming that the ruling class merely propagated it to deflect working-class anger and undermine unity among the masses.

Is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund consciously funding delegitimization of Israel?

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) is one of the more august grant-making institutions in the United States. Founded in 1940 by the sons of legendary oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller—America’s first billionaire, and a man whose political reputation was distinguished by his support for the Union during the Civil War as well as his commitment to educational opportunities for African Americans—the fund has always been a progressive enterprise, with a current emphasis on good governance, environmentalism, and the promotion of peace.
It is in that latter category, an area that the fund calls “peacebuilding,” that serious concerns have been raised regarding its funding commitments to NGOs working on the Arab-Israeli conflict. NGO Monitor—an Israel-based organization dedicated to analyzing the activities of civil society groups working in the Middle East, along with those groups’ funders—has just published a report which casts doubt on RBF’s goal to promote a “more just, sustainable, and peaceful world,” for the simple reason that many of the Middle Eastern beneficiaries of its largesse demonize the state of Israel in stridently anti-Zionist terms.
For example, “Breaking the Silence,” a small group of left-wing former IDF soldiers who accused of Israel of committing war crimes during its 2008-09 defensive operation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, has received $145,000 from RBF. A commentary and opinion website called +972 (named after the international dialing code for Israel) has received $130,000 from the fund. +972 regularly publishes articles endorsing the analogy between Israel and the apartheid regime in South Africa, and recently plastered its front page with articles about the “Nakba”—the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that is employed by Palestinian propagandists to describe the creation of the state of Israel. Among +972’s contributors is the odious Yossi Gurvitz, who recently tried to persuade me via Twitter that Judaism is a racist religion, drawing on the discredited tropes of Soviet Communist anti-Jewish literature to make his case. +972 has also cross-posted content co-written by the anti-Semitic American writer Max Blumenthal.

Anti-Semitism is a perversion

Guess who said that strong sentence in the title.
It was Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan. It was not too long ago; June 10, 2005, at a ceremony organized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York, where ADL Chairman Abraham Fox presented a “Courage” award to Erdoğan for a “Better future for our children.” In his speech, Fox said Turkey, “which was established by the great Kemal Atatürk,” had been setting a unique model for Muslim countries with its “secular system.”
Accepting the ADL award on behalf of Turkey, Erdoğan said the following: “Anti-Semitism is a shameful mental illness; it is a perversion. The Jewish genocide [Holocaust] is the heaviest crime against humanity throughout history. Genocide, discrimination, Islamophobia, Christianophobia, ethnic cleansing are all different forms of the same illness.”
If anyone in today’s Turkey said the same words, they would not only be labeled a “Zionist,” but also be accused of being a “spy for Israel” by certain figures in Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) and pro-government media.

Child on Hamas kiddie TV: "I shall buy a bullet"

From MEMRI:

The Hamas TV children's show "Pioneers of Tomorrow" recently hosted a young Palestinian girl, who recited a poem to commemorate the Nakba. "I shall buy a bullet, at any price," proclaimed Zahra Zaed, and Nahoul, the giant bee character co-hosting the show, cried words of encouragement. The show aired on Al-Aqsa TV on May 16.

Following is an excerpt:

Child TV host: Will you recite another poem for us – "The Bullet"?

Giant bee Nahoul: That's great. How wonderful, Zahra.

Zahra: I shall walk barefoot.
I shall walk in the pouring rain.
Through thorns, despite the fire,
Despite the pain...
I shall buy a bullet, at any price.
They dispersed my family,
They ripped apart my books,
And they stole my smile.
Do not ask me what there is between me and them.
Between me and them, there are wars and bloodshed.
So I shall buy a bullet, at any price.
I shall buy a bullet, at any price.

Muslim Voice for Peace:

We believe in two states for two peoples: Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine for the Palestinian Arab people

We believe that both sides must make compromises for peace

We believe that terrorism is always wrong

We desire a warm peace that includes cultural and trade relations to benefit both our peoples

We are willing to bring our message of true peace to everyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike

Unfortunately, we don't exist

(h/t Screw Socialism)

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a leftist group that has been part of the PLO for decades.

Well, maybe not any more.

Al Akhbar reveals the dirty backroom politics of "Palestine."

News of the Palestinian left’s objection to Fatah and Hamas sharing power in the government passed quickly and without much attention. But the new public rift between Mahmoud Abbas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) makes significant revelations about what politicians are up to.

Al-Akhbar learned from informed Palestinian sources that the situation has secretly reached a boiling point and a level of unprecedented tension between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas has decided to end his relationship once and for all with the PFLP. He also halted the transfer of the money allocated to the PFLP and financial dues issued by the Palestinian National Fund, and prevented the organization from receiving invitations to attend any official meetings including the session of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee.

The sources reported that “the PFLP’s anger unleashed against Abbas” by leaders in and outside Palestine expresses their rejection of “the political direction adopted by the powerful leadership in the PLO and came after the PFLP’s demands to stop the corruption and unilateral approach adopted by Abbas.” Therefore, these unannounced decisions, in the sources’ opinion, are aimed at punishing the PFLP for its positions “but have no legitimacy and no value, rather they are illegal and strictly punitive in nature.”

