Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

05/26 Links Pt1: Hamas, Europe and How to Get a State; Obama Invents a 'Pro-Israel' Past

From Ian:

Denmark's Foreign Minister, Martin Lidegaard, did not of course address the question: If your neighbor is trying to import weapons while threatening to kill you, what are you supposed to do about that? He also did not address the similar blockade of Gaza by Egypt, which faces the same problem. The more terror tunnels Hamas members build, the more respect they get from the West.
As someone born and raised a Muslim in the Middle East, and still living there, I can assure Europeans officials that if they think the recognition of Hamas and Palestinian statehood would encourage Hamas to change its charter and abandon its terrorists attacks, they could not be more wrong. Why then should Hamas change its charter or tactics, or commit itself to a peaceful resolution, when its current terror tactics seem to be working so magnificently?
"We do not distinguish between what was occupied in the 1940s and what was occupied in the 1960s... We will continue until the very last usurper is driven out of our land." – Sheik Nizar Rayan, a Hamas leader, Gaza, 2005.
The EU authorities speak about "peace talks," and a "two-state solution;" Hamas does not. Hamas openly rejects them. If one compares the language these governments use with the language Hamas officials use, they would appear to live on different galaxies. To Hamas, and apparently to many countries in Europe, Israel as no right to defend itself and no right to exist. But Europe is ready to prop up, with unconditional support, racist, anti-humanitarian organizations such as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Is this really the spirit of pluralism, humanism and tolerance these "good," "moral" European governments and the Vatican support?

Palestinians reject Netanyahu bid to define settlement blocs

The Palestinian Authority refuses to resume negotiations with Israel without Israeli recognition of the pre-1967 borders as the basis for talks and of East Jerusalem as the future Palestinian capital, a PA spokesman said on Tuesday, nixing a reported bid by Jerusalem to resume talks aimed at defining the borders of settlement blocs.
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh was responding to comments attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini last week, in which the Israeli premier said his government was willing to define the boundaries of the main settlement blocs, within which construction would be allowed.
Abu Rudeineh countered that Israeli construction in the West Bank must stop entirely before peace talks can resume.
“Nothing relating to final status issues can be segmented or postponed,” Abu Rudeineh said in a statement published by official Palestinian news agency Wafa. “The basis for any negotiations must be recognition of the 1967 borders, Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestinian state… along with a complete halt to settlement [construction] and the release of the fourth group of [security] prisoners jailed before Oslo.”

Joel Pollak: In Speech to Jews, Obama Invents a 'Pro-Israel' Past

Obama’s many biographies–both his own memoirs, and the voluminous writings of others–mention no such early interest in Israel. In fact, those who knew Obama in his early years in Chicago describe a man who understood little about Israel. He had extensive contact with left-wing Jewish activists, and his home is across the street from a synagogue. But to the extent that he took an interest in the Middle East, it was in the Palestinian cause, and the larger Arab and Muslim world.
As Peter Wallsten wrote in April 2008, in the infamous Los Angeles Times article that revealed the existence of the still-secret “Khalidi tape,” Obama’s former Chicago allies and associates described a man whose personal sympathies lay more with the Palestinians, and who promised to pursue a more “evenhanded” policy. One of those who met him in those days, the radical anti-Israel activist Ali Abunimah, complained that a pro-Palestinian Obama had since “learned to love Israel.”
In Obama’s first memoir, Dreams from my Father, there is no recollection whatsoever of any kind of fascination with Israel–not even the left-wing, socialist icons Obama name-checked in his Adas Jeshurun speech. The word “Israel” only appears once, in the words of “Rafiq,” a somewhat adversarial character who admonishes the young community organizer that liberal American Jews really care more “’bout they relatives in Israel” than black children on the South Side of Chicago.
We may conclude that Obama’s supposed fascination with Israel is a fabrication–like the “composite” characters in his autobiographies, or the inaccurate stories he told about his mother’s death during the Obamacare debate, or the many other fibs he has told in the past for political purposes. The kibbutznik Obama is a bit of kitsch tailored to pander to the audience at Adas Jeshurun–many of whom, like journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, are die-hard members of the Obama fan club.

