Stop foreign subversion of the Jewish state! (Vic Rosenthal)
Vic Rosenthal's weekly column:
In his travels about Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Tuvia Tenenbom (Catch the Jew) tells of encountering massive European-funded projects, costing millions of Euros. They arrange propaganda tours (including one to Yad Vashem that is all about how Israelis are the new Nazis), pay for illegal Arab construction in Judea/Samaria, fund lawfare against the state and IDF personnel, support dozens of NGOs that work overtime generating material to demonize Israel, interfere with IDF soldiers and try to provoke violence, bring international volunteers to act as human shields in violent protests against the security fence, encourage boycotts and divestment, and — above all — support those Jewish left-wing extremists that are so important to the overall objective: to take down the Jewish state of Israel.
Ah yes, those Jewish left-wing extremists. Tenenbom interviews many of them, some well known like Gideon Levy and Arik Ascherman, and others that you never heard of, like tour guide Itamar Shapira, whose job is to take Europeans to see how Jews have ‘stolen Palestinian land’ and are the new Nazis. Tenenbom sometimes calls them ‘self-haters’ and sometimes ‘narcissists’, but I think the second description is better. These are people whose pathological obsession — there’s no better description — is to present themselves as great moral beings, saints as it were, by virtue of their unique ability to perceive the inherent evil of the Jewish state in which they live and take action against it.
Tenenbom interviews numerous Arabs, including Hanan Ashrawi, Jibril Rajoub, taxi drivers, university students and professors. All of them appear secure in their belief in the rightness of the ‘Palestinian cause’ (getting rid of the Jews) and in its ultimate success. In fact, he finds them much more appealing in their straightforwardness — for example, for the way they make up outlandish stories to support their position, and are completely unfazed when they are shown to be false — than the anti-Zionist Jews, who are self-absorbed, hypocritical, angry, bitter and consumed with hatred.
He also talks to Haredim, members of the Knesset, whores, journalists, soldiers, etc. But the one theme that recurs — in addition to how annoying the Israeli left-wing intellectuals are — is the presence of foreign money put to destructive purposes.
The line between criticism of Israel and Jew-hatred is a fine one which has long since been crossed by the anti-Israel establishment. Tenenbom’s book is anecdotal, but there is hard evidence, collected by the NGO Monitor organization, that the anti-Zionist project of the European Union, its member countries, church groups, the American New Israel Fund and other foreign sources have done much to ignite and fuel the wave of Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred that is sweeping the West today. When European football fans chant “Jews to the gas,” behavior that their governments officially deplore, they are only expressing the logical outcome of the demonization that these governments are paying for.
Recently, it was revealed that the group Breaking the Silence, which travels the world telling exaggerated, decontextualized, undocumented and plain made-up stories about IDF behavior has actually contracted to provide such ‘testimonies’ in return for payments from European government funded charities! BTS reports are used as ‘evidence’ for UN condemnations of Israel, to demonize her and to provide justifications for actions to limit her ability to defend herself.
The degree of irresponsibility shown by the governments — or maybe the out-and-out evil motive behind their project — is shocking. While the EU ambassador to Israel tells Tenenbom about solving conflicts and improving the lives of all the residents of the Middle East, Jews and Muslims alike, the concrete actions that Europeans and Americans are buying with their taxes and donations, if successful, will be the violent destruction of Israel and its replacement by an Arab Muslim entity.
Although we can do little to prevent the dissemination of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda in the West, in Israel we still have the ability to rein in the pervasive anti-state groups operating here.
Naturally, the Left in Israel, many of whom depend on foreign money for their livelihoods, oppose any such action as “anti-democratic” and claim that it restricts free speech. But I fail to see how ‘democracy’ extends to inviting hostile foreign elements to operate in our country and paying home-grown traitors to subvert it.
Israel’s new Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, has made the control of foreign money one of her highest priorities. This is probably one of the reasons that she has been viciously attacked with fabricated accusations of racism and support for genocide (as well as crude sexist insults). As a result of death threats, it has been necessary to provide her with bodyguards. Even her sworn political enemy, Zahava Galon of the left-wing Meretz party, found it appropriate to defend Shaked from the slime being thrown at her.
There have been attempts to put limits on foreign-financing for left-wing NGOs before, which have been bitterly opposed (and derailed) by the Left. In 2011, a bill was passed that required NGOs in Israel to report foreign donations, but enforcement has been spotty.
I’m hopeful that the new government will strongly support a law to control this practice, and to limit access of foreign activists to the country. What other country in the world would permit this?
We don’t have to. Let’s stop the flow of money and kick out foreign saboteurs.