The same sources told Al-Akhbar that Abbas’ reaction was not just the result of the PFLP’s rejection of negotiations. “What prompted him was the campaign that was recently launched by the front regarding political and financial corruption in the PLO’s institutions, the way Abbas monopolizes Palestinian decision-making and the limiting of consultations about government formation to Fatah and Hamas.”
...

A PFLP leader, who preferred to remain anonymous, denounced the decisions saying at one of the meetings: “Would Abbas have taken such a step had the PFLP abandoned its position on negotiations for example or provided support inside the PLO or recognized Israel?” He wondered: “Does Abbas think that cutting money allocated to the families of martyrs, political prisoners and activists inside the PFLP - which are their inherent right - is going to dissuade it from its principled and historical positions? Does one person, regardless of his political status, have the right to expel a founding faction of the PLO without dialogue and an institutional decision?” He went on to say: “The PFLP is the second organization in the PLO and one of its main and founding factions... Abbas’ decision reflects exactly this unilateral, exclusionist approach that he represents and adopts inside the Palestinian Authority and Fatah.”

This article is obviously spin, and Al Akhbar is a Hezbollah-leaning outlet that hates Abbas. The PFLP is another terror group. (They confirm the main part of this story on their website.) But this story does show that Abbas has been acting like a dictator, ruthlessly cutting out people who don't agree with him.

There is really little difference between how Abbas acts and how Egypt's former president Mubarak acted. Like Mubarak, Abbas is corrupt, he ignores any pretense of accommodating political opponents, he is ruthless against his enemies, and he acts like an absolute ruler and he is incredibly thin-skinned. And like Mubarak, Abbas managed to ingratiate himself with the West despite his ruthlessness and corruption..

And it is possible that, like Mubarak, Abbas might be overthrown by the secular leftists represented by the PFLP - but the Islamists will swoop in and take over instead.

05/22 Links Pt1: Robert Mackey, Portrait of a Propagandist; Hamas: 'Peace' via Ethnic-Cleansing

From Ian:

Survivor Recounts 1972 PFLP-Red Army Terror Attack at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport

Ros Sloboda, a wounded survivor of the 1972 terror attack at Israel’s Lod airport in Tel Aviv said, “I was just waiting for the next bullet to hit me, because I was convinced that would kill me,” in a chilling interview on the BBC program ‘Witness’ that aired on Wednesday.
In May, 1972, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine recruited three gunmen from Japan’s Red Army terror group to carry out the airport attack to avenge the killing of two Arab hijackers earlier that month.
The three Japanese students arrived on an Air France flight from Paris. Once their luggage came through, they drew automatic weapons and hand grenades, and began shooting at people indiscriminately, killing 26 people and injuring more than 70 others. One of the terrorists killed himself, another was shot by airport security guards and the third was arrested.

Robert Mackey, Portrait of a Propagandist

Consider Robert Mackey’s recent column in “The Lede” concerning a violent Palestinian protest where two demonstrators were killed. A video, released by the pro-Palestinian group “Defence (sic) for Children International Palestine” purports to show the killing of two seemingly innocent people moseying along on a placid street. The article’s headline says it all; “Video Shows Killing of Palestinians on ‘Nakba Day.’” There you have it, Israel is guilty and the video proves it. Of course no one has scrutinized the heavily edited video and it still has to undergo an authentication process but Mackey, turned judge, jury and executioner accepts the Palestinian narrative without reservation or equivocation and has turned an allegation into fact. By contrast, other publications that covered the incident featured headlines that treated the story as an allegation or claim that had yet to be proven.
Mackey has even been known to discount Israeli positions when those positions are supported by UN findings as was the case in November 2012 when an errant Palestinian rocket fell short (of its intended civilian target) and landed on a Palestinian house killing an infant. Israel was initially blamed but in one of those rare instances of UN lucidity, a subsequent UN investigation revealed that the cause of the blast was likely Palestinian rocket fire. Mackey went through torturous lengths to cast doubt on the UN report. Despite overwhelming evidence exonerating Israel, Mackey gives credence to the notion that Israel was to blame and this proved too much to bear for many of his readers who, in the talkback section, offered scathing criticism of his skewed take. In fact, one commentator, noting some glaring omissions in Mackey’s reporting, actually forced Mackey to revise the article and include the omitted material. Aside from the noted correction, Mackey struck a defensive tone when responding to his detractors and attributed the criticism to petty partisanship. Now if that’s not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is.

We've seen this before

On numerous occasions, the Palestinian propaganda machine has produced edited or staged films to incriminate Israeli soldiers. But even though we have seen this script before, the Israel Defense Forces has an obligation to conduct a thorough probe to uncover the facts, as in past similar incidents. Such is the case when human lives are cut short.
The world is hypocritical when it comes to the desire of the Jews to live in peace and security. In Syria, hundreds of people, women and children among them, are being killed every day. Since the Syrian uprising began three years ago, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been slaughtered, including by chemical weapons, but the world is silent. In Nigeria, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, east Asia and many other places around the globe, heinous crimes are committed, and the world says nothing. But when Israeli soldiers try to protect themselves from violent rioters, the world cries out.