Online Al Jazeera Arabic poll shows 80% support for ISIS

An online poll up at Al Jazeera asks "Do you consider the advance/progress of ISIS to be in the interest of the region?" (The original question wording was "Do you support the victories of the ISIS organization?")

So far, over 80% have voted "Yes."

To be sure, one must include a number of caveats.

For one, online polls are subject to social media campaigns. Other Al Jazeera online polls don't get a fraction of the number of votes cast in this one, so clearly ISIS fans are pushing for people to stuff the ballot box.

Is it possible that some ISIS fans have hacked the poll as well? Could be, although Al Jazeera tries to stop multiple and automated votes by using cookies and a CAPTCHA string.

Nevertheless, 40,000 Arabic readers happily supporting ISIS in what would otherwise be an obscure online poll is something to be concerned about.

(h/t Martin, Ibn Boutros)

Taylan Can

Last year during the Gaza war there were a number of antisemitic rallies in Germany that shocked even members of Germany's Left.

In January, a leader of one such rally held in Essen, Taylan Can, was convicted of hate speech for saying "Death to Zionists." At that rally, he haters threw bottles at a pro-Israel demonstration, chanted "Adolf Hitler" and said "Fuck Jews" as well as "“Scheiss Juden!” (“Jewish shit”). That same leader had been known to chant "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas."

I'm not sure if this video is of that same rally, but it was also in Essen:

The judge said that when demonstrators said "Death to Zionists" they really meant "Death to the Jews." He sentenced the leader to three months probation and a small fine of 200 euros. He emphasized that criticizing Israel is okay but what they did was way over the line and was hate speech and incitement.

Taylan Can appealed the verdict. Observers were skeptical that the ruling would be upheld.

Last week, the appeals court indeed upheld the ruling and in fact increased his sentence to ten months probation.

(h/t Gastwirt)

Muslim countries the biggest deadbeats on Gaza reconstruction

From IRIN:

Gulf Arab states and Turkey have spectacularly failed to fulfill their pledges to Gaza, contributing to a two-thirds shortfall in promised assistance to the beleaguered enclave, a new report reveals.

As of late April, donors had given only 27.5 percent of the promised $3.5 billion, or $967 million.

However, only 35 percent of the aid pledged - or $1.2 billion - was actually fresh, with the majority coming from reallocated donations and emergency funding delivered as the bombs were still falling. Of this new aid, just 13.5 percent - or $165 million - has come through (see chart below).

Qatar pledged $1 billion for Gaza and has delivered 10 percent; Saudi Arabia has given only 10 percent of its promised $500 million. Turkey and Kuwait both pledged $200 million: the former has produced only $520,000, and the latter none.

Other top pledges included the United Arab Emirates’ $200 million, which the World Bank said no data was available for, the United States' $277 million pledge, which is 84 percent delivered, and the European Union's $348 million, with a 40 percent delivery rate.

We've seen this many times before. Arab countries are happy to pledge money to their Palestinian brethren but won't pay up.

Amazingly, the World Bank still blames Israel for the shortfall in building materials going into Gaza, and not the Arab nations that they document as having barely paid their pledges! Their report is in two parts, the first one is their normal report on how Israel is to blame for everything and the annex on how the Gulf states and Turkey aren't paying their pledges. The people who wrote the first part downplayed the statistics from the second part illustrated above, and they actually say:

It is noteworthy that good progress has been made so far to fulfill donor pledges for Gaza reconstruction, but it has to continue and—most importantly—solutions have to be found to enable faster inflow of construction materials into Gaza. By mid-April, almost USD 1 billion of the USD3.5 billion pledged for Gaza reconstruction and recovery at the October 2014 Cairo conference have been allocated by donors. The reconstruction and recovery process will require that all donors fulfill their pledges. However, currently the binding constraint on Gaza’s recovery is not financing, but the limitations on imports of construction materials into Gaza.Therefore, taking into account legitimate security concerns of neighboring countries, ways have to be found to drastically improve access to construction materials in Gaza.