Jordan starts trial of Danish cartoonist for blasphemy
From Al Arabiya:
If this is how moderate, Western-leaning Jordan acts when it is not ruled by Islamists, imagine what kind of a country it would be if it was!
Does this mean that Jordanian law allows anyone worldwide to be prosecuted for blasphemy?A Jordanian court has begun blasphemy proceedings against Danish artist Kurt Westergaard for a controversial cartoon he drew of the Prophet Mohammed.
“A court in Amman began today the trial in absentia of those who insulted the Prophet, including Westergaard and Danish newspapers which published his offensive cartoon,” said Tareq Hawamdeh, lawyer for local journalists and activists who brought the suit. The proceeding started on April 25.
“Judge Nathir Shehadeh adjourned the trial until May 8 to hear the witnesses,” Mr. Hawamdeh said in a statement.
In 2005, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten ran a feature with several different artists’ drawings under the heading “Faces of Mohammed.” The most controversial of the cartoons was Mr. Westergaard’s depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.
The Jordanian court subpoenaed Mr. Westergaard on April 14 after accusing him of committing “the crime of blasphemy.”
A Jordanian prosecutor summoned Mr. Westergaard for questioning that year after 30 independent newspapers, Websites and radio stations in Jordan sued him over the cartoon, which was published in at least 17 Danish dailies, sparking violent protests in a number of Muslim countries, including Jordan.
“These judicial steps should serve to prevent future attempts to insult Islam and stir up racial hatred towards Muslims across the world, particularly in Europe,” said Zakarya Sheikh, a spokesperson for the group of local media who is suing Mr. Westergaard.
Mr. Sheikh, who is the editor of an Islamic weekly newspaper in Jordan, sued Mr. Westergaard in 2008, saying: “I will do everything in my power to bring him to trial. He deserves the harshest punishment available within the law.”
Mr. Westergaard, 75, told Agence France-Press after the subpoena that “I have not heard about this trial and have not been informed.”
“In any case, I have no intention of going even if I am asked to,” he said, adding, “I do not want to risk becoming familiar with the Jordanian prisons, which would be hell.”
Jordanian legislators have demanded that the government sever ties with Denmark. Amman has condemned the caricature, warning that it could spark further extremism and harm relations between Denmark and Muslim countries.
In 2010 a man with ties to Somalia’s hard-line Islamist group al-Shabab was arrested after attempting to kill Mr. Westergaard in his home with an axe.
Mr. Westergaard is currently living under around-the-clock police protection.
If this is how moderate, Western-leaning Jordan acts when it is not ruled by Islamists, imagine what kind of a country it would be if it was!
Why FIFA's president will never get the PLO to compromise
From Sky News, Tuesday:
How do I know? Besides reading his own statements, there is lots about him in the Tuvia Tenenbom book "Catch the Jew":
Rajoub knows that sports stories make headlines and he wants to make Israel look like South Africa.
So I could have told Blatter that he was wasting his time trying to get the PLO to drop the threats against Israel. But Rajoub beat me to it:
Oh, by the way, when Rajoub tells Blatter that he welcomes the idea of a "peace match," he is lying through his teeth. Because last year he said (in Arabic, naturally) that a friendly match between Palestinian arab and Jewish children was a "crime against humanity."
The entire issue is political, and has nothing to do with sports. FIFA should understand this and see Jibril Rajoub for what he is doing - cynically using football as a weapon.
By the way, Rajoub in 2005 said that after Israel's disengagement from Gaza, Gaza would become a model for a Palestinian state.
He got that right, but not the way he intended.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has held crisis talks in Jerusalem aimed at averting a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from international football.What Blatter doesn't realize is that Jibril Rajoub has no intention of compromise. The entire reason he heads the Palestine Football Association is political - he cares nothing about sports.
The Palestinian Football Association is preparing to push a motion calling for Israel's suspension at the FIFA annual congress later this month.
Mr Blatter emerged "very hopeful" from talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Blatter did reveal that Mr Netanyahu had agreed to a "match of peace" between the national teams of Israel and Palestine, though no date has yet been put forward.
Last week FIFA issued a statement on behalf of Mr Blatter stating "any member association that is fulfilling its statutory duties should not be suspended. This would apply to the Israeli Football Association as long as they fulfil such duties".
But the head of the Palestinian FA, Jibril Rajoub, has outlined a number of complaints which he says demonstrate violations of FIFA's standards and ethics.
How do I know? Besides reading his own statements, there is lots about him in the Tuvia Tenenbom book "Catch the Jew":
Rajoub knows that sports stories make headlines and he wants to make Israel look like South Africa.
So I could have told Blatter that he was wasting his time trying to get the PLO to drop the threats against Israel. But Rajoub beat me to it:
The Palestinian Football Association will not drop its bid to have its Israeli counterpart suspended from FIFA, the organisation's chief said Wednesday after talks with the head of the world footballing body.