I can find no statistics saying that funded projects in Gaza are waiting for materials.

05/25 Links: Abbas’ Fatah wants to destroy Israel; Could Israel Get Booted Out of Soccer?

From Ian:

PMW: Abbas’ Fatah wants to destroy Israel

On the occasion of Palestinian Nakba day - the day Palestinians commemorate "the catastrophe" of the establishment of the State of Israel - Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement posted a drawing on Facebook that encouraged the use of violence to destroy Israel.
"What was taken by force can only be regained by force, the 67th anniversary of the Nakba"
[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," May 14, 2015]
This statement appeared on an image showing the number 67 in Arabic numerals with the digit 7 made of a key, a rifle, and a map that includes the PA areas as well as all of Israel.
Fatah often reiterates its support for the use of violence and arms to gain statehood as Palestinian Media Watch has documented.
Another post by Fatah warned "the world's dwarfs" to "remain in their burrows" when "the storm" - the name of Fatah's military wing - "roars." This warning appeared on a photo of an armed member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades beside the Fatah logo, which also encourages the use of arms against Israel. The Fatah logo shows two rifles crossed over a map that includes the PA areas and all of Israel: (h/t Bob Knot)

'World encourages violence by condemning Israel constantly'

In an exclusive interview, Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, speaks about the conflict with Hamas, the ethics of war, the battle for public opinion, and the prospects for peace • Peace is far from breaking out, he says.
Col. Richard Kemp, CBE, has been spending time in Israel, where he spoke at Shurat Hadin's "Towards a ‎New Laws of War" Conference, and at Bar-Ilan University, which bestowed him with an honorary ‎doctorate in recognition of his stalwart battle against terrorism and terrorist organizations. Kemp, now ‎retired from the British Army, was commander of the British forces in Afghanistan in 2003 and served in ‎Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland. For the last five years of his 30-year military career, Kemp ‎served as top adviser to the British prime minister on questions of intelligence and counterterrorism.‎

Moroccan authorities take down Israeli judo team

The Moroccan authorities blamed the delay on the Israeli team’s lack of visas but changed their story later on, saying that a gun had been found in one team member’s luggage, Ynet reported. Israel Judo Association chairman Moshe Ponti contacted Marius Vizer, the president of the International Judo Federation’s executive committee, and asked for his assistance. At Vizer’s intervention, which included a threat to cancel the entire competition unless the Israeli team was released, the Moroccan authorities permitted the Israelis to proceed to their hotel, under the protection of a unit of the king’s security guards.
Things went from bad to worse as the weekend progressed. The Israeli flag was absent from the venue where the event took place, prompting a representative from the International Judo Federation to demand that all the flags of the participating countries be taken down. The Israeli team was also not mentioned on the tournament’s website. The spectators waved Palestinian flags, shouted “We’re going to kill you,” and booed each time a member of the Israeli team appeared.
“What happened in Morocco is a shame,” judoka Yarden Gerbi wrote on her Facebook page. “As an Israeli I feel ashamed to wait 8 hours at the airport, I feel ashamed to hear the crowed [sic] boo me and my teammates and want us to lose — and why? Because we are Israelis. We came for sports, pure sport, not politics. It’s an embarrassment for Morocco and the organization. I hope us Israelis, and no one else, for that matter, ever has to experience such behavior again. It’s against sport in general, and judo in particular.”
The Israeli team won no medals in the competition. “I’m very disappointed — not with the results, but with the spectators’ behavior,” Ponti said.

Could Israel Get Booted Out of Soccer?

George Orwell was a brilliant man and a historically important writer, but the one thing he never truly understood was soccer.
In December 1945, Orwell wrote an essay called “The Sporting Spirit” for the London newspaper Tribune. The Soviet soccer club Dynamo Moscow had just completed a tour of the UK, playing matches against top British clubs like Arsenal and Rangers—matches that degenerated into rough play on the pitch and jingoism in the stands. Orwell, a fervent opponent of nationalism, was appalled. “Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play,” he wrote. “It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.”
It is true that soccer can bring out the worst in, and of, humanity. It can enable racism, sexism, homophobia, corruption, and mob violence. It can enflame nationalist tensions and give legitimacy to authoritarian regimes. But soccer can also bring out the best in us. It can unify war-torn nations and lift the spirits of impoverished communities. It can impose 90 minutes of order on a world that has seemingly never been so chaotic.
It’s never wise—and perhaps not possible—to underestimate FIFA’s ability to hit a new moral low. But if FIFA votes against Israel, it will be its most shameful decision yet, because it will prove Orwell right—that the Beautiful Game is nothing more than a front in a decades-long battle, and its fans are merely its conscripts. (h/t Bob Knot)

05/22 Links Pt2: Robert Wistrich: Defender of the Jewish People; ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ Was a Zionist

From Ian:

Robert Wistrich: Defender of the Jewish People

Many scholars look away from the widespread anti-Semitism emanating from Muslim states and from parts of the Muslim population in Western countries. Despite the backlash, Robert remained outspoken when his post-9/11 essay on Muslim anti-Semitism, originally published in English, was updated and republished in German in 2011. Therein, Robert claimed that the hardcore anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world is comparable only to that of Nazi Germany. Expressing such an opinion was far more than an academic judgment. It was an act of courage. Much more gentle criticism about extreme ugly phenomena in Muslim societies was already being labeled as Islamophobia. Such criticism is constantly stifled not only by Muslims but also by many “politically correct” Westerners. Robert explicitly stated that Muslim hatred for Israel and Jews is “an eliminatory anti-Semitism with a genocidal dimension”.
From Ambivalence to Betrayal: The Left, the Jews, and Israel came out in 2012. The book includes the chapter, “Great Britain: A Suitable Case for Treatment?” Robert had studied in the UK, where the British literary classics on the school’s curriculum were almost all anti-Semitic in nature. Robert’s analysis started with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales from the late 14th century and Christopher Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta from the end of the 16th Century. He came out unequivocally against the whitewashing of the anti-Semitism of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
Probably more so than anyone else, Robert has proven that anti-Semitism is not only inherent in European history but that it is an integral part of European culture. I once persuaded him to lecture at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs about the long tradition of intellectual anti-Semitism. He illustrated how each change in the social environment brings about a mutation of anti-Semitism. In Europe, Catholic anti-Semitism laid down the ideological infrastructure from which much of the demonizing of the Jews, Judaism and the Jewish people developed. From Martin Luther and Protestantism to the Enlightenment, including Voltaire, from the great German idealist philosophers, the early French socialists, to Karl Marx – many intellectuals and innovative movements gave their own “contribution” to anti-Semitism.
Robert was a passionate and tireless fighter for his ideas. A comrade-in-arms against the many ugly enemies of the Jewish people, and a man of principle, I had the privilege of last speaking with him –a lengthy, and as always, stimulating and pleasant conversation – during the recent Global Forum for Combatting Anti-Semitism, a few days before his passing. His sense of purpose remained unabated until the very end. Like all great intellectuals, he will live on through the legacy of his profound work and original thought.