"We will keep the proposal on the agenda (of the upcoming FIFA Congress) for sincere and open discussions by the 208 FIFA member associations," Jibril Rajoub said at a joint press conference with FIFA chief Sepp Blatter.
"There will be no compromising on free movement of our athletes and officials."
Rajoub also welcomed the idea of an Israel-Palestine "match for peace" but said conditions were not yet ready for such a game.
"Yesterday, you raised a very great idea ... It's a creative idea, I like it," he told FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the press conference.
"But we have to pave the road for that, we have to prepare the environment. But this should be an endgame, this should be a purpose for you and I urge you not to give up," he said.
Oh, by the way, when Rajoub tells Blatter that he welcomes the idea of a "peace match," he is lying through his teeth. Because last year he said (in Arabic, naturally) that a friendly match between Palestinian arab and Jewish children was a "crime against humanity."The entire issue is political, and has nothing to do with sports. FIFA should understand this and see Jibril Rajoub for what he is doing - cynically using football as a weapon.
By the way, Rajoub in 2005 said that after Israel's disengagement from Gaza, Gaza would become a model for a Palestinian state.
He got that right, but not the way he intended.
Palestinian Arabs are Al Qaeda's most loyal supporters
From Pew Global Research:
I know - let's reward Bin Laden's biggest fans with a state - one that is ethnically cleansed of Jews!
(h/t Ha'aretz)
It is true that Bin Laden's popularity has waned dramatically in the Arab world, and among the Palestinian Arabs as well. But you will be hard pressed to find a Western media outlet pointing out that over a quarter of Palestinian Arabs still view Al Qaeda favorably or that over one third had confidence that Osama Bin Laden was a good Arab leader.In the months leading up to Osama bin Laden’s death, a survey of Muslim publics around the world found little support for the al Qaeda leader. Among the six predominantly Muslim nations recently surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, bin Laden received his highest level of support among Muslims in the Palestinian territories – although even there only 34% said they had confidence in the terrorist leader to do the right thing in world affairs. Minorities of Muslims in Indonesia (26%), Egypt (22%) and Jordan (13%) expressed confidence in bin Laden, while he has almost no support among Turkish (3%) or Lebanese Muslims (1%).Al Qaeda also received largely negative ratings among Muslim publics in the 2011 survey. Only 2% of Muslims in Lebanon and 5% in Turkey expressed favorable views of al Qaeda. In Jordan, 15% had a positive opinion of al Qaeda, while about one-in-five in Indonesia (22%) and Egypt (21%) shared this view. Palestinian Muslims offered somewhat more positive opinions (28% favorable), but about two-thirds (68%) viewed bin Laden’s organization unfavorably.
I know - let's reward Bin Laden's biggest fans with a state - one that is ethnically cleansed of Jews!
(h/t Ha'aretz)
Survey shows European Muslims are much more antisemitic than non-Muslims (update)
A new paper was released by ISGAP, "Antisemitic Attitudes among Muslims in Europe: A Survey Review" by Günther Jikeli.
It proves that European Muslims are more antisemitic than any other group, even extreme rightists. .
Most of the data comes from a comprehensive survey in France, although other data indicates that the attitudes are the same throughout Europe.
The other major finding was that the more religious Muslims are, the more antisemitic they are:
Muslims were also far more likely to believe more antisemitic statements than non-Muslims, even on the political fringes:
It isn't only France:
In Brussels, 2,837 students in 32 Dutch-speaking high schools were polled. About half of the Muslim respondents agreed with the following statements:So many in the West want to claim that Muslims only hate Jews because of Israel. These surveys indicate that the opposite is the case: they hate Israel because they hate Jews.The antisemitic attitudes were unrelated to low educational level or social disadvantage.
- (1) “Jews want to dominate everything” (total, 31.4 percent; Muslims, 56.8 percent; non-Muslims, 10.5 percent).
- (2) “Most Jews think they are better than others” (total, 29.9 percent; Muslims, 47.1 percent; non-Muslims, 12.9 percent).
- (3) “If you do business with Jews, you should be extra careful” (total, 28.6 percent; Muslims, 47.5 percent; non-Muslims, 12.9 percent).
- (4) “Jews incite to war and blame others” (total, 28.4 percent; Muslims, 53.7 percent; non-Muslims, 7.7 percent).
Mark Elchardus confirmed the findings two years later in 2013 with a study of 863 students from Ghent and Antwerp, including 346 Muslim students. While 45 to 50 percent of Muslim students revealed antisemitic attitudes, “only” about 10 percent of non-Muslims did so.