Col. Richard Kemp: The Amoral Revolution in Western Values, and its Impact on Israel

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: To fight for Israel on the international stage is also to fight for the values of democracy, freedom of speech and expression, and civilized social values everywhere. Unfortunately, the morality and values of the West have been transformed and undermined over the past thirty years almost beyond recognition. Judeo-Christian principles of honesty, honor, loyalty, family values, patriotism, religious faith and respect for the state have all been eroded; whereas negative values, such as the acceptance of betrayal, duplicity and deceit, have flourished. The Western media is chiefly culpable in advancing this deleterious values transformation. And this transformation is the basis for the growth of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist perspectives, and anti-Israel narratives.
What follows is the text of an address delivered by Col. Kemp CBE at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies on May 19, 2015. Kemp was Commander of the British Forces in Afghanistan. He subsequently worked for the Joint Intelligence Committee and the British cabinet national crisis management group. He testified in defense of Israel before the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, and the United Nations Human Rights Council in response to the Goldstone report. This week, he received an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University in recognition of his stalwart defense of Israel.

Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies: Col. Kemp’s 40 minute address

British commander provides hope to turn back the tide against Israel

Flatly contradicting the nasty Goldstone Report, Kemp confidently asserted that “based on my knowledge and experience as a military commander, the IDF did more during Operation Cast Lead to safeguard the rights of civilians in the combat zones than any other army in the history of warfare.”
Kemp has been vilified ever since. “In social media, I have been the subject of sustained assaults by particularly virulent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic networks. In universities, I have been the subject of demonstrations that have sought to silence me. I have been accused of corruption and being in the pay of the Zionist entity. I have been deliberately denied business opportunities.
I have been placed on a terrorist death list,” Kemp told his BESA Center audience.
“This is not because I speak out against the moral bankruptcy, corruption, incitement to terrorism or oppression of the Palestinian Authority; or the murder, brutality and terrorist violence of Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. I have spoken out at least as much against al-Qaida, the Taliban, the Iranian regime, the IRGC and many other sponsors of terror and terrorist groups without anything like this level of attempted intimidation.
“Rather it is for one reason, and that is because I fail to falsely condemn Israel in circumstances where to even be neutral on the subject is itself a crime in the eyes of so many. It is because I have gone further, and used my military experience and my objective view to explain and defend Israel’s legitimate military actions.”

Chag sameach!

I will not be blogging until Monday night (or Tuesday morning) because of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, the least well known of the major Jewish holidays.

Have a great holiday!

A visit to a southern Israeli kibbutz (Ido Daniel on Twitter)

Sometimes, you can find real journalism on Twitter. From Ido Daniel:

In Sderot today. Already met with mayor Alon Davidi, now heading to Kibbutz Nahal Oz
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

With Beni Sela, head of civil security of Nahal Oz, in a lookout to shuja'iyya, Gaza pic.twitter.com/hfccSkwLLB
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: after Protective Edge, #Hamas constructed a "Quarry". Its main target: making noise to cover the sound of tunnel digging toward Israel
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

shuja'iyya in #Gaza as seen from kibbutz Nahal Oz. The so called quarry is at front (white) pic.twitter.com/kOZK2G4jV5
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: in front of Nahal Oz there were 8 mosques before Protective Edge. Now only 1 left, rest were used as #Hamas weapon storage
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: at the beginning of Protective Edge, #Hamas has deliberately cut this main power line to #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/y4VvEiCEDP
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: their intentions in this act were pure propaganda: blaming Israel for cutting the power to Gaza. Electric teams were attacked too
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: that was an absurd situation. They shot at the power lines on purpose, Israel tried to repair it but the were shot at as well.
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

I'm as asking Beni if they're digging tunnels at the moment toward Kibbutz Nahal Oz. "yes they are". pic.twitter.com/6NVzojBu54
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni: the Nahal Oz pillbox attack happened right here. #Hamas terrorists were hiding in this sunflower field pic.twitter.com/Oe5XpkdFQb
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

Beni is now telling us the story of the murder of 4yo Daniel Tregerman from a mortar shell. I'll spare the details pic.twitter.com/y8A3Doa3hI
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

This how a playground looks like inside Kibbutz Nahal Oz. pic.twitter.com/qPwozR2Is0
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

The sunflower fields of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. #ShabbatShalom from southern #Israel! pic.twitter.com/pp9dNQd0jH
— Ido Daniel (@IdoDaniel) May 22, 2015

05/22 Links Pt1: In Obama's Middle East there's only one problem -- Netanyahu; Palestinians’ Gun Culture

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: The Israeli enablers in action

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has some explaining to do.
During Mogherini’s visit this week she spoke loftily of Europe’s concern for peace and desire to play a role in establishing a Palestinian state at peace with Israel. And that was very nice.
But what is the EU doing to promote these admirable goals? How do the millions of euros the EU and its member states shovel annually into the coffers of NGOs who exist to delegitimize Israel advance these goals? The timing of Mogherini’s visit this week was propitious. She came the same week as “Nakba Day,” the day Israel’s enemies mourn its coming into existence 67 years ago.
The concept of the “Nakba,” is an act of political war against the Jewish state. It was invented to deny Israel’s right to exist by propagating the libel that the state was born in sin. The explicit demand at the heart of the “Nakba” narrative is that Israel must be destroyed for justice to be achieved.
The EU generously funds groups that propagate this devastating slander.

A Century of Genocides: Next Trigger-Man, Iran

Seventy years after the fall of Dachau and Auschwitz, Israeli Jews, Christians and Arabs are threatened with a second Holocaust by people who deny the existence of the first Holocaust: Iran's leadership. The West, apparently willing to vote Iran nuclear breakout capability, pays no attention and acts as if Iran's continual threats had no meaning.
The first priority of most Western governments today seems to sign a deal with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who openly calls for Israel's and America's destruction.
The next priority of many European governments is to entrust a state to the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a movement that does not hide its genocidal intentions. Political considerations are at work, full time and at open throttle.
Since the Armenian genocide, one hundred years have passed, marked by mass killings, massacres, and genocides. These culminated in the Holocaust, but did not end with it. The Communist killing fields of Cambodia took place during the 1970s. The Rwandan Genocide of the Tutsis was perpetrated just twenty-one years ago.
The twentieth century was appropriately described by historian Robert Conquest as a "ravaged century."
It is urgent that that ethical -- not political or monetary -- considerations receive priority. If not, this will be the second "ravaged century."

Who Can Attack Turkish Ships?

The vessel, the Tuna-1, was approaching Tobruk, a coastal city in Libya where the country's internationally-recognized government is headquartered, to deliver sheetrock cargo loaded in Spain, when it was shelled in international waters, 13 miles away from the Libyan port city. The Tuna-1 was then attacked twice from the air as it tried to leave the area. A Libyan military spokesman told Reuters that the Turkish vessel was bombed "after it was warned not to approach the Libyan city of Derna."
But this time there was no request for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council; no talks with the EU, NATO, Arab League, OIC, Obama or Merkel. No words flying in the air such as "terrorist state," "piracy," "massacre," "an attack on world peace." No "murderers." No threats to Libyans that "your security is being exposed to great risks." And, naturally, this is not "Turkey's own 9/11."
Instead, the Turkish Foreign Ministry on May 11 issued a weak protest note. It condemned the attack and demanded legal action. It called the attack a violation of international law. All Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, could say was that Ankara had sent a frigate off the Libyan coast to escort the Tuna-1 back to Turkish waters.
President Erdogan's reaction to the attack on a civilian Turkish vessel by a foreign army was revealing. He said: "Things would have been different had the Turkish ship carried a Turkish flag." That would be Turkey's wrath on Libya, he simply meant, were the Tuna-1, owned by a Turkish company, not registered in the Cook Islands.
By the way, what flag did the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara carry? Comoros.
Still wondering why Turkey's voice was so loud after the Mavi Marmara incident? For Turkey's Islamists, "what was done" does not matter much. "Who did it" does.

Jibril Rajoub keeps playing FIFA like a fiddle

From Reuters:

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has complained to world football's governing body FIFA that Israeli authorities held up a national team player as the squad travelled from the West Bank to Tunisia on Thursday.

The PFA said player Sameh Maraabah was temporarily detained by Israeli authorities at Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan late on Thursday.

But Israel's FA (IFA) accused its Palestinian counterpart of "deliberately creating a needless provocation" and said it would make a formal complaint to FIFA.

"The PFA broke an agreement with FIFA and the IFA which requires prior notification and a list of names of the Palestinian athletes prior to their travel," the IFA said.

The team bus waited and Maraabah was eventually allowed to continue with his colleagues, who then flew from Jordan to Tunisia to attend a training camp, a PFA official told Reuters.

Israel jailed Maraabah for two months last year after he was convicted of being a courier for Islamist group Hamas.

Israel had accused Maraabah of returning from a team trip to Qatar in April 2014 bearing money, a mobile phone and messages given to him by a Hamas operative whom Israel had exiled to the Gulf state as part of a prisoner exchange.

An Israeli security official said Maraabah was questioned briefly about his travel plans and was warned by authorities not to engage in any more "forbidden activities against the state of Israel".

The incident occurred hours after FIFA president Sepp Blatter met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and football officials to address Palestinian complaints that Israel was hampering their football activities.

PFA president Jibril Rajoub wrote to Blatter saying Israel was not abiding by its own commitment to ease travel.

"The implications of this incident can only confirm the PFA's position on the promises given by the Israeli Government; that they are only words unless they are included in a solution that can only come through, and be guaranteed by, the FIFA Congress."

Rajoub deliberately sent someone with known terror ties through without clearing it with Israel as per their agreement, knowing that Israel would detain him and therefore using it as a pretext for a new complaint against Israel.

But the headlines say "Israel detains travelling Palestine player" rather than "Palestinians engineer an incident to demonize Israel."

The terrorist Jibril Rajoub wins again.

(h/t Bob K)

Iran threatens to kill 600,000 Jews

From Times of Israel:

Senior Iranian military official warned on Thursday that any Israeli attack would unleash a firestorm of missiles on its cities fired by the Islamic Republic’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

The Shiite militia has more than 80,000 rockets ready to fire at Tel Aviv and Haifa, said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Iran, with the help of Hezbollah and its friends, is capable of destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa in case of military aggression on the part of the Zionists,” he said, quoted on state television.

“I don’t think the Zionists would be so unintelligent as to create a military problem with Iran,” the general said. “They know the strength of Iran and Hezbollah.”

Tel Aviv has 404,000 people, Haifa another 267,000. The vast majority are Jewish. He isn't talking about targeting military facilities, he is threatening the murder of two thirds of a million people.

Last I checked, that was a war crime.

Maybe Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch will mention it among his hundreds of anti-Israel tweets.

Sure.

The FARS News version of the story includes a nice lie:

Top Military Aide to the Iranian Supreme Leader Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi described the recent statements of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon about nuking Iran as an empty threat, warning that the Islamic Republic has tens of thousands of missiles ready to wreak havoc on Israel.

Did Yaalon threaten to nuke Iran?

Only in the fevered imaginations of the haters at Mondoweiss, where Iran apparently gets its news from.

Mondoweiss noticed a speech that Yaalon gave where he mentioned how Truman justified Hiroshima, but in no way did he threaten Iran. Here is what he said in context:

Now those who claim that this battle is not fair because democracy can't fight back tyrannical regimes, not [to mention] terror organizations, I don't agree with it.

In certain cases we might take certain steps that we believe ... should be taken in order to defend ourselves. I mentioned the discussion about the interception of the rockets positioned on civilian houses. We decided to do it. I can't imagine some other step that should be taken.

Of course, we should be sure that we can look [in] the mirror after the decision or operation. Of course, we should be sure that it is a military necessity. We should consider costs and benefits, of course, but at the end we might take certain steps.

I do remember the story of President Truman, who was asked, "how did you feel after deciding to launch the nuclear bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, causing at the end [200,000 fatalities]?" And he said, "when I heard from my officers that the alternative is a long war with Japan, with potential fatalities of a couple of million, I saw that it is a moral decision."

We are not there yet. But that's what I'm talking about: certain steps in cases in which we feel like we don't have the answer by surgical operations or something like that.

Yaalon was using Hiroshima as an extreme example of having to kill civilians to save a much larger number of people, and relating it back to his earlier mention that Hezbollah is hiding rockets in civilian houses on Israel's border and Israel will need to attack those locations in case of war.

He was not saying Israel was planning to nuke Iran. On the contrary, he was saying that any difficult decision must be a military necessity and the decisions must be made in the context of the laws of war, which do allow actions that would kill civilians sometimes. There are more tools in Israel's arsenal under international law than one would think from reading the false interpretations of that law given by Amnesty and HRW.

But Iran explicitly threatened to do the equivalent of 4 Hiroshimas in Israel.

Will any human rights defender condemn this threat of murdering hundreds of thousands of people?

Nah...they're only Jews in Israel. No one defends their human rights.

(h/t Yoel)

Joe Lieberman far more skeptical of Obama's feelings about Israel than Jeffrey Goldberg

Jeffrey Goldberg has just published another long interview with President Obama, and he once again does everything he can to praise him on his stance towards Israel.

For example, he stated that "Obama, when he talks about Israel, sounds like a rabbi in the progressive Zionist tradition." Goldberg doesn't seriously challenge the President when he is told again that Obama "has Israel's back."

Perhaps most glaringly, Goldberg doesn't ask a single question about what Obama is demanding of the Palestinians in his desire for peace. He doesn't ask a thing about Palestinian incitement to violence, about Arab antisemitism (although Obama implies it exists, it wasn't because of anything he was asked,) he didn't ask about why Israeli building in areas that are obviously going to remain par of Israel forever is condemned so vociferously, indicating that the US position towards the Green Line has changed significantly under Obama's watch.

The contrast between a Democrat who pretends to love Israel for the purpose of pushing a bad Iranian deal (which was the main purpose of this interview, and a speech Obama is giving to a "progressive" Jewish synagogue tonight) and a Democrat (turned independent) who truly loves Israel can be seen from a different interview with Joe Lieberman:

Former US Sen. Joseph Lieberman, in an interview with JTA in Jerusalem, surmised that the next US administration would be friendlier with Israel than the current one. He also expressed concern over America’s nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying they are “going in a bad direction,” and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to embrace the long-shelved Arab Peace Initiative.

Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew and the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate in 2000, predicted that if the 2016 presidential election were held today, a higher percentage of Jewish Americans would vote Republican than in past races. But he noted that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party’s front-runner for the Democratic nod, could reverse that trend through vocal support of Israel.

“I think there will be a friend of Israel in the White House,” he said, noting that both Clinton and the leading Republican candidates all have pro-Israel records. “It will be a new beginning, a new opportunity. Is it going to be better than it has been under President Obama? Probably, yeah.”

Lieberman expressed concern over support for Israel in the Democratic Party. While almost all Democratic lawmakers support Israel, he said, Lieberman worried that younger party activists are more skeptical of the Jewish state.

“It’s something people who care about Israel are really working at,” said Lieberman, a four-term senator from Connecticut, who won as an independent in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary — in part because of his continued support for the Iraq War. “Part of it is to remind people who are liberal Democrats that, without saying everything Israel ever does is perfect, Israel is by far the most liberal country and society.”

Even though I disagree strongly with Lieberman's attitude towards the possibility of peace and his pushing the Arab Peace Initiative, you can see that he has a real love of Israel. The difference between someone like him and a president who is saying what he needs to say in order to push an agenda is clear.