And yet none of the "human rights" activists are considering going into Muslim communities to be more tolerant of Jews. Because Muslims are expected to be haters, and the "progressives" don't expect them to act any differently.
Here is a video of the author talking about the study:
Muslim woman in Playboy causes fury
From The Sun:
(h/t DavidG)
A MUSLIM actress has caused a storm by posing naked for Playboy.Tolerance!
Click to see cover (NSFW)
Sila Sahin has been branded a "whore" and a "western slut" after appearing topless on the cover of the German edition of the men's magazine.
And Islamic fanatics have posted threatening internet messages.
Sila, raised in Germany by conservative Turkish parents, says she fears being "spat at" and "shamed".
Her parents are said to have reacted with "horror" at the 12-page coverage, and her mother has apparently cut off all contact.
Sila, 25 - star of German soap Good Times, Bad Times - claimed the shoot was a reaction to the "slavery" of her youth.
She added: "What I want to say with these photos is, 'Girls, we don't have to live according to the rules imposed upon us'.
"For years I subordinated myself to various societal constraints. The Playboy photo shoot was a total act of liberation."
But Islamic internet sites are being monitored by the BND - the German intelligence agency - after threats were posted about her "shaming Muslim womanhood" and "prostituting herself for money".
A kebab shop owner, asked on German TV what he would do if Sila were his daughter, replied: "I would kill her. I really mean that. That doesn't fit with my culture."
(h/t DavidG)
Vowing revenge for Bin Laden in Jerusalem, Gaza (videos)
Here is a video of a preacher at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem calling for the death of Obama and Bush for killing Bin Laden:
(original uncut video was uploaded by the preacher himself on Monday. YNet story here.)
Here is Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemning the assassination and calling Bin Laden a holy warrior.
He is now part of the Palestinian Arab government.
(h/t Joel)
(original uncut video was uploaded by the preacher himself on Monday. YNet story here.)
Here is Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh condemning the assassination and calling Bin Laden a holy warrior.
He is now part of the Palestinian Arab government.
(h/t Joel)
Who oversees US aid to Palestinian Arabs? (Joffe)
A very important article by Alexander Joffe in Hudson-NY:
In Palestinian economics, where all the money goes is unclear -- but where does all the money come from? Which U.S. programs give how much and who has legislative oversight? Now that Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister Salaam Fayyad has announced a plan for September for unilateral Palestinian statehood, which includes a request for $5 billion over three years -- and presumes that the newly announced Fatah-Hamas rapprochement does not scuttle all American aid -- the problem of oversight is all the more pressing.Read the whole thing.
...Economic Support Funds provided by USAID can not go directly to the Palestinian Authority without a waiver to the Appropriations Committee from the U.S. president saying that it is in the interest of U.S. national security to provide them, and and a certification from the Secretary of State regarding the PA's treasury, payroll and civil service – all according to section 2106 of chapter 2 of title II of Public Law 109-13, a 2005 emergency supplemental defense and relief bill (and Public Law 108-199 of 2004 before it).
Public Law 109-13, for example, requires, among other things, that the President certify that Palestinian security services have purged their ranks of terrorists, that the Palestinian Authority stop incitement against Israel, and that it cooperate with the US. in investigations of Yassir Arafat's finances. These waivers have been provided annually despite the fact that Palestinian incitement continues, Palestinian security forces are still laden with terrorists, and Yassir Arafat's money is still missing.
...In fact, the legislative system of appropriations and oversight matters very little when it comes to U.S. aid to the Palestinians: the system of foreign aid permits the president to independently "certify" or "waive" requirements introduced by Congress. It demonstrates the extent to which U.S. aid to the Palestinians is an instrument of Executive policy rather than an altruistic enterprise authorized by the Legislative branch.
....Legislation proposed in Congress to limit or condition funds to the Palestinian Authority or UNRWA are largely meaningless in this light. The "UNRWA Humanitarian Accountability Act," for example, offered by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in 2010, demanded that UNRWA not be used by or support Palestinian terrorists. But like the appropriations bills described above, it offers the Executive branch an out by requiring only "a written determination by the Secretary of State, based on all information available after diligent inquiry, and transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees along with a detailed description of the factual basis therefore." Such a statement is a foregone conclusion. The mechanisms for Congress to review results independently, hearings, reports from Congressional staff, the Congressional Research Service, and the Government Accountability Office, have no weight except in the politics of the next appropriations cycle.
Aid the Palestinians is a microcosm of the larger question of how U.S. foreign aid works. Now that Hamas will evidently join Fatah in a Palestinian Authority poised to declare statehood and request vast additional support, creating genuine Congressional oversight -- with teeth -- should be addressed once